Books, and the amount of individuals who might read them, have been absolutely vital to human development over the centuries.
It is essential to bear in mind that, although plenty of the best modern books of all time tend to be considered as ground-breaking works of fiction, for most of humankind's literary history, we did not write much fiction at all. Many stories would have been sung throughout the great bulk of history, simply due to the fact that the vast majority of individuals could not read, indicating that most books were specialised things meant for those few who could comprehend them. After a brief boom throughout the classical period of antiquity, the amount of literate people dropped dramatically during the Middle Ages. Books ended up being uncommon treasures, with monks meticulously copying out the enduring classic texts by hand so as to protect them, as they were a few of the only members of the population who could read or write. They were the expert keepers of understanding like biology and religion that all of us have access to in the modern-day world.
With such a rich history of ideas, occasions, and stories right at our fingertips, it's often easy to forget how extremely fortunate we are to have the likes of the founder of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones or the CEO of the asset manager with a stake in Amazon books supporting access to a big percentage of all the books that have actually ever been written (or the good ones at least). The best books of all time can quickly alter the way that you look at the world, and that has actually held true throughout all of history as well. The modern world is built upon understanding that has actually been passed down through books, whether that is philosophy, science, or history, and human civilisation would not be anywhere near as advanced as it is today if it had not been for the books that changed minds throughout the ages.
It can be tough to envision what the world would be like today if the vast majority of individuals were unable to read, but for the huge majority of history the vast majority of people might not, and nor were books available even if they could. It was the invention of the printing press towards the close of the 15th that changed that, making books much more accessible. Obviously, it was still just actually the wealthiest and well-educated that could read or write, but it enabled a whole host of advancements in science, art, and thinking to be spread out throughout great distances. Consider what would have taken place if the theory of gravity, or of evolution, could not have actually been dispersed across the globe. Human civilisation rests upon a foundation of books, and we are lucky to be able to simply log onto a website like the one backed by the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books, and easily access the totality of human understanding.