Bamber Gascoigne's 6 best books

Bamber Gascoigne is best known in Britain for being the quizmaster on University Challenge, which he presented for 25 years. More recently he has devoted himself to writing HistoryWorld, an interactive history of the world on the internet at www.historyworld.net.

For the Daily Express he named his six best books. One title on the list:

Animal Farm
by George Orwell

Not since Jonathan Swift has anyone written political satire with as surprising an angle and as deft a touch. The pigs Napoleon (Stalin) and Snowball (Trotsky) and the uncomplaining carthorse Boxer (the model worker) have a long literary life ahead of them.

Read about another book on Gascoigne's list.

Animal Farm also appears among Chuck Klosterman's most important books.

--Marshal Zeringue