11 Essential Books By Nobel Peace Prize Winners (PHOTOS)

The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to "Liu Xiaobo for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China," according to the official announcement.

Many great books have been written by Nobel Peace Prize winners and we're taking a look back at some of the past recipients whose groundbreaking influence and accomplishments have extended to the written word.

In these 11 books you'll find insights into great minds and, through reading them, a better understanding of what makes them great.

Liu Xiaobo has had a huge role in the shaping of our history, and we hope to place his books alongside these--if and when he is released from prison and becomes free to write them.

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"Twenty Years At Hull-House" by Jane Addams

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In 1931, Addams became the second woman to win the prize. She was the founder and International President of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She also founded the historical Hull House, a settlement house for immigrants which was known for its social, educational, and artistic programs. She wrote about her experiences in her memoir, "Twenty Years At Hull-House."

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In 1931, Addams became the second woman to win the prize. She was the founder and International President of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She also founded the historical Hull House, a settlement house for immigrants which was known for its social, educational, and artistic programs. She wrote about her experiences in her memoir, "Twenty Years At Hull-House."

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Comments

[MBGab]

11:49 AM on 10/09/2010

Missing: I, Rigoberto Menchu by inspirational Guatemalan activist Rigoberto Menchu Tum (awarded Peace Prize in 1992), and Iran Awakening by Iranian lawyer and women's rights activist Shirin Ebadi (awarded Peace Prize in 2003). Both important books and inspiring women who have dedicated their lives to human rights.

[jubo]

06:07 PM on 10/08/2010

The Nobel Prize exists through a fortune made in nitroglycerin. How sadly ironic.

[sloreader]

10:49 PM on 10/09/2010

It is what it is but what's really extraordinary, in my view, is an inventor even attempting to compensate for his/her diabolical contribution to mankind. On that basis alone I am willing to give the Nobel Prize the benefit of the doubt.

[jubo]

05:58 PM on 10/08/2010

A bit eschewed, not all Peace Prize receivers wrote books.

On the other hand, the Nobel prize for Literature...

[sloreader]

10:50 PM on 10/09/2010

Well if someone received the Nobel Prize for literature without writing a book that would be news worthy wouldn't it? Come on Jb, Keep up with the flow of traffic.

[jubo]

11:18 AM on 10/10/2010

Your question is at odds with the flow of my humor.

[benjycompson]

04:59 PM on 10/08/2010

Ditto

[kenhamlett]

03:49 PM on 10/08/2010

It is astonishing that this list of "Peace" prize winners includes Henry Kissinger and Barack Obama, both most noteworthy for increasing the scope of and expanding wars! One can only assume that the Nobel folks wish they had a do-over on both.

[decolonizeme]

05:14 PM on 10/08/2010

I would add Cordell Hull to that list. He won in 1948, and as part of FDR's cabinet was the prime mover behind the refusal of the US to accept the Jewish refugees on the USS St. Louis as they were trying to escape from Europe. Thanks to Hull, the boat never made it to the US, further negotiations with Cuba broke down, the passengers were forced to return to Europe, and at least 1/3 of them were subsequently killed in the Holocaust.

But, yeah, Kissinger and Le Duc Tho were a pretty bad decision on the part of the committee too.

[PelePele10]

02:32 PM on 10/08/2010

Kissinger on the list is a disappointment. Ghandi not on the list is just wrong.

[1110Awaits]

05:31 PM on 10/08/2010

A strong military keeps the peace. How peaceful are we now? I rest my case.

[jubo]

06:02 PM on 10/08/2010

(incredulity)

[mero909]

02:03 PM on 10/08/2010

It still shocks me that Gandhi never received a Nobel peace prize.

[tdotbird]

03:39 PM on 10/08/2010

He was nominated 5 different times without winning. Definitely the worst oversight the committee has ever made.

[mero909]

04:11 PM on 10/08/2010

Agreed. Horrible oversight. Oh well, Gandhi didn't need a peace prize to cement his status as one of the great peace leaders. Yay for Civil Disobedience! :)

[metaluna]

01:02 PM on 10/08/2010

Oh what a travesty to include Kissinger (architect of the secret Cambodia bombings and the Christmas Vietnam bombing campaign) and Obama (surge-meister of Afghanistan and secret missile attacks in Pakistan) with the likes of Mandela, King and Wiesel! These first two alone utterly debase the peace prize.

[bblueskye]

12:34 PM on 10/08/2010

I'm amused that Kissinger has a Nobel Peace Prize, especially when he was involved with the coup of Chile.

[Tom Sutpen]

12:45 PM on 10/08/2010

He was up to his neck in that and at least ten other catastrophes that should have landed him in a jail cell for the balance of his obscenely long life.

[xiangwanghai]

12:31 PM on 10/08/2010

It's a little surprise that our first Nobel Prise owner is a prisoner.
My website: 　http://www.legoo123.com

[Amir Amini]

11:31 AM on 10/08/2010

Hmm..7 out of 10 books are more or less religiously motivated.
I hope that is just a coincidence. It would be a very gloomy world when every good intention and work has to be attributed to religion eagerness and belief.
Aren't rational human beeings capable of doing good without considering the assets-and drawbacks of a religion?

[wagthedog1001]

12:24 PM on 10/08/2010

I don't see that at all. For the most part these books are about the human spirit, not about religion: Mother Teresa wrote about “the power of love, completely unobstructed by a religious agenda,” Wiesel focuses on “guilt and spiritual transformation,” Dr. King's book “explains his central idea of nonviolence: a fundamental and enduring love at the center of the humanity,” Kissinger's book is an “exhaustive 300-year survey of Western diplomacy,” Obama “finds his way back to Kenya, discovering the world of his father,” Hammarskjöld writes a candid discourse on spiritual struggle and ultimate triumph. The absence of a religious tone is notable in the Dalai Lama’s book. Tutu’s book South Africa's attempt to reconcile the human rights violations and tragedies that occurred during apartheid. Mandela’s book is about the “unbreakable will of the human spirit.” Jane Addams wrote about Hull-House known for its social, educational, and artistic programs. You may be right about Albert Schweiter’s book.

[inreasonsimage]

11:11 AM on 10/08/2010

How the heck does Obama's autobiography deserve to be on any essential book list?

[ricitizen]

11:45 AM on 10/08/2010

The book was written by him and considered critically outstanding long before he was President. He is the 44th President of the United States and the first of African American descent in a country who started it's history with slavery. And per the point of the story, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

[CarolLee]

10:31 AM on 10/08/2010

Strength to Love by Martin Luther King Jr. is one of my all-time favorite books. The scope of the book is beyond that of the civil rights movement; its themes include forgiveness, courage, love, peace and strength. It is a reminder that before Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist, first and foremost he was a minister.

This is a beautiful book with each chapter being an essay on a different subject, with scriptural tie-ins. Whenever I pick up this book and glance at a random chapter, it gives me peace.

[Frank Smith]

10:00 AM on 10/08/2010

How to Live Longer and Feel Better by Linus Pauling

http://www.amazon.com/How-Live-Longer-Feel-Better/dp/0380702894

[KalNJ]

09:35 AM on 10/08/2010

OK, Obama shouldn't even be on that list.
He might be in the future, but not right now.

[Freesia2]

10:18 AM on 10/08/2010

??

Obama's book set in motion an historic presidency and tied his own path to his roots. His book belongs there.

[bcgd]

12:35 PM on 10/08/2010

"The book was written by him and considered critically outstanding long before he was President. He is the 44th President of the United States and the first of African American descent in a country who started it's history with slavery. And per the point of the story, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. " -ricitizen