Seven Books Everyone Once Read and No One Now Does

The latest podcast episode of MCC Learning Institute features a conversation between Nicholas Tate, historian and author of Seven Books that Everyone Once Read but No One Now Does, recently published by Ludovika University Press and Richárd Fodor, Head of Research at the Learning Institute. The discussion explores the enduring significance of seven works that once formed the intellectual foundation of European civilisation but are rarely read today. From Cicero’s De Officiis to Walter Scott’s Waverley, these books shaped generations of educated readers and played a central role in the development of shared cultural and moral reference points across Europe. 

During the conversation, Tate examines what makes a book truly “classical,” discusses the motivation behind his latest work, Seven Books. In connection to this, he identifies key reasons why deep reading has declined, and whether modern education still provides the historical knowledge necessary to understand the great works of the past. Tate and Fodor discuss the role of schools, universities, and educational traditions in preserving the transmission of Europe’s intellectual heritage, as well as the consequences of expanding education to wider sections of society.

Nicholas Tate also reflects on the changing ways readers have approached books over the centuries, from intensive, annotation-based reading to today’s more fragmented habits, and considers how some of the works he discusses were used in ways never intended by their authors. The episode concludes with practical advice for listeners who would like to discover these seven books today: where to begin, how to read demanding historical texts, and why returning to them may still be essential for understanding Western civilisation in the twenty-first century.

This conversation is part of MCC Learning Institute podcast series and accompanies the open-access publication of the book, available online:

https://openaccess.ludovika.hu/nke/catalog/book/383

Az MCC Podcast adásaiban érdekes emberekkel izgalmas témákról beszélgetünk. Feldolgozzuk a közélet, a gazdaság, a társadalom fontosabb aktuális történéseit, de olyan kérdéseket is napirendre veszünk, mint például a művészet, a család vagy a vallás. Vendégeink között oktatóink, kutatóink, vendégelőadóink kapnak helyet. Mindenkinek kellemes időtöltést és szellemi feltöltődést kívánunk.