Can fiction make us better people? Reading is one of life’s deepest pleasures, but some argue that literature can expand a person's sympathies and improve their character too.
Eight books that show us who we are
Comprehensive: Research has found a positive correlation between reading fiction and the development of verbal skills, reasoning, abstract thinking, and problem-solving. Glossary
American Civil War - A war fought from 1861 to 1865 between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North, after the former seceded from the Union.
Empathy - The capacity to understand and feel the suffering of others.
Sceptical - To have doubts or reservations. The philosophical theory of scepticism holds that some knowledge is impossible.
Moralising - Commenting in a superior way on what is right or wrong.