I HEARD a rather shocking statistic the other day, and seeing as how it was on Radio Four, it must be true.

Apparently, 60 per cent of people in Britain never buy a book.

Now statistics being what they are, this could mean a number of things.

For example, everyone might read books, but perhaps they prefer to get them as gifts. Or prefer to make use of our splendid libraries. Or maybe the crowds in Waterstones or Borders are just browsing shoplifters.

The inference, however, was that the majority of people simply don't read books. Which is rather sad - and a little bit frightening.

I add that last bit not because I'm a book snob (which I am, a bit), but because it means that you have to consider a new fact.

If only 40 per cent of people buy books, it means most of them splash their cash on cookbooks and celebrity biographies which, while fine in themselves, are not all that books are about.

At their purest, highest form, books are about ideas. They can make you think, reconsider, and maybe even change your view of the world.

Look at what the Bible and the Koran have wrought, for example. Uncle Tom's Cabin had a massive effect on the way Americans thought about slavery, while Dickens' works formed part of a drive against social injustice in Britain.

You don't get that from a DVD, no matter how many hours of special features they've packed in.

I'm not saying all books should be worthy and improving. I enjoy a good pulpy sci-fi or a twisty-turning whodunnit as much (and often more than) the latest "fashionable" novel by one of the highbrow London set.

But consider this: every book is a window on a world, real or imagined. It offers us the wisdom of ages, the experiences of others, and more knowledge than we'd otherwise gain in just one lifetime.

Once you can read, you can learn anything that anyone has written about, be it computing skills, a foreign language, or how to cook.

Sure, you'll still need to develop practical skills, but books will give you the grounding, and plenty of hints to get you started.

In short, books contain knowledge and ideas - not always true ones, mind you, but then no-one said you didn't have to think for yourself at the same time. And knowledge and ideas are where true freedom lies.

When the Nazis came to power, the first thing they did was begin making bonfires of any books which disagreed with their world view.

If the most reviled dictator of the 20th century realised the power of books, isn't it time at least 60 per cent of our population got the same message?

After all: "He who controls the past, controls the future. He who controls the present, controls the past." I got that from a book, of course.

And if you don't know which one, well, you should probably read more...