Lord of the Flies

During a wartime evacuation, a plane crashes on an uninhabited island and the only survivors are a group of British schoolboys. With no adults present, Ralph uses a conch shell to call the others together and is elected chief, setting three goals: have fun, survive and keep a smoke signal burning for passing ships. William Golding's debut novel explores morality, leadership and the strain between civility and chaos. Golding took the idea from The Coral Island, a children's adventure he found unrealistic, and the book is now widely assigned in schools.

Kapwing co-founder Julia Enthoven listed it among classics she loves, and it also appears on a reading list shared by Pittsburgh Technology Council chief executive Audrey Russo.