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Classics of Literature — page 2
429 public-domain classics of literature books, summarised. Page 2 of 9.
Anna Karenina
Tolstoy, Leo, graf
The truth of a life is rarely found in grand declarations, but in the quiet, agonizing friction between who we are and who we believe we must become.
The Republic
Plato
HOOK This foundational inquiry into the nature of justice and the structure of a perfect society asks whether a good life is possible in an imperfect world, and whether virtue is its own reward.
The Odyssey
Homer
A king, long lost to the sea and the ruins of war, returns home to find his house besieged by pretenders—and he must trade his crown for a beggar’s rags to reclaim his life.
The Metamorphoses of Publius Ovidus Naso in English blank verse Vols. I & II
Ovid
The world is a tapestry of shifting surfaces, where the solid and the permanent are merely illusions waiting for the right spark of divine caprice or mortal passion to dissolve them into something new.
Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
A man decides that the only honorable way to live is to become a knight-errant, so he polishes his great-grandfather’s rusted armor, rechristens himself, and rides out to turn his delusions into reality.
The Nicomachean ethics of Aristotle
Aristotle
To live well is not a stroke of luck, but a project—a lifelong practice of aligning your character with the demands of reason. This investigation into the architecture of a flourishing life invites you to build your own virtue.
Candide
Voltaire
A young man raised on the belief that everything happens for the best finds his philosophy systematically dismantled by a world that seems determined to prove him wrong.
The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost'
Thomas Nathaniel Orchard
The heavens contain a profound architecture, and within the grand scope of epic poetry, the movements of stars and planets serve as the ultimate backdrop for the drama of human existence.
The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, Complete
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
A man of noble heart decides to become a hero, yet his armor is a dream and his quest a struggle against the cruel comedy of a world that refuses to see him as he truly is.
![Cover of Faust [part 1]. Translated Into English in the Original Metres](https://cdn.myebooksbuy.com/c/faust-part-1-translated-into-english-in-the-original-metres-johann.webp)
Faust [part 1]. Translated Into English in the Original Metres
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A man sells his soul to experience the impossible, only to find that the price of infinite knowledge is the destruction of the innocent.
A Literary History of the English People, from the Origins to the Renaissance
J. J. (Jean Jules) Jusserand
The spirit of a nation is not found in its borders, but in the echoes of its stories, where the forgotten voices of the past still vibrate against the present.
The vision of hell.: By Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri
A man loses his way in a dark, terrifying forest, only to find that his only path forward is a descent into the deepest, most agonizing regions of the afterlife. This journey through the dark heart of the universe maps the geography of human failure, showing that even in the depths of ruin, there is a clear,…
The Aeneid of Virgil
Virgil
Between the falling ashes of a burnt city and the rise of an empire that will rule the world, one man must carry the weight of a divine destiny he never asked for. This is the story of a refugee searching for a home promised by the gods, only to find that the price of peace is a war he must win at any cost.
Gorgias
Plato
The pursuit of power through persuasion often masks a hollow soul, leaving us to wonder whether it is better to command the world or to remain just.
The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume I (of X) - Greece
Unknown
The pursuit of wisdom often begins by looking backward, where the voices of the past offer a mirror to our own enduring struggles and joys.
The Argonautica
Rhodius Apollonius
A perilous voyage, divine intrigues, and a quest for a golden treasure weave together a tale of heroism, magic, and tragic love on the ancient seas.
The Sceptical Chymist: or Chymico-Physical Doubts & Paradoxes, Touching the Spagyrist's Principles Commonly call'd Hypostatical
Robert Boyle
A rigorous inquiry into the nature of matter challenges long-held chemical doctrines, blending careful experiment with skeptical reasoning to reshape the foundations of natural philosophy.
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern
Unknown
HOOK A vast treasury of human thought and expression, this collection spans centuries and continents, revealing the evolution of literature and ideas that have shaped civilizations.
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern
Unknown
A vast treasury of human thought and imagination, this collection opens windows onto the world’s literary heritage, from ancient epics to modern reflections, revealing the enduring power of storytelling and ideas across cultures and centuries.
The Odyssey of Homer
Homer
A king is absent, a household rots from within, and a son must grow into the shape of a father he barely knows. What begins as a search for news becomes a long homecoming earned through deception, patience, and blood.
A History of Elizabethan Literature
George Saintsbury
HOOK George Saintsbury’s seminal work charts the explosive evolution of English letters, tracing a journey from tentative imitation to the unparalleled creative heights of the Elizabethan and Jacobean masters.
Politics: A Treatise on Government
Aristotle
Human beings are built to live in a community, but constructing a society that allows every individual to achieve a good and happy life requires understanding the fragile balance between law, virtue, and power.
The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume II (of X) - Rome
Unknown
Across centuries of statecraft, war, and philosophical inquiry, classical Roman writers record how a disciplined republic conquered the Mediterranean world only to watch its own moral foundation crumble into imperial tyranny.
Timaeus
Plato
Long before modern physics, an ancient thinker envisioned the cosmos as a single, living creature forged from harmony, geometry, and a divine architect's desire to bring order out of disorder.
The Story of Beowulf, Translated from Anglo-Saxon into Modern English Prose
Ernest J. B. (Ernest John Brigham) Kirtlan
An ancient king is sent out to sea in a ship heavy with treasure, leaving a world of hall-feasts, monster-haunted fens, and doom-eager men to face their fates.
La Chanson de Roland
Léonce Rabillon
A bloody betrayal in the Pyrenean passes transforms a rear-guard defense into a soaring tale of doomed heroism, royal vengeance, and unyielding medieval honor.
The Iliad of Homer: Translated into English Blank Verse by William Cowper
Homer
A supreme warrior sits out a war in his tent while his allies slaughter each other, returning to the fight only when his beloved companion dies.
The Imitation of Christ
à Kempis Thomas
To detach one's soul from the transience of earth requires a fierce, daily warfare against the self, where true peace is discovered only in total surrender to the divine.
Theaetetus
Plato
A wandering pursuit of what it truly means to know something reveals that defining knowledge is far harder than holding an opinion.
Plays of Sophocles: Oedipus the King
Sophocles
A doomed king desperately hunts for a killer, only to discover that the corrupting blight on his city is himself.
Seneca's Morals of a Happy Life, Benefits, Anger and Clemency
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
To live well is not a matter of chance or external circumstance, but an active, disciplined alignment of the mind with the unchangeable laws of nature. This collection serves as a steadying hand for anyone seeking to master their own internal state.
The Analects of Confucius (from the Chinese Classics)
Confucius
True wisdom lies not in distant, unreachable ideals, but in the faithful practice of everyday virtues and the honest cultivation of one's own character.
The Tales of the Heptameron, Vol. 4 (of 5)
Marguerite, Queen, consort of Henry II, King of Navarre
A collection of sharp, courtly vignettes reveals the hidden vices of the nobility and the clergy, where every pursuit of pleasure is met with a reckoning of equal gravity.
The Comedies of Terence: Literally Translated into English Prose, with Notes
Terence
The tangled webs of ancient domestic life reveal that fathers, sons, and lovers have always struggled with the same messy, human complications. This collection of Roman comedies offers a sharp, enduring window into the art of the farce.
Minor Dialogues, Together With the Dialogue on Clemency
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
A weary philosopher offers a rigorous, uncompromising guide to keeping one's composure and dignity in a world defined by volatility, political malice, and the inevitable decay of all things.
The City of God, Volume II
Augustine, of Hippo, Saint
The struggle between the earthly city and the kingdom of God defines the human experience. Through the lens of faith, this work maps the history of mankind as a pilgrimage toward eternal peace.
Divine Comedy, Longfellow's Translation, Complete
Dante Alighieri
A traveler traverses the landscapes of the afterlife, guided by reason and faith, to confront the consequences of human choice and the ultimate nature of the divine.
Critias
Plato
This incomplete dialogue presents a haunting, foundational myth of human civilization, contrasting a virtuous, primitive Athens with the opulent, hubristic empire of Atlantis. It serves as a philosophical exploration of power, decline, and the fragility of societies.
The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV
Ovid
This vast tapestry of ancient myth chronicles a world in constant flux, where human lives are fragile, divine whims are absolute, and every ending is merely the prologue to a transformation.
The Tales of the Heptameron, Vol. 5 (of 5)
Marguerite, Queen, consort of Henry II, King of Navarre
A collection of witty, cynical, and often ribald tales, these stories explore the complexities of human desire, deceit, and moral contradiction among the French courtly elite.
The Tales of the Heptameron, Vol. 2 (of 5)
Marguerite, Queen, consort of Henry II, King of Navarre
The narratives of courtly life captured in this volume reveal the volatile intersection of desire, reputation, and wit. Through stories of obsession and secret encounters, the social fabric of the sixteenth-century elite is laid bare.
Euthyphro
Plato
A chance encounter outside a courthouse turns into a relentless inquiry into the nature of holiness, exposing how little we truly know about our most deeply held moral convictions.
The Epic of Gilgamish: A Fragment of the Gilgamish Legend in Old-Babylonian Cuneiform
Stephen Langdon
HOOK The world’s oldest recorded epic captures the primal struggle for meaning, following a legendary king and his wild-born companion as they navigate the brutal, beautiful transition from nature to civilization.
New Atlantis
Francis Bacon
A weary crew of European sailors discovers a hidden island society that has mastered nature through rigorous scientific inquiry. Their encounter reveals a vision of human potential fueled by reason, piety, and an organized pursuit of discovery.
The Nibelungenlied: Translated into Rhymed English Verse in the Metre of the Original
G. H. (George Henry) Needler
The strength of an ancient oath and the sharpness of a woman’s grief collide in this brutal, sweeping tragedy of the Germanic Middle Ages. It is a tale where honor is the only currency, and the price of pride is total ruin.
Classic French Course in English
William Cleaver Wilkinson
This instructional guide navigates the vast landscape of French literary history, serving as a structured compass for readers who wish to understand the evolution of a language and culture through its most significant voices. It provides a curated tour of representative texts, balancing historical context with…
The Iliad
Homer
The pride of a warrior and the wrath of a god collide on the dusty plains before Troy, where mortal lives are traded for eternal fame. This foundational epic explores the heavy cost of human ambition and the inescapable reach of destiny.
Select Masterpieces of Biblical Literature
Unknown
This collection presents foundational sacred texts through the lens of literary form, stripping away traditional chapter-and-verse formatting to reveal the inherent rhythm, drama, and structure of the original Hebrew writings. It treats the Bible not merely as a single book, but as a diverse library of oratory,…