Great Reads: Full Text of Classics in Western Literature

-- by David Swink, FCTA, 06/16/2021 (Updated 02/28/2026)

These works teach us life's lessons and provide valuable perspective from human history in Western civilization. Your wisdom will be greatly enhanced after having consumed (with sometimes considerable effort) these classic reads -- listed in order by type (fiction or non-) and title name.

  1. Fic:1984(Orw)> 1984, by George Orwell (1949) -- 328pp
  2. Fic:Aeso(Aes)> Aesop's Fables, -- 146 Short Kid Stories
  3. Fic:AgeI(Wha)> The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton (1920) -- 365pp
  4. Fic:Alic(Car)> Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll (1865) -- 70pp
  5. Fic:AllQ(Rem)> All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque (1930) -- 280pp
  6. Fic:Anna(Tol)> Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy (1878) -- 864pp (CliffsNotes)
  7. Fic:Anim(Orw)> Animal Farm, by George Orwell (1944) -- 112pp
  8. Fic:AnGr(Mon)> Anne Of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery (1908) -- 158pp
  9. Fic:Atla(Ran)> Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand (1957) -- 1169pp ( CliffsNotes)
  10. Fic:BlaB(Sew)> Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell (1877) -- 140pp
  11. Fic:BluL(Sta)> The Blue Lagoon: A Romance, by H. de Vere Stacpoole (1908) -- 220pp
  12. Fic:Brav(Hux)> Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley (1932) -- 288pp
  13. Fic:Brid(Wil)> The Bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder (1927) -- 138pp
  14. Fic:CaWi(Lon)> The Call of the Wild, by Jack London (1903) -- 232pp
  15. Fic:ChWe(Whi)> Charlotte's Web, by E. B. White (1952) -- 184pp
  16. Fic:ChrC(Dic)> A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens (1843) -- 112pp
  17. Fic:ChrN(Lew)> The Chronicles Of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis (1950-56) -- 770pp
  18. Fic:Coma(Coo)> Coma, by Robin Cook (1977) -- 280pp
  19. Fic:Crim(Dos)> Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1866) -- 624pp
  20. Fic:DrZh(Pas)> Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak (1957) -- 496pp
  21. Fic:Emma(Aus)> Emma, by Jane Austen (1815) -- 440pp
  22. Fic:Emer(Eme)> Literary Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, (1849) -- (American Transcendentalism Web)
  23. Fic:Fahr(Bra)> Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury (1953) -- 256pp
  24. Fic:Fail(Bur)> Fail-Safe, by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler (1962) -- 285pp
  25. Fic:Fare(Hem)> A Farewell to Arms, by Earnest Hemingway (1940) -- 304pp
  26. Fic:FlIn(Coo)> Flight of the Intruder, by Stephen Coontz (1987) -- 329pp
  27. Fic:ForW(Hem)> For Whom The Bell Tolls, by Earnest Hemingway (1940) -- 471pp
  28. Fic:Fran(She)> Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley (1818) -- 280pp
  29. Fic:Godf(Puz)> The Godfather, by Mario Puzo (1969) -- 377pp
  30. Fic:GrWr(Ste)> The Grapes Of Wrath, by John Steinbeck (1939) -- 464pp
  31. Fic:GrEx(Dic)> Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens (1867) -- 544pp
  32. Fic:Grim(Gri)> Grimms' Fairy Tales, -- 62 Short Kid Stories
  33. Fic:Hobb(Tol)> The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien (1937) -- 330pp
  34. Fic:Huck(Twa)> The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain (1884) -- 293pp
  35. Fic:Hung(Col)> The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (2008) -- 366pp
  36. Fic:Hunt(Cla)> The Hunt For Red October, by Tom Clancy (1984) -- 387pp
  37. Fic:Ilia(Hom)> The Iliad, by Homer (800BC), translated by Samuel Butler -- 560pp
  38. Fic:Jane(Bro)> Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte (1847) -- 450pp
  39. Fic:JuPk(Cri)> Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton (1990) -- 464pp
  40. Fic:Kill(Lee)> To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee (1960) -- 281pp
  41. Fic:Last(Coo)> The Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper (1826) -- 558pp
  42. Fic:LeGr(Whi)> Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman (1855-1892) -- 160pp
  43. Fic:LiHo(Wil)> Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932) -- 176pp
  44. Fic:LiPr(Bur)> A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1905) -- 122pp
  45. Fic:LiWo(Alc)> Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott (1868) -- 759pp
  46. Fic:LofF(Gol)> Lord Of The Flies, by William Golding (1954) -- 224pp
  47. Fic:LofR(Tol)> Lord Of The Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien (1954-55) -- 1031pp
  48. Fic:Mari(Hen)> Marine Sniper, by Charles Henderaon (1986) -- 320pp
  49. Fic:Mart(Bra)> The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury (1951) -- 185pp
  50. Fic:Moby(Mel)> Moby Dick, by Herman Melville (1851) -- 378pp
  51. Fic:Odys(Hom)> The Odyssey, by Homer (800BC), translated by Samuel Butler -- 541pp
  52. Fic:OfHu(Mau)> Of Human Bondage, by W. Somerset Maughn (1915) -- 648pp
  53. Fic:OfMi(Ste)> Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck (1937) -- 107pp
  54. Fic:OlMa(Hem)> The Old Man And The Sea, by Earnest Hemingway (1952) -- 112pp
  55. Fic:OnBe(Shu)> On The Beach, by Nevil Shute (1957) -- 320pp
  56. Fic:Pers(Aus)> Persuasion, by Jane Austen (1818) -- 272pp
  57. Fic:PetP(Bar)> Peter Pan [Peter and Wendy], by J. M. Barrie (1911) -- 118pp
  58. Fic:Plan(Bou)> Planet Of The Apes, by Pierre Boulle (1963) -- 272pp
  59. Fic:PoeE(Poe)> Popular Works of Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849)
  60. Fic:Prid(Aus)> Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen (1813) -- 305pp
  61. Fic:RedB(Cra)> The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane (1894) -- 112pp
  62. Fic:RedF(Raw)> Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls (1961) -- 245pp
  63. Fic:RobC(Def)> Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe (1719) -- 290pp
  64. Fic:RobH(Pyl)> The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle (1883) -- 320pp
  65. Fic:SavP(Col)> Saving Private Ryan, by Max Collins (1998) -- 317pp
  66. Fic:ScLe(Haw)> The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850) -- 272pp
  67. Fic:SeGa(Mon)> The Secret Garden, by Lucy Maud Montgomery (1911) -- 192pp
  68. Fic:Shak(Lam)> Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles and Mary Lamb (1807) -- 192pp
  69. Fic:Sher(Doy)> The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle (1892) -- 321pp
  70. Fic:Sila(Eli)> Silas Marner, by George Eliot (1861) -- 128pp
  71. Fic:Star(Hei)> Starship Troopers , by Robert Heinlein (1959) -- 278pp
  72. Fic:Stat(Cri)> State of Fear, by Michael Crichton (2004) -- 624pp
  73. Fic:StrS(Hei)> A Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein (1961) -- 513pp
  74. Fic:StuL(Whi)> Stuart Little, by E. B. White (1945) -- 52pp
  75. Fic:SunA(Hem)> The Sun Also Rises, by Earnest Hemingway (1926) -- 247pp
  76. Fic:SwFa(Wys)> The Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann David Wyss (1812) -- 232pp
  77. Fic:Tale(Dic)> A Tale Of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens (1859) -- 304pp
  78. Fic:Tarz(Bur)> Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1912) -- 152pp
  79. Fic:TiMa(Wel)> The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells (1895) -- 84pp
  80. Fic:TomS(Twa)> The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain (1876) -- 225pp
  81. Fic:Tres(Ste)> Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson (1883) -- 286pp
  82. Fic:Tria(Kaf)> The Trial, by Franz Kafka (1925) -- 160pp
  83. Fic:Twen(Ver)> 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne (1870) -- 212pp
  84. Fic:Uncl(Sto)> Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852) -- 576pp
  85. Fic:WaWo(Wel)> The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells (1898) -- 138pp
  86. Fic:Welv(Ran)> We The Living, by Ayn Rand (1936) -- 564pp
  87. Fic:WhiF(Lon)> White Fang, by Jack London (1906) -- 128pp
  88. Fic:Wind(Gra)> The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame (1908) -- 220pp
  89. Fic:Wuth(Bro)> Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte (1847) -- 463pp
  90. Fic:Year(Raw)> The Yearling, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1938) -- 528pp

  91. Non:AmHi(Bla)> American History for Elementary Schools, by Albert F. Blaisdell (1902) -- 232pp
  92. Non:ArtD(Tru)> The Art of the Deal, by Donald J. Trump (1987) -- 372pp
  93. Non:ArtW(Tzu)> The Art of War, by Sun Tzu (506 BC) -- 42pp
  94. Non:Bea2(Fas)> The Beacon Second Reader, by James H. Fasset (1914) -- 202pp
  95. Non:Bibl(God)> The Bible, King James Version -- 776pp
  96. Non:Brie(Haw)> A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking (2002) -- 226pp
  97. Non:CapF(Fri)> Capitalism and Freedom, by Milton Friedman (1962) -- 202pp
  98. Non:CapS(Sch)> Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, by Joseph A. Schumpeter (1942) -- 406pp
  99. Non:Clas(Hun)> The Clash of Civilizations, by Samuel P. Huntington (1996) -- 322pp
  100. Non:Clos(Blo)> The Closing of the American Mind , by Allan Bloom (1987) -- 382pp (Summary)
  101. Non:CoMa(Mar)> The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels (1848) -- 35pp
  102. Non:Diar(Fra)> The Diary of Anne Frank, English translation (1947) -- 238pp
  103. Non:EcOn(Haz)> Economics in One Lesson, by Henry Hazlitt (1946) -- 150pp
  104. Non:FedP(HJM)> The Federalist Papers, by Hamilton, Jay, and Madison (1787-1788) -- 559pp
  105. Non:FedX(Bru)> The AntiFederalist Papers, by Agrippa, Brutus, Cato, et al (1787-1788) -- 266pp
  106. Non:Fire(Bon)> Fireside Book of Folk Songs - Lyrics, by Margaret Bradford Boni (1947) -- 150pp
  107. Non:FrCh(Fri)> Free to Choose, by Milton and Rose Friedman (1980) -- 310pp
  108. Non:FuSh(Tof)> Future Shock, by Alvin Toffler (1970) -- 480pp
  109. Non:Gula(Sol)> The Gulag Archipelago, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1973) -- 620pp
  110. Non:HiAm(Joh)> A History of the American People [1580-1997], by Paul Johnson (1997) -- 976pp
  111. Non:MagC(Eng)> The Magna Carta (1215) -- 6pp
  112. Non:McGu(McG)> McGuffey Readers: Primer, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, Speller
  113. Non:Medi(Aur)> The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180) -- 88pp
  114. Non:Prin(Mac)> The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli (1513) -- 80pp
  115. Non:RoaS(Hay)> The Road To Serfdom, by Friedrich A. Hayek (1944) -- 178pp
  116. Non:RulR(Ali)> Rules For Radicals, by Saul Alinsky (1971) -- 196pp
  117. Non:USCo(Mad)> The U.S. Constitution, et al -- 58pp
  118. Non:WarB(Som)> The War Against Boys, by Christina Hoff Sommers (2013) -- 205pp
  119. Non:WhyJ(Fle)> Why Johnny Can't Read, by Rudolf Flesch (1955) -- 222pp
  120. Non:Worl(Phi)> The World Turned Upside Down, by Melanie Phillips (2010) -- 408pp

  121. Mix:Gutn(Gut)> Gutenberg Books: Links to digitized works, numbered 1-2000.

Most of the bold-text links to the works above are to local site-independent plain-text copies of those works posted elsewhere. Those original postings are hot-linked in the title of FCTA's copy, so you can choose which version you like better. (FCTA's local copies are also quite readable as 'View Source' monospaced text.) Each local HTML book contains a hot-linked table of contents, so you can see your reading progress 'bookmarked' by the previously-read purple chapter links.

Note that few of us actually enjoy reading an entire book from a computer; buy the paperback! This site merely serves as a convenient list of the available Western classics, as encouragement to explore these great works, and for post-read reference material.

(If you like, feel free to dispense multiple copies of the QR Code for this page.)