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Great Reads: Full Text of Classics in Western Literature

-- by David Swink, FCTA, 06/16/2021 (Updated 04/20/2026)

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:Asim(Bra)> The End of Eternity, by Isaac Asimov (1955) -- 188pp
24. Fic:Fahr(Bra)> Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury (1953) -- 256pp
25. Fic:Fail(Bur)> Fail-Safe, by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler (1962) -- 285pp
26. Fic:Fare(Hem)> A Farewell to Arms, by Earnest Hemingway (1940) -- 304pp
27. Fic:FlIn(Coo)> Flight of the Intruder, by Stephen Coontz (1987) -- 329pp
28. Fic:ForW(Hem)> For Whom The Bell Tolls, by Earnest Hemingway (1940) -- 471pp
29. Fic:Fran(She)> Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley (1818) -- 280pp
30. Fic:Godf(Puz)> The Godfather, by Mario Puzo (1969) -- 377pp
31. Fic:GrWr(Ste)> The Grapes Of Wrath, by John Steinbeck (1939) -- 464pp
32. Fic:GrEx(Dic)> Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens (1867) -- 544pp
33. Fic:Grim(Gri)> Grimms' Fairy Tales, -- 62 Short Kid Stories
34. Fic:Hobb(Tol)> The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien (1937) -- 330pp
35. Fic:Huck(Twa)> The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain (1884) -- 293pp
36. Fic:Hung(Col)> The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (2008) -- 366pp
37. Fic:Hunt(Cla)> The Hunt For Red October, by Tom Clancy (1984) -- 387pp
38. Fic:IamL(Mat)> I Am Legend, by Richard Mathson (1954) -- 160pp
39. Fic:Ilia(Hom)> The Iliad, by Homer (800BC), translated by Samuel Butler -- 560pp
40. Fic:Illu(Bra)> The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury (1951) -- 288pp
41. Fic:Jane(Bro)> Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte (1847) -- 450pp
42. Fic:JuPk(Cri)> Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton (1990) -- 464pp
43. Fic:Kill(Lee)> To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee (1960) -- 281pp
44. Fic:Last(Coo)> The Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper (1826) -- 558pp
45. Fic:LeGr(Whi)> Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman (1855-1892) -- 160pp
46. Fic:LiHo(Wil)> Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932) -- 176pp
47. Fic:LiPr(Bur)> A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1905) -- 122pp
48. Fic:LiWo(Alc)> Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott (1868) -- 759pp
49. Fic:LofF(Gol)> Lord Of The Flies, by William Golding (1954) -- 224pp
50. Fic:LofR(Tol)> Lord Of The Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien (1954-55) -- 1031pp
51. Fic:Mari(Hen)> Marine Sniper, by Charles Henderaon (1986) -- 320pp
52. Fic:Mart(Bra)> The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury (1951) -- 185pp
53. Fic:Moby(Mel)> Moby Dick, by Herman Melville (1851) -- 378pp
54. Fic:Odys(Hom)> The Odyssey, by Homer (800BC), translated by Samuel Butler -- 541pp
55. Fic:OfHu(Mau)> Of Human Bondage, by W. Somerset Maughn (1915) -- 648pp
56. Fic:OfMi(Ste)> Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck (1937) -- 107pp
57. Fic:OlMa(Hem)> The Old Man And The Sea, by Earnest Hemingway (1952) -- 112pp
58. Fic:OnBe(Shu)> On The Beach, by Nevil Shute (1957) -- 320pp
59. Fic:Pers(Aus)> Persuasion, by Jane Austen (1818) -- 272pp
60. Fic:PetP(Bar)> Peter Pan [Peter and Wendy], by J. M. Barrie (1911) -- 118pp
61. Fic:Plan(Bou)> Planet Of The Apes, by Pierre Boulle (1963) -- 272pp
62. Fic:PoeE(Poe)> Popular Works of Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849)
63. Fic:Prid(Aus)> Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen (1813) -- 305pp
64. Fic:Prin(Wri)> That Printer of Udell's, by Harold Bell Wright (1903) -- 320pp
65. Fic:RedB(Cra)> The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane (1894) -- 112pp
66. Fic:RedF(Raw)> Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls (1961) -- 245pp
67. Fic:RobC(Def)> Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe (1719) -- 290pp
68. Fic:RobH(Pyl)> The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle (1883) -- 320pp
69. Fic:SatV(Rus)> The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie (1988) -- 561pp
70. Fic:SavP(Col)> Saving Private Ryan, by Max Collins (1998) -- 317pp
71. Fic:ScLe(Haw)> The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850) -- 272pp
72. Fic:SeGa(Mon)> The Secret Garden, by Lucy Maud Montgomery (1911) -- 192pp
73. Fic:Shak(Lam)> Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles and Mary Lamb (1807) -- 192pp
74. Fic:Sher(Doy)> The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle (1892) -- 321pp
75. Fic:Sila(Eli)> Silas Marner, by George Eliot (1861) -- 128pp
76. Fic:Star(Hei)> Starship Troopers , by Robert Heinlein (1959) -- 278pp
77. Fic:Stat(Cri)> State of Fear, by Michael Crichton (2004) -- 624pp
78. Fic:StrS(Hei)> A Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein (1961) -- 513pp
79. Fic:StuL(Whi)> Stuart Little, by E. B. White (1945) -- 52pp
80. Fic:SunA(Hem)> The Sun Also Rises, by Earnest Hemingway (1926) -- 247pp
81. Fic:SwFa(Wys)> The Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann David Wyss (1812) -- 232pp
82. Fic:Tale(Dic)> A Tale Of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens (1859) -- 304pp
83. Fic:Tarz(Bur)> Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1912) -- 152pp
84. Fic:TiMa(Wel)> The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells (1895) -- 84pp
85. Fic:TomS(Twa)> The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain (1876) -- 225pp
86. Fic:Tres(Ste)> Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson (1883) -- 286pp
87. Fic:Tria(Kaf)> The Trial, by Franz Kafka (1925) -- 160pp
88. Fic:Twen(Ver)> 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne (1870) -- 212pp
89. Fic:Uncl(Sto)> Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852) -- 576pp
90. Fic:WaWo(Wel)> The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells (1898) -- 138pp
91. Fic:Welv(Ran)> We The Living, by Ayn Rand (1936) -- 564pp
92. Fic:WhiF(Lon)> White Fang, by Jack London (1906) -- 128pp
93. Fic:Wind(Gra)> The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame (1908) -- 220pp
94. Fic:Wuth(Bro)> Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte (1847) -- 463pp
95. Fic:Year(Raw)> The Yearling, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1938) -- 528pp
    
    
96. Non:AmHi(Bla)> American History for Elementary Schools, by Albert F. Blaisdell (1902) -- 232pp
97. Non:ArtD(Tru)> The Art of the Deal, by Donald J. Trump (1987) -- 372pp
98. Non:ArtW(Tzu)> The Art of War, by Sun Tzu (506 BC) -- 42pp
99. Non:Bea2(Fas)> The Beacon Second Reader, by James H. Fasset (1914) -- 202pp
100. Non:Bibl(God)> The Bible, King James Version -- 776pp
101. Non:BodM(Abr)> Body, Mind, and Sugar, by Dr. E.M. Abrahamson and E.W. Pezet (1951) -- 162pp
102. Non:Brie(Haw)> A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking (2002) -- 226pp
103. Non:CapF(Fri)> Capitalism and Freedom, by Milton Friedman (1962) -- 202pp
104. Non:CapS(Sch)> Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, by Joseph A. Schumpeter (1942) -- 406pp
105. Non:Clas(Hun)> The Clash of Civilizations, by Samuel P. Huntington (1996) -- 322pp
106. Non:Clos(Blo)> The Closing of the American Mind , by Allan Bloom (1987) -- 382pp (Summary)
107. Non:CoMa(Mar)> The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels (1848) -- 35pp
108. Non:Diar(Fra)> The Diary of Anne Frank, English translation (1947) -- 238pp
109. Non:EcOn(Haz)> Economics in One Lesson, by Henry Hazlitt (1946) -- 150pp
110. Non:FedP(HJM)> The Federalist Papers, by Hamilton, Jay, and Madison (1787-1788) -- 559pp
111. Non:FedX(Bru)> The AntiFederalist Papers, by Agrippa, Brutus, Cato, et al (1787-1788) -- 266pp
112. Non:Fire(Bon)> Fireside Book of Folk Songs - Lyrics, by Margaret Bradford Boni (1947) -- 150pp
113. Non:FrCh(Fri)> Free to Choose, by Milton and Rose Friedman (1980) -- 310pp
114. Non:FuSh(Tof)> Future Shock, by Alvin Toffler (1970) -- 480pp
115. Non:Gula(Sol)> The Gulag Archipelago, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1973) -- 620pp
116. Non:HiAm(Joh)> A History of the American People [1580-1997], by Paul Johnson (1997) -- 976pp
117. Non:LawT(Bas)> The Law, by Frederic Bastiat (1850) -- 76pp
118. Non:MagC(Eng)> The Magna Carta (1215) -- 6pp
119. Non:McGu(McG)> McGuffey Readers: Primer, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, Speller
120. Non:Medi(Aur)> The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180) -- 88pp
121. Non:Prin(Mac)> The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli (1513) -- 80pp
122. Non:RoaS(Hay)> The Road To Serfdom, by Friedrich A. Hayek (1944) -- 178pp
123. Non:RulR(Ali)> Rules For Radicals, by Saul Alinsky (1971) -- 196pp
124. Non:USCo(Mad)> The U.S. Constitution, et al -- 58pp
125. Non:WarB(Som)> The War Against Boys, by Christina Hoff Sommers (2013) -- 205pp
126. Non:WhyJ(Fle)> Why Johnny Can't Read, by Rudolf Flesch (1955) -- 222pp
127. Non:Worl(Phi)> The World Turned Upside Down, by Melanie Phillips (2010) -- 408pp
     
     
128. 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.)