Epic Poetry
The Iliad
The rage of Achilles, and the most honest book ever written about violence. Everything after it is downstream.
Read the guide
Ideas • History • Civilization
The Great Books Project
Civilizations are inherited only by those willing to understand them. The Great Books Project follows the conversation that shaped the West—not simply in chronological order, but by tracing how one thinker influenced the next.
Each work builds on those that came before it, creating an unbroken chain of ideas spanning thousands of years. By following that chain, you don't just read history—you witness the development of civilization itself.
- Homer influences Plato.
- Plato influences Aristotle.
- Aristotle shapes Cicero.
- Augustine carries Rome into Christianity.
- Aquinas reconciles faith and reason.
- Locke responds to Hobbes.
- Burke responds to Rousseau.
- Nietzsche responds to almost everyone.
The Great Books
Each work has its own page: what it is, why it matters, and an honest comparison of the best translations. The Amazon link on each row goes straight to the edition recommended for that work.
Purchases made through these links help support the Great Books Project at no additional cost to you.
- 1
The Epic of GilgameshAmazon - 2
The IliadAmazon - 3
The OdysseyAmazon - 4
TheogonyAmazon - 5
Works and DaysAmazon - 6
AnalectsAmazon - 7
HistoriesAmazon - 8
History of the Peloponnesian WarAmazon - 9
ApologyAmazon - 10
CritoAmazon - 11
SymposiumAmazon - 12
The RepublicAmazon - 13
PhaedoAmazon - 14
Anabasis / Persian ExpeditionAmazon - 15
CyropaediaAmazon - 16
Nicomachean EthicsAmazon - 17
PoliticsAmazon - 18
RhetoricAmazon - 19
ElementsAmazon - 20
The HistoriesAmazon - 21
OrationsAmazon - 22
On the Nature of ThingsAmazon - 23
On the RepublicAmazon - 24
On the LawsAmazon - 25
On DutiesAmazon - 26
The Early History of RomeAmazon - 27
The AeneidAmazon - 28
Letters from a StoicAmazon - 29
The Jewish WarAmazon - 30
Parallel Lives (Greek)Amazon - 31
Parallel Lives (Hellenistic)Amazon - 32
Parallel Lives (Roman)Amazon - 33
AnnalsAmazon - 34
EnchiridionAmazon - 35
MeditationsAmazon - 36
ConfessionsAmazon - 37
City of GodAmazon - 38
Consolation of PhilosophyAmazon - 39
BeowulfAmazon - 40
Summa TheologicaAmazon - 41
The Divine ComedyAmazon - 42
Praise of FollyAmazon - 43
The PrinceAmazon - 44
UtopiaAmazon - 45
Discourses on LivyAmazon - 46
The CourtierAmazon - 47
EssaysAmazon - 48
The Complete PlaysAmazon - 49
Novum OrganumAmazon - 50
Discourse on MethodAmazon - 51
LeviathanAmazon - 52
Paradise LostAmazon - 53
PenséesAmazon - 54
EthicsAmazon - 55
Two Treatises of GovernmentAmazon - 56
Spirit of the LawsAmazon - 57
Social ContractAmazon - 58
Common SenseAmazon - 59
The Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireAmazon - 60
The Wealth of NationsAmazon - 61
Federalist PapersAmazon - 62
Reflections on the Revolution in FranceAmazon - 63
Democracy in AmericaAmazon - 64
Communist ManifestoAmazon - 65
On LibertyAmazon - 66
On the Origin of SpeciesAmazon - 67
The Brothers KaramazovAmazon - 68
Beyond Good and EvilAmazon
Beyond the Great Books
These books build upon the foundation of the main list through literature, history, economics, psychology, and modern works that deepen, challenge, and complement the conversation.
Each has its own page; the Amazon link goes to the recommended edition.
- 1
The Count of Monte CristoAmazon - 2
Crime and PunishmentAmazon - 3
1984Amazon - 4
The Origins of TotalitarianismAmazon - 5
The Gulag Archipelago Vol. 1Amazon - 6
The IdiotAmazon - 7
The Master and MargaritaAmazon - 8
Clash of CivilizationsAmazon - 9
How To Read A BookAmazon - 10
The Good WarAmazon - 11
Notes from UndergroundAmazon - 12
Thus Spoke ZarathustraAmazon - 13
A Conflict of VisionsAmazon - 14
Basic EconomicsAmazon - 15
The Indispensable Milton FriedmanAmazon - 16
On Classical EconomicsAmazon - 17
Discrimination and DisparitiesAmazon - 18
The Thomas Sowell ReaderAmazon - 19
Black Rednecks and White LiberalsAmazon - 20
The Creature from Jekyll IslandAmazon - 21
The Age of ReasonAmazon - 22
How the British Invented CommunismAmazon - 23
Modern Man in Search of a SoulAmazon - 24
Collected Works of C.G. Jung Vol 9 Part 1Amazon - 25
The Art of Worldly WisdomAmazon - 26
HagakureAmazon - 27
The 48 Laws of PowerAmazon - 28
What It Means to Be a LibertarianAmazon - 29
The Moral ArcAmazon - 30
Devil's GameAmazon - 31
The Rise and Fall of the House of MediciAmazon - 32
The House of BorgiaAmazon - 33
The Art of HappinessAmazon - 34
HamnetAmazon - 35
1Q84Amazon - 36
A Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyAmazon - 37
Conservative Comebacks to Liberal LiesAmazon - 38
The Secret Teachings of All AgesAmazon - 39
Dismantling AmericaAmazon - 40
Jimmy Carter: The Liberal Left and World ChaosAmazon - 41
How to Test Negative for StupidAmazon - 42
Symbol SourcebookAmazon
The Great Books Project
Dive Into The Books
Start with one book. Each guide explains why it matters, how to read it, and which edition to buy.
Stoicism
Meditations
A Roman emperor writing to himself, with no intention of being read. Open it anywhere.
Read the guideDystopian Fiction
1984
Not a prophecy about surveillance. A book about what happens to a mind when language is taken from it.
Read the guideA civilization that forgets the books that built it eventually forgets itself.
