Great Books of the Western World as Free eBooks

Great Books of the Western World as Free eBooks

Posted here for your convenience is the fullest free eBook list of Mortimer Adler’s Great Books of the Western World.

1. Homer, ca.800 BC

· The Iliad / Homer

· The Odyssey / Homer

2. Aeschylus (525 BC – 456 BC)

· Agamemnon / Aeschylus

· The Choephori / Aeschylus

· The Eumenides / Aeschylus

· The Persians / Aeschylus

· Prometheus Bound / Aeschylus

· The Seven against Thebes / Aeschylus

· The Suppliants / Aeschylus

3. Sophocles (c. 496-c. 405 BC)

· Ajax / Sophocles

· Electra / Sophocles

· The Oedipus Trilogy of Sophocles (Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone)

· Philoctetes / Sophocles

· The Trachiniae / Sophocles

4. Euripides (480 or 484-406 BC)

· Rhesus / Euripides

· Medea / Euripides

· Hippolytus / Euripides

· Alcestis / Euripides

· The Heracleidae / Euripides

· The Suppliants / Euripides

· The Trojan Women / Euripides

· Ion / Euripides

· Helen / Euripides

· Andromache / Euripides

· Electra / Euripides

· The Bacchantes / Euripides

· Hecuba / Euripides

· Heracles / Euripides

· The Phoenissae / Euripides

· Orestes / Euripides

· Iphigenia in Tauris / Euripides

· Iphigenia at Aulis / Euripides

· The Cyclops / Euripides

5. Aristophanes (ca. 446 BC – 385 Bc)

· The Acharnians / Aristophanes

· The Knights / Aristophanes

· The Clouds / Aristophanes

· The Wasps / Aristophanes

· Peace / Aristophanes

· The Birds / Aristophanes

· The Frogs / Aristophanes

· Lysistrata / Aristophanes

· The Thesmophoriazusae /Aristophanes

· The Ecclesiazusae / Aristophanes

· Plutus / Aristophanes

6. Herodotus, 485–420 BC

· The History of Herodotus

7. Thucydides, ca.460 BC

· History of the Peloponnesian War / Thucydides

8. Plato, c.427–c.347 BC

· Charmides, or Temperance / Plato

· Lysis; or Friendship / Plato

· Laches, or Courage / Plato

· Protagoras / Plato

· Euthydemus / Plato

· Cratylus / Plato

· Phaedrus / Plato

· Ion / Plato

· The Symposium / Plato

· Meno / Plato

· Euthyphro / Plato

· Apology / Plato

· Crito / Plato

· Phaedo / Plato

· Gorgias / Plato

· The Republic / Plato

· Timaeus / Plato

· Critias / Plato

· Parmenides / Plato

· Theaetetus / Plato

· The Sophist / Plato

· The Statesman / Plato

· Philebus / Plato

· Laws / Plato

· The Seventh Letter / Plato

9. Aristotle, 384–322 BC

· The Categories / Aristotle

· On Interpretation / Aristotle

· Prior Analytics / Aristotle

· Posterior Analytics / Aristotle

· Topics / Aristotle

· On Sophistical Refutations / Aristotle

· Physics / Aristotle

· On Generation and Corruption / Aristotle

· Meteorology / Aristotle

· Metaphysics / Aristotle

· On the Soul / Aristotle

· On Dreams / Aristotle

· On Longevity and Shortness of Life / Aristotle

· On Memory and Reminiscence /Aristotle

· On Prophesying by Dreams / Aristotle

· On Sense and the Sensible /Aristotle

· On Sleep and Sleeplessness / Aristotle

· On the Heavens / Aristotle

· On Youth and Old Age, On Life and Death, On Breathing / Aristotle

· The History of Animals / Aristotle

· On the Parts of Animals / Aristotle

· On the Motion of Animals / Aristotle

· On the Gait of Animals / Aristotle

· On the Generation of Animals / Aristotle

· Nicomachean Ethics / Aristotle

· Politics / Aristotle

· The Athenian Constitution / Aristotle

· Rhetoric / Aristotle

· Poetics / Aristotle

10. Hippocrates, 460–377 BC

· Works (approximation)

11. Galen, 131–201

· On the Natural Faculties / Galen

12. Euclid ca.300 BC

· The Thirteen Books of Euclid’s Elements, or

· First Six Books of Euclid’s Elements

13. Archimedes, c. 287–212 BC

All works listed between On the Sphere and Cylinder and the Book of Lemmas may be found in The Works of Archimedes.

· On the Sphere and Cylinder

· Measurement of a Circle

· On Conoids and Spheroids

· On Spirals

· On the Equilibrium of Planes

· The Sand-Reckoner

· The Quadrature of the Parabola

· On Floating Bodies

· Book of Lemmas

· The Method Treating of Mechanical Problems

14. Apollonius of Perga, 262 BC–ca. 190 BC

· Treatise on Conic Sections / Apollonius of Perga

15. Nicomachus of Gerasa

· Introduction to Arithmetic / Nicomachus of Gerasa

16. Lucretius, 98?–55 BC

· Of the Nature of Things / Titus Lucretius Carus

17. Epictetus, ca. 55–135

· The Discourses of Epictetus

18. Marcus Aurelius, 121–180

· The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

19. Virgil, 70–19 BCE

· Eclogues / Virgil

· Georgics / Virgil

· The Æneid / Virgil

20. Plutarch, 46–120

· Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans / Plutarch

21. Cornelius Tacitus, ca.56–ca.120 AD

· The Annals / P. Cornelius Tacitus

· Histories / P. Cornelius Tacitus

22. Ptolemy

· The Almagest (approximation)

23. Nicolaus Copernicus, 1473–1543

· On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres (approximation, and not in ePub)

24. Johannes Kepler, 1571–1630

· Epitome of Copernican Astronomy (Books IV – V)

· The Harmonies of the World (Book V)

25. Plotinus, 205–270

· The Six Enneads / Plotinus

26. Augustine of Hippo, 354–430

· The Confessions / St. Augustine

· The City of God

· On Christian Doctrine

27. Thomas Aquinas, 1224–1274

· Summa Theologica

28. Dante, 1265–1321

· The Divine Comedy : The Vision of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise / Dante Alighieri

29. Geoffrey Chaucer, ca.1343–1400

· Troilus and Criseyde

· The Canterbury Tales / Geoffrey Chaucer

30. Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469–1527

· The Prince / Nicolo Machiavelli

31. Thomas Hobbes, 1588–1679

· Leviathan / Thomas Hobbes

32. François Rabelais, 1494?–1553?

· Five books of the lives, heroic deeds and sayings of Gargantua and his son Pantagruel / Francois Rabelais

33. Michel de Montaigne, 1533–1592

· The Essays of Michel de Montaigne

34. William Shakespeare, 1564–1616

· The First Part of King Henry the Sixth / William Shakespeare

· The Second Part of King Henry the Sixth / William Shakespeare

· The third part of King Henry the Sixth / William Shakespeare

· The Life and Death of Richard the Third / William Shakespeare

· The Comedy of errors / William Shakespeare

· Titus Andronicus / William Shakespeare

· The Taming of the Shrew / William Shakespeare

· The Two Gentlemen of Verona / William Shakespeare

· Love’s Labour ‘s Lost / William Shakespeare

· Romeo and Juliet / William Shakespeare

· The Life and Death of Richard the Second / William Shakespeare

· A Midsummer Night’s Dream / William Shakespeare

· The Life and Death of King John / William Shakespeare

· The Merchant of Venice / William Shakespeare

· The first part of King Henry the Fourth / William Shakespeare

· The second part of King Henry the Fourth / William Shakespeare

· Much Ado About Nothing / William Shakespeare

· The Life of King Henry the Fifth / William Shakespeare

· The Life and Death of Julius Ceasar / William Shakespeare

· As you like it / William Shakespeare

· Twelfth Night; or, what you will / William Shakespeare

· The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark / William Shakespeare

· The Merry Wives of Windsor / William Shakespeare

· The History of Troilus and Cressida / William Shakespeare

· All’s Well that Ends Well / William Shakespeare

· Measure for Measure / William Shakespeare

· Othello, the Moore of Venice / William Shakespeare

· King Lear / William Shakespeare

· Macbeth / William Shakespeare

· Antony and Cleopatra / William Shakespeare

· The Tragedy of Coriolanus / William Shakespeare

· The Life of Timon of Athens / William Shakespeare

· Pericles, Prince of Tyre / William Shakespeare

· Cymbeline / William Shakespeare

· The Winter’s Tale / William Shakespeare

· The Tempest / William Shakespeare

· The Life of King Henry the Eighth / William Shakespeare

· The Sonnets / William Shakespeare

35. William Gilbert, 1540-1603

· On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies

36. Galileo Galilei, 1564–1642

· Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences / Galileo Galilei

37. William Harvey, 1578–1657

· On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals / William Harvey

· On the Circulation of Blood

· On the Generation of Animals

38. Miguel de Cervantes, 1547–1616

· The History of Don Quixote de la Mancha / Miguel de Cervantes

39. Francis Bacon, 1561–1626

· The Advancement of Learning / Francis Bacon

· The New Organon / Francis Bacon

· The New Atlantis / Francis Bacon

40. René Descartes, 1596–1650

· Rules for the Direction of the Mind

· Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason, and Seeking the Truth in the Sciences / René Descartes

· Meditations on First Philosophy

· Objections Against the Meditations and Replies

· The Geometry

41. Benedict de Spinoza, 1632–1677

· The Ethics / Benedict de Spinoza

42. John Milton, 1608–1674

· English Minor Poems

· Paradise Lost / John Milton

· Samson Agonistes

· Areopagitica / John Milton

43. Blaise Pascal, 1623–1662

· The Provincial Letters / Blaise Pascal

· Pensées / Blaise Pascal

· Scientific and mathematical essays (approximation)

44. Isaac Newton, 1642–1727

· Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

· Optics

45. Christiaan Huygens, 1629–1693

· Treatise on Light

46. John Locke, 1632–1704

· A Letter Concerning Toleration / John Locke

· Second Treatise of Civil Government / John Locke

· An Essay Concerning Human Understanding / John Locke

47. George Berkeley, 1685–1753

· A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge / George Berkeley

48. David Hume, 1711–1776

· An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding / David Hume

49. Jonathan Swift, 1667–1745

· Gulliver’s Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World / Jonathan Swift

50. Laurence Sterne, 1713–1768

· The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman / Laurence Sterne

51. Henry Fielding, 1707–1754

· The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling / Henry Fielding

52. Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu

· The Spirit of the Laws Volume I and Volume II

53. Jean–Jacques Rousseau, 1712–1778

· Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men / Jean-Jacques Rosseau

· A Discourse on Political Economy

· The Social Contract / Jean-Jacques Rosseau

54. Adam Smith, 1723–1790

· An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations / Adam Smith

55. Edward Gibbon, 1737–1794

· The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire / Edward Gibbon

56. Immanuel Kant, 1724–1804

· The Critique of Pure Reason / Immanuel Kant

· Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals / Immanuel Kant

· The Critique of Practical Reason / Immanuel Kant

· Introduction to the Metaphysic of Morals / Immanuel Kant

· The Metaphysical Elements of Ethics / Immanuel Kant

· The Science of Right / Immanuel Kant

· The Critique of Judgement. Part I: Critique of Aesthetic Judgement / Immanuel Kant

57. American State Papers

· Declaration of Independence

· Articles of Confederation

· The Constitution of the United States of America

58. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay

· The Federalist

59. John Stuart Mill, 1806–1873

· On Liberty / John Stuart Mill

· Representative Government / John Stuart Mill

· Utilitarianism / John Stuart Mill

60. James Boswell, 1740–1795

· The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. / James Boswell

61. Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, 1743–1794

· Elements of Chemistry: in a new systematic order, containing all the modern discoveries / Antoine Lavoisier

62. Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier

· Analytical Theory of Heat

63. Michael Faraday

· Experimental Researches in Electricity

64. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, 1770–1831

· The Philosophy of Right

· The Philosophy of History

65. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749–1832

· Faust / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

66. Herman Melville, 1819–1891

· Moby Dick; or the Whale / Herman Melville

67. Charles Darwin, 1809–1882

· The Origin of Species / Charles Darwin

· The Descent of Man / Charles Darwin

68. Karl Marx, 1818–1883

· Capital

69. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

· The Manifesto of the Communist Party / Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles

70. Leo Tolstoy, 1828–1910

· War and Peace / Leo Tolstoy

71. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821–1881

· The Brothers Karamazov / Fyodor Dostoyevsky

72. William James, 1842–1910

· The Principles of Psychology / William James

73. Sigmund Freud (Consider downloading from here)

· The Origin and Development of Psycho-Analysis

· Selected Papers on Hysteria

· The Sexual Enlightenment of Children

· The Future Prospects of Psycho-Analytic Therapy

· Observations on “Wild” Psycho-Analysis

· The Interpretation of Dreams

· On Narcissism

· Instincts and Their Vicissitudes

· Repression

· The Unconscious

· A General Introduction to Psycho-Analysis

· Beyond the Pleasure Principle

· Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

· The Ego and the Id

· Inhibitions, Symptoms, and Anxiety

· Thoughts for the Times on War and Death

· Civilization and Its Discontents

· New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis

Second edition

To the pre-20th century books the second edition added the following:

74. John Calvin

· Institutes of the Christian Religion (Selections) (approximation, as full version)

75. Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1466–1536

· The Praise of Folly / Erasmus

76. Molière, 1622–1673 (Most plays are available at the Internet Archive)

· The School for Wives

· The Critique of the School for Wives

· Tartuffe ; or The Hypocrite / Molière

· Don Juan

· The Miser

· The Would-Be Gentleman

· The Would-Be Invalid

77. Jean Racine

· Bérénice

· Phèdre

78. Voltaire, 1694–1778

· Candide / Voltaire

79. Denis Diderot

· Rameau’s Nephew

80. Søren Kierkegaard

· Fear and Trembling (approximation, and full version but not in ePub)

81. Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844–1900

· Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Future Philosophy /Friedrich Nietzsche

82. Alexis de Tocqueville, 1805–1859

· Democracy in America / Alexis de Tocqueville

83. Honore de Balzac, 1799–1850

· Cousin Betty / Honoré de Balzac

84. Jane Austen, 1775–1817

· Emma / Jane Austen

85. George Eliot, 1819–1880

· Middlemarch / George Eliot

86. Charles Dickens, 1812–1870

· Little Dorrit / Charles Dickens

87. Mark Twain, 1835–1910

· The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn / Mark Twain

88. Henrik Ibsen, 1828–1906

· A Doll’s House / Henrik Ibsen

· The Wild Duck / Henrik Ibsen

· Hedda Gabler / Henrik Ibsen

· The Master Builder / Henrik Ibsen

89. The six volumes of 20th century material consisted of the following:

90. William James, 1842–1910

· Pragmatism : a new name for some old ways of thinking / William James

91. Henri Bergson

· An Introduction to Metaphysics

92. John Dewey

· Experience and Education

93. Alfred North Whitehead, 1861–1947

· Science and the Modern World

94. Bertrand Russell

· The Problems of Philosophy

95. Martin Heidegger

· What Is Metaphysics?

96. Ludwig Wittgenstein

· Philosophical Investigations (better version needed)

97. Karl Barth

· The Word of God and the Word of Man

98. Henri Poincaré

· Science and Hypothesis

99. Max Planck

· Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers

100. Alfred North Whitehead, 1861–1947

· An Introduction to Mathematics

101. Albert Einstein

· Relativity: The Special and the General Theory

102. Arthur Eddington

· The Expanding Universe

103. Niels Bohr

· Atomic Theory and the Description of Nature (selections)

· Discussion with Einstein on Epistemology

104. G. H. Hardy

· A Mathematician’s Apology

105. Werner Heisenberg

· Physics and Philosophy

106. Erwin Schrödinger

· What Is Life?

107. Theodosius Dobzhansky, 1900-1975

· Genetics and the Origin of Species (approximation)

108. C. H. Waddington, 1905–1975

· The Nature of Life

109. Thorstein Veblen, 1857–1929

· The Theory of the Leisure Class / Thorstein Veblen

110. R. H. Tawney, 1880-1962

· The Acquisitive Society

111. John Maynard Keynes, 1883–1946

· The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money / John Maynard Keynes

112. Sir James George Frazer, 1854–1941

· The Golden bough : a study in magic and religion / Sir James George Frazer

113. Max Weber

· Essays in Sociology (selections)

114. Johan Huizinga

· The Waning of the Middle Ages

115. Claude Lévi-Strauss

· Structural Anthropology (selections)

116. Henry James, 1843–1916

· The Beast in the Jungle / Henry James

117. George Bernard Shaw, 1856–1950

· Saint Joan

118. Joseph Conrad, 1857–1924

· Heart of Darkness / Joseph Conrad

119. Anton Chekhov, 1860–1904

· Uncle Vanya / Anton Chekhov

120. Luigi Pirandello, 1867-1936

· Six Characters in Search of an Author

121. Marcel Proust, 1871–1922

· Remembrance of Things Past: “Swann in Love” / Marcel Proust

122. Willa Cather, 1873–1947

· A Lost Lady / Willa Cather

123. Thomas Mann, 1875-1955

· Death in Venice

124. James Joyce, 1882–1941

· A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man / James Joyce

125. Virginia Woolf, 1882–1941

· To the Lighthouse

126. Franz Kafka, 1883–1924

· Metamorphosis / Franz Kafka

127. D. H. Lawrence, 1885–1930

· The Prussian Officer

128. T. S. Eliot

· The Waste Land

129. Eugene O’Neill, 1888–1953

· Mourning Becomes Electra

130. F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1896–1940

· The Great Gatsby

131. William Faulkner, 1897-1962

· A Rose for Emily

132. Bertolt Brecht, 1898-1956

· Mother Courage and Her Children

133. Ernest Hemingway, 1899-1961

· The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber

134. George Orwell, 1903–1950

· Animal Farm

135. Samuel Beckett, 1906-1989

· Waiting for Godot