Will Durant’s 100 Best Books for an Education - My Adapted Version
In the philosopher and historian Will Durant’s book The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time, he presented his list of one hundred books for an education, spanning a wide range of subjects. Most of the list is still as relevant today as when Durant published it, but there are some more up-to-date books that reflect the scientific advancements that have been made in recent years. Also, I have added a couple of additional books that are my personal favourites.
The purpose of this list is to set a preliminary reading list to build a sturdy foundation in and deep understanding of history, philosophy, literature, science, art, and culture.
Time required for reading: 4-6 years at 7 hours per week
Group I. Introductory Texts
- BRYSON, B., A Short History of Nearly Everything
- MARIEB and KELLER, Essentials of Human Anatomy & Physiology
- ATTIA, P., Outlive
- WALKER, M., Why We Sleep
- JAMES, W., The Principles of Psychology
- CIALDINI, R., Influence
- KAUFMAN, P., Poor Charlie’s Almanack
- SUMNER, W. G., Folkways
- FRAZER, SIR JAS., The Golden Bough
- GIRARD, R., Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World
Group II. Asia and Africa
- MARR, A., A History of the World; chs. 1-2.
- DURANT, W., Our Oriental Heritage
- READER, J., Africa: A Biography of the Continent
- VAN NORDEN and IVANHOE, Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy
- The Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Ruth, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Amos, Micah, the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, and Epistles of St. Paul
- GOMBRICH, E. H., The Story of Art. 16th ed., chs. 1-2, 7.
Group III. Greece
- DURANT, W., The Life of Greece
- HERODOTUS, Histories
- THUCYDIDES, History of the Peloponnesian War
- PLUTARCH, Parallel Lives. Loeb classical library ed. (esp. Lycurgus, Solon, Themistocles, Aristides, Pericles, Alcibiades, Demosthenes, Alexander)
- MURRAY, G., Greek Literature
- HOMER, Iliad
- HOMER, Odyssey
- AESCHYLUS, Prometheus Bound
- SOPHOCLES, Oedipus Tyrannus and Antigone
- EURIPIDES, all plays
- DIOGENES LAERTIUS, Lives of the Philosophers
- PLATO, Dialogues. esp. The Apology of Socrates, Phaedo and The Republic (sections 327-32, 336-77, 384-85, 392-426, 433-35, 481-83, 512-20, 572-95)
- ARISTOTLE, Nicomachean Ethics
- ARISTOTLE, Politics
- BAUER, S., The Story of Science; chs. 1-4
- GOMBRICH, E. H., The Story of Art. 16th ed., chs. 3-4
Group IV. Rome
- DURANT, W., Caesar and Christ
- MARR, A., chs. 3
- PLUTARCH, Parallel Lives. Loeb classical library ed. (esp. Cato Censor, Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, Marius, Sylla, Pompey, Cicero, Caesar, Brutus, Antony)
- LUCRETIUS, On the Nature of Things
- VIRGIL, Aeneid
- MARCUS AURELIUS, Meditations
- BAUER, S., The Story of Science; chs. 5-6
- GOMBRICH, E. H., The Story of Art. 16th ed., chs. 5-6
- GIBBON, E., Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Penguin Classics ed.
Group V. The Age of Christianity
- DURANT, W., The Age of Faith
- MARR, A., chs. 4
- OMAR KHAYYAM, Rubaiyat
- ABELARD and HELOISE, The Letters of Abelard and Heloise
- DANTE, Divine Comedy
- TAINE, H., History of English Literature, bk. 1
- CHAUCER, G., Canterbury Tales
- ADAMS, H., Mont St. Michel and Chartres
- GOMBRICH, E. H., The Story of Art. 16th ed., chs. 8-11
- BURKHOLDER, GROUT and PALISA, A History of Western Music, 10th ed., chs. 1-6
Group VI. The Italian Renaissance
- DURANT, W., The Renaissance
- CELLINI, B., Autobiography
- VASARI, G., Lives of the Painters and Sculptors. 4v. Esp. Giotto, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo
- HOFFDING, H., History of Modern Philosophy. 2v. Sections on Bruno and Machiavelli
- MACHIAVELLI, N., The Prince
- BURKHOLDER, GROUT and PALISA, A History of Western Music, 10th ed., chs. 7-9
- GOMBRICH, E. H., The Story of Art. 16th ed., chs. 15-16
Group VII. Europe in the Seventeenth Century
- DURANT, W., The Reformation
- MACCULLOCH, D., The Reformation: A History
- NELSON, B., The Cambridge Introduction to French Literature; sections on the sixteenth century
- RABELAIS, Gargantua and Pantagruel
- MONTAIGNE, Essays. 3v. Esp. Of Coaches, Of the Incommodity of Greatness, Of Vanity, and Of Experience
- CERVANTES, Don Quixote
- SHAKESPEARE, Plays. Esp. Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Henry IV, Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, Midsummer Night's Dream, Timon of Athens, and The Tempest
- TAINE, bk. II, chs. 1-4
- WILL and ARIEL DURANT, The Age of Reason Begins
- BURKHOLDER, GROUT and PALISA, A History of Western Music, 10th ed., chs. 10-12
- GOMBRICH, E. H., The Story of Art. 16th ed., chs. 17-18
Group VIII. Europe in the Seventeenth Century
- WILL and ARIEL DURANT, The Age of Louis XIV
- NELSON, B., The Cambridge Introduction to French Literature; sections on the seventeenth century
- LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, Reflections
- MOLIERE, Plays. Esp. Tartuffe, The Miser, The Misanthrope, The Bourgeois Gentleman, The Feast of the Statue (Don Juan)
- BACON, F., Essays. All
- MILTON, J., Lycidas, L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Sonnets, Areopagitica, and Paradise Lost
- BAUER, S., The Story of Science; chs. 8-12
- COPLESTON, F. C., A History of Philosophy. Sections on Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Spinoza, and Leibnitz
- HOBBES, Leviathan
- SPINOZA, Ethics and On the Improvement of Understanding
- GOMBRICH, E. H., The Story of Art. 16th ed., chs. 19-20
- BURKHOLDER, GROUT and PALISA, A History of Western Music, 10th ed., chs. 13-17
Group IX. Europe in the Eighteenth Century
- WILL and ARIEL DURANT, The Age of Voltaire
- NELSON, B., The Cambridge Introduction to French Literature; sections on the eighteenth century
- SAINTE-BEUVE, Portraits of the 18th Century
- VOLTAIRE, Works. 1-vol. ed. Esp. Candide, Zadig, and essays on Toleration and History
- ROUSSEAU, J. J., Confessions
- WILL and ARIEL DURANT, Rousseau and Revolution
- TAINE, H., Origins of Contemporary France. 6v. Vols. I-IV
- CARLYLE, The French Revolution. 2v.
- TAINE, H., History of English Literature, bk. III, chs. 4-7
- BOSWELL, Life of Samuel Johnson. 2v.
- FIELDING, H., Tom Jones
- STERNE, L., Tristram Shandy
- SWIFT, J., Gulliver's Travels
- HUME, D., Treatise on Human Nature. 2v. Esp. bks. II and III
- WOLLSTONECRAFT, MARY, Vindication of the Rights of Woman
- SMITH, ADAM, The Wealth of Nations. 2v. Selections
- BAUER, S., The Story of Science; chs. 13-14
- COPLESTON, F. C., A History of Philosophy. Sections on the eighteenth century
- GOMBRICH, E. H., The Story of Art. 16th ed., chs. 21-23
- BURKHOLDER, GROUT and PALISA, A History of Western Music, 10th ed., chs. 18-23
Group X. Europe in the Nineteenth Century
- WILL and ARIEL DURANT, The Age of Napoleon
- MARR, A., chs. 7
- TAINE, Origins of Contemporary France. Vol. V, The Modern Regime, pp. 1-90
- ROBERTS, A., Napoleon: A Life
- BRANDES, G., Main Currents of 19th Century Literature. 6v.
- GOETHE, Faust
- ECKERMANN, Conversations with Goethe
- HEINE, Poems
- TAINE, History of English Literature, bks. IV-V
- KEATS, Poems
- SHELLEY, Poems
- BYRON, Poems
- NELSON, B., The Cambridge Introduction to French Literature; sections on the nineteenth century
- BALZAC, Pere Goriot
- FLAUBERT, Works. I-vol. ed. Esp. Mme. Bovary and Salambo
- HUGO, Les Miserables
- FRANCE, ANATOLE, Penguin Isle
- TENNYSON, Poems
- DICKENS, Pickwick Papers
- THACKERAY, Vanity Fair
- TURGENEV, Fathers and Children
- DOSTOIEVSKI, The Brothers Karamazov
- TOLSTOI, War and Peace
- TOLSTOI, Anna Karenina
- IBSEN, Peer Gynt
- BAUER, S., The Story of Science; chs. 15
- DARWIN, Descent of Man
- COPLESTON, F. C., A History of Philosophy. Sections on the nineteenth century
- BUCKLE, Introduction to the History of Civilization in England. Esp. part I, chs. 1-5, 15
- SCHOPENHAUER, Works., I-Vol. ed.
- NIETZSCHE, Thus Spake Zarathustra
- GOMBRICH, E. H., The Story of Art. 16th ed., chs. 24-26
- BURKHOLDER, GROUT and PALISA, A History of Western Music, 10th ed., chs. 14-33
Group XI. America
- BEARD, C. and M., The Rise of American Civilization. 2v.
- POE, Poems and Tales
- EMERSON, Essays
- THOREAU, Walden
- WHITMAN, Leaves of Grass
- LINCOLN, Letters and Speeches
Group XII. The Twentieth Century
- MARR, A., chs. 8
- ROLLAND, R., Jean Christophe. 2v.
- ELLIS, H., Studies in the Psychology of Sex. Vols. I-VI
- ADAMS, H., The Education of Henry Adams
- BERGSON, Creative Evolution
- SPENGLER, O., Decline of the West. 2v.
“I discovered that one hundred and fifty books, carefully chosen, give you, if not a complete summary of human knowledge, at least everything that is useful for a man to know. I devoted three years of my life to reading and re-reading these hundred and fifty volumes, so that when I was arrested I knew them more or less by heart. In prison, with a slight effort of memory, I recalled them entirely. So I can recite to you Thucydides, Xenophon, Plutarch, Livy, Tacitus, Strada, Jornades, Dante, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Spinoza, Machiavelli and Bossuet;”