Friedrich Nietzsche’s trailblazing, incendiary book sets dogmatic philosophy and traditional morality alight One of the most important works in philosophical history, Beyond Good and Evil consists of 296 sections and a final “aftersong.” Therein, Nietzsche articulates his views on philosophy, philosophers, morality, religion, society, people, and culture. As challenging as it is rewarding, Beyond Good and Evil will command you, confront you, and provoke you into reconsidering your perception of…

Timeless tales of inspiration and enlightenment In ancient Greece, a storyteller named Aesop captivated his listeners with tales both beautiful and instructive. Thousands of years later, his fables—from “The Ant and the Grasshopper” to “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” to “The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg” to “The Tortoise and the Hare”—have lost none of their power to guide and entertain. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

Part comedy, part adventure, part social commentary, this astonishing tale of tomorrow explores the essence of human nature Published in 1904, G. K. Chesterton’s debut novel is set eighty years in the future. Technology and social mores remain the same, but the England of 1984 boasts a government in which ineffectual kings are selected at random from an otherwise apathetic populace that has “lost faith in revolutions.” The political system hits a snag when Auberon Quin is selected as the next…

The rousing argument for independence that inspired a nation Published anonymously in 1776, this landmark political pamphlet spread across the colonies more rapidly than any document of its kind ever had before. Its words were read aloud in town squares, its pages affixed to tavern walls. Both a clear-eyed, plainly stated case for separation from Great Britain and a stirring call to action, Common Sense sparked the imagination of a fledgling nation and played a decisive role in the march toward…

A groundbreaking fantasy novel and an irresistible ode to the joys of childhood An immediate sensation when it was first published one hundred fifty years ago, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland revolutionized children’s literature with its delightful disregard for narrative convention and its surreal cast of characters, including the anxious White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the grinning Cheshire Cat, and the notorious Queen of Hearts. Generations of readers, writers, and artists have found…

The premier novel of the French Revolution, by England’s greatest author Set against the bloodthirsty backdrop of revolutionary France, this monumental saga—one of the most famous works in all of literature—is at its heart the story of a beautiful woman and the two men who compete for her love: Charles Darnay, a French aristocrat who renounces his heritage, yet stands accused of treason in the rush to the guillotine, and Sydney Carton, a disillusioned English barrister who finds his salvation in…

Immanuel’s Kant’s groundbreaking work, considered to be among the most influential philosophical texts in the Western canon Familiar to philosophy students through the centuries, The Critique of Pure Reason is in many ways Kant’s magnum opus. First published in 1781, it seeks to define what can be known by reason alone without evidence from experience. Kant begins by defining a posteriori knowledge, which is gained through the senses, versus a priori knowledge, or self-evident truths understood…

Descartes’s revolutionary treatise on reason and scientific thought, which sparked radical breakthroughs in mathematics, philosophy, and metaphysics After he finished school, René Descartes was left with more doubts than certainties. His Jesuit education included some of the best teaching available in mathematics, physics, and letters, and yet Descartes found the foundations of his schooling hollow. Determined to discover for himself what was real, he spent the next nine years traveling through…