The 9 Greatest Books of the 18th Century
The 18th Century contribute 9 of the book canon's all-time entries, led by The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). Rankings aggregate 14 authoritative lists; every entry links to its full evidence.
1. The Sorrows of Young Werther
The Sorrows of Young Werther ([ˈveːɐ̯tɐ]; German: Die Leiden des jungen Werthers), or simply Werther, is a 1774 epistolary novel by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, which appeared as a revised edition in 1787. It was one of the main novels in the Sturm und Drang period in German literature, and influenced the later Romantic movement.
2. Candide
Brought up in the household of a powerful Baron, Candide is an open-minded young man, whose tutor, Pangloss, has instilled in him the belief that 'all is for the best'. But when his love for the Baron's rosy-cheeked daughter is discovered, Candide is cast out to make his own way in the world.
3. Robinson Crusoe
During one of his several adventurous voyages in the 1600's, an Englishman becomes the sole survivor of a shipwreck and lives for nearly thirty years on a deserted island.
4. Tristram Shandy
Laurence Sterne's great masterpiece of bawdy humour and rich satire defies any attempt to categorize it. Part novel, part digression, its gloriously disordered narrative interweaves the birth and life of the unfortunate 'hero' Tristram Shandy, the eccentric philosophy of his father Walter, the amours and military obsessions of Uncle Toby, and a host of other characters.
5. Tom Jones
The foundling Tom Jones is found on the property of a benevolent, wealthy landowner. Tom grows up to be a vigorous, kind-hearted young man, whose love of his neighbor's well-born daughter brings class friction to the fore. The presence of prostitution and promiscuity in Tom Jones caused a sensation at the time it was published, as such themes were uncommon.
6. Gulliver's Travels
A parody of traveler’s tales and a satire of human nature, “Gulliver’s Travels” is Jonathan Swift’s most famous work which was first published in 1726. An immensely popular tale ever since its original publication, “Gulliver’s Travels” is the story of its titular character, Lemuel Gulliver, a man who loves to travel.
7. The Vicar of Wakefield
Book digitized by Google from the library of the New York Public Library and uploaded to the Internet Archive by user tpb.
8. Clarissa
