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Great 18th-Century Literature (The Really Long List)

The Greatest Literature of All Time and The Greatest Nonfiction together present more than a thousand titles of the world's most acclaimed writing, both creative and factual. But in case you find that too restrictive, we present The Really Long List of Great Literature with triple the number of titles.

The Really Long List includes all works of literature considered great by a significant number of readers, writers, critics or scholars.

This longer list gives you many more great reading choices and offers more diversity in forms, cultures and genres. It encourages you to stray from the established canon and discover amazing works you might otherwise never have come across.

We've broken the list into time periods, so you can pick the era you're most interested in. This is the Great 18th-Century Literature section of that list, featuring works published from 1701 to 1800 CE.

Latest update: May 25, 2025

1702
 
The Narrow Road to the Interior
by Matsuo Bashō, Japan
Travel, also known as The Narrow Road to the Deep North, originally Oku no Hosomichi
1703
 
The Love Suicides at Sonezaki
by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japan
Play
1704
 
A Tale of a Tub
by Jonathan Swift, Ireland
Novel
1709
 
Turcaret
by Alain-René Lesage, France
Play
1711
 
An Essay on Criticism
by Alexander Pope, England
Poem
1712–1714
missing graphic
The Rape of the Lock
by Alexander Pope, England
Mock epic poem

I'm not sure why The Rape of the Lock is Alexander Pope's most famous poem. I understand why it might have been popular in its day. It satirizes an incident that was infamous in a certain aristocratic crowd.... CritiqueQuotesBuy

1715–1735
 
Gil Blas
by Alain-René Lesage, France
Novel
1719
missing graphic
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe, England
Novel

The biggest mystery about Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe may be why it is so well known, so fondly remembered, so enshrined in our culture. As novels go, this is one dreadful piece of work. The writing is.... CritiqueQuotesTextAt the moviesBuy

1719–1720
 
Love in Excess
by Eliza Haywood, England
Novel
1721
 
The Love Suicides at Amijima
by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japan
Play
1722
 
Moll Flanders
by Daniel Defoe, England
Novel
1723
 
The Henriade
by Voltaire, France
Epic poem
1724
 
Roxana
by Daniel Defoe, England
Novel
1726
 
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift, Ireland
Novel
1728
 
The Beggar's Opera
by John Gay, England
Play
1728–1742
 
The Dunciad
by Alexander Pope, England
Epic poem
1729
 
A Modest Proposal
by Jonathan Swift, England
Essay, originally A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for making them Beneficial to the Publick
1730
 
The Game of Love and Chance
by Marivaux, France
Play
1731
 
Manon Lescaut
by Antoine François Prévost, France
Novel
1740
 
Pamela
by Samuel Richardson, England
Novel
1741
 
Shamela
by Henry Fielding, England
Novel, also known as An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews
1742
 
Joseph Andrews
by Henry Fielding, England
Novel
1744
 
La Dispute
by Pierre de Marivaux, France
Play
1746
 
The Servant of Two Masters
by Carlo Goldoni, Italy
Play
1747
 
Zadig; or, The Book of Fate
by Voltaire, France
Novel, also known as Zadiq the Babylonian
1748
 
Clarissa
by Samuel Richardson, England
Novel
 
 
The Treasury of Loyal Retainers
by Takeda Izumo, Miyoshi Shōraku, Namiki Senryū, Japan
Play
1748–1749
 
Fanny Hill
by Johyn Cleland, England
Novel, also known as Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure
1749
 
Tom Jones
by Henry Fielding, England
Novel
 
 
"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"
by Thomas Gray, England
Poem
1750
 
The Scholars
by Wu Jingzi, China
Novel, also known as Unofficial History of the Scholars
1751
 
Amelia
by Henry Fielding, England
Novel
 
 
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle
by Tobias Smollett, Scotland
Novel
1752
 
Micromégas
by Voltaire, France
Novella
 
 
The Female Quixote
by Charlotte Lennox, Scotland
Novel
1753
 
The Mistress of the Inn
by Carlo Goldoni, Italy
Play
 
 
Sir Charles Grandison
by Samuel Richardson, England
Novel
1759
 
Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia
by Samuel Johnson, France
Novella
 
 
Candide
by Voltaire, England
Novella
1759–1767
missing graphic
Tristram Shandy
by Laurence Sterne, England
Novel, also known as The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

It's often called the first modern novel. Or, worse, a post-modern novel written before the modern had been invented. Which ought to turn off anyone looking for a good read. So here's the story of Laurence Sterne's.... CritiqueQuotesAt the moviesBuy

1761
 
Julie; or, The New Heloise
by Jean Jacques Rousseau, England
Novel
1762
 
Emile, or On Education
by Jean Jacques Rousseau, England
Novel
c.1763
 
Three Hundred Tang Poems
by Du Fu, Li Bai and others, China
Poetry collection
1764
missing graphic
The Castle of Otranto
by Horace Walpole, England
Novella

Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto is one of those "classic" works that is better known for its impact in its time that for its subsequent readability. It's more influential than admired. In fact, any reader today is likely.... CritiqueQuotesBuy

1765
 
Reliques of Ancient English Poetry
by Thomas Percy, England
Poetry collection
1766
 
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio
by Pu Songling, China
Story collection
 
missing graphic
The Vicar of Wakefield
by Oliver Goldsmith, England
Novel

The Vicar of Wakefield is supposed to be a satire, an ever gentle one in which the wide-eyed trust and peiety of the good pastor leave him at the mercy of larcenous rascals, until they have stripped him clean of everything.... CritiqueQuotesBuy

1767
 
Minna von Barnhelm or the Soldiers' Happiness
by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Germany
Play
1768
 
A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy
by Laurence Sterne, England
Novel
1769
 
O Uraguai
by Termindo Sipílio, Brazil
Epic poem
1771
 
The Expedition of Humphry Clinker
by Tobias Smollett, Scotland
Novel
 
 
The Man of Feeling
by Henry Mackenzie, Scotland
Novel
1773
missing graphic
She Stoops to Conquer
by Oliver Goldsmith, England
Play

Two things keep me from dismissing the drama She Stoops to Conquer as severely overrated. One: I don't recall seeing it performed. Live on stage it may be hilarious for all I know. And two: if it's overrated, it's been long.... CritiqueQuotesBuy

1774
missing graphic
The Sorrows of Young Werther
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany
Novel

Partway through The Sorrows of Young Werther you might wonder if this is actually a parody of romantic writing. Werther's attachment to his beloved Charlotte, Lotte for short, can come across as a ridiculously over-the-top.... CritiqueQuotesBuy

1775
 
The Rivals
by Richard Sheridan, England
Play
 
 
The Barber of Seville
by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, France
Play
1776–1789
 
Thge History of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
by Edward Gibbon, England
History, also known as Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
1777
 
The School for Scandal
by Richard Sheridan, England
Play
1778
 
Evelina
by Fanny Burney, England
Novel
1779
 
Nathan the Wise
by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Germany
Play
 
 
Fables and Parables
by Ignacy Krasicki, Poland
Play
1781
 
The Robbers
by Friedrich Schiller, Germany
Play
1782
 
Dangerous Liaisons
by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, France
Novel
1784
 
Elegaic Sonnets
by Charlotte Smith, England
Poetry collection
 
 
The Marriage of Figaro
by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, France
Play
1785
 
The Task
by William Cowper, England
Play
 
 
The 120 Days of Sodom
by Marquis de Sade, France
Novel, originally Les 120 Journées de Sodome ou l'école du libertinage
1785–1790
 
Anton Reiser
by Karl Philipp Moritz, Germany
Novel
1786
 
Vathek
by William Beckford, England
Novel
1786–1793
missing graphic
Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect
by Robert Burns, Scotland
Poetry collection

Most modern collections of Robert Burns's works include poems and songs from throughout his life. You're unlikely to pick up an exact copy of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, his first published collection.... CritiqueQuotesBuy

1787
 
Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien
by Friedrich Schiller, Germany
Play
1787–1789
 
The Ghost-Seer
by Friedrich Schiller, Germany
Novel
1788
 
Emmeline
by Charlotte Turner Smith, England
Novel
 
 
Paul et Virginie
by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, France
Novel
1789
 
Songs of Innocence
by William Blake, England
Poetry collection includes The Shepherd, The Lamb, The Little Black Boy, The Chimney Sweeper, and others
 
 
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
by Olaudah Equiano, Benin
Memoir with full title The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, the African
1791
 
Life of Samuel Johnson
by James Boswell, England
Biography
 
 
Justine
by Marquis de Sade, France
Novel
1791–1792
 
Dream of the Red Chamber
by Cao Zhan, China
Novel, also known as The Story of the Stone or The Golden Days
1792
 
The Nun
by Dennis Diderot, France
Novel, also known as Memoirs of a Nun
 
 
Poor Liza
by Nicolai Karamzin, Russia
Novel
c.1792
 
Epic of Manas
Anonymous, Kyrgyzstan
Epic poem
1794
 
Songs of Experience
by William Blake, England
Poetry collection includes Earth's Answer, The Tyger, A Poison Tree, London, and others
 
 
Caleb Williams
by William Godwin, England
Novel, also known as The Adventures of Caleb Williams; or Things as They Are, originally Things as They Are; or The Adventures of Caleb Williams
 
 
The Mysteries of Udolpho
by Ann Radcliffe, England
Novel
1795–1796
 
William Meister's Apprenticeship
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany
Novel
1796
 
Camilla
by Fanny Burney, England
Novel
 
 
The Monk
by Matthew Lewis, England
Novel
 
 
Marchmont
by Charlotte Smith, England
Novel
 
 
Jacques the Fatalist and His Master
by Denis Diderot, France
Novel
1797–1799
 
Hyperion
by Friedrich Hölderlin, Germany
Novel
1797–1801
 
Juliette
by Marquis de Sade, France
Novel
1797–1806
 
Hymns and Fragments
by Friedrich Hölderlin, Germany
Poetry collection
1798
 
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, England
Poem
 
 
Speed the Plough
by Thomas Morton, England
Play
1798–1800
 
Lyrical Ballads
by William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge, England
Poetry collection
1799
 
Arthur Mervyn, or Memoirs of the Year 1793
by Charles Brockden Brown, United States
Novel
1800
 
Mary Stuart
by Friedrich Schiller, Germany
Play
 
missing graphic
Castle Rackrent
by Maria Edgeworth, Ireland
Novella

It's to the credit of Castle Rackrent that it's usually taken to be a novel. By its meagre word count, the text constitutes a novella and—shorn of introduction, footnotes and glossary—barely that. But Maria Edgeworth's.... CritiqueQuotesTextBuy

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