The Great Books Movement

How to Read a Book, Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren

This classic guide to getting the most out of reading and entering into a dialogue with an author is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in Great Books reading and discussion groups.

How to Think About the Great Ideas: From the Great Books of Western Civilizations, Mortimer J. Adler

This collection of edited transcripts of Mortimer Adler's groundbreaking 1954 television series examines 22 ideas that have shaped the Western tradition in literature and philosophy — ideas such as beauty, truth, art, love, good and evil, education, democracy, and the rule of law.

A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise, Fall, and Curious Afterlife of the Great Books, Alex Beam

This is an exciting (and irreverent) account of the Great Books movement. Alex Beam examines how this idea affected the University of Chicago and higher education, the development of the Great Books of the Western World series published by Encyclopaedia Brittanica, and the beginnings of the Great Books Foundation. Essential reading for any Great Books enthusiast.