<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Homeschooling | More Than Code]]></title><description><![CDATA[Blog by @knownasilya about life and web development.]]></description><link>https://ilyaradchenko.com/topics/wxjvry8tzptd321hiwak1e9d</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2026 22:09:57 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://ilyaradchenko.com/topics/wxjvry8tzptd321hiwak1e9d" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><item><title><![CDATA[Homeschool Reading List]]></title><description><![CDATA[Classics and Christian writers, in the order of history. Read the Bible beside each era.

Links go to free scans of old, public-domain editions on Archive.org. Each page has a PDF download (under "Download Options"). "Borrow free" links go to newer books. You borrow them with a free Archive.org account, and they have no PDF.

Used AI to make this list, can't guarantee every book. I plan on reading many of these first.


## Ancient Greece
- [ ] Homer — *The Iliad* and *The Odyssey* — free scans (Butler's prose): [Iliad](https://archive.org/details/cu31924026468417), [Odyssey](https://archive.org/details/odysseyrenderedi00homerich) *
- [ ] Hesiod — *Works and Days* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/hesiodhomerichym00hesiuoft) (Loeb, Evelyn-White, 1914)
- [ ] Sophocles — *Antigone*, *Oedipus the King* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/sophoclesstor01sophuoft) (Loeb, Storr, vol. 1, 1916; has both plays) *
- [ ] Herodotus — *Histories* (the Persian Wars) — free scans (Loeb, Godley, 1921): [vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/herodotus01hero), [2](https://archive.org/details/herodotuswitheng02herouoft), [3](https://archive.org/details/herodotuswitheng03herouoft), [4](https://archive.org/details/herodotuswitheng04herouoft) *
- [ ] Thucydides — *History of the Peloponnesian War* (start with Pericles' Funeral Oration, Book 2) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/pelocrawleyr00thucuoft) (Crawley, 1914) *
- [ ] Plato — *Apology*, *Crito*, *Phaedo* (the trial and death of Socrates) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/trialanddeathofs00platiala) (Church, *The Trial and Death of Socrates*, 1895)
- [ ] Plato — *Meno*, *Republic* — free scans (Jowett): [Meno](https://archive.org/details/dialoguesofplato18922plat) (in vol. 2 of the *Dialogues*, 1892), [Republic](https://archive.org/details/a604578400platuoft) (1888)
- [ ] Xenophon — *Oeconomicus* (how to run a home and a farm), *Memorabilia*, *Anabasis* — free scans: [Oeconomicus](https://archive.org/details/cu31924026613459) (Wedderburn, *The Economist of Xenophon*, 1876), [Memorabilia and Anabasis](https://archive.org/details/anabasisorexped00xeno) (Watson, 1875)
- [ ] Aristotle — *Nicomachean Ethics*, *Politics* (Book 1 is about the household), *Poetics* — free scans: [Ethics](https://archive.org/details/petersethics00arisrich) (Peters, 1886), [Politics](https://archive.org/details/aristotlespoliti00arisuoft) (Jowett, 1905), [Poetics](https://archive.org/details/poeticsofaristot00arisuoft) (Butcher, 1922)

## Rome
- [ ] Cicero — *On Duties*, *On Friendship* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/ethicalwritingso00ciceiala) (Peabody, *Ethical Writings of Cicero*, 1887; has both)
- [ ] Virgil — *The Aeneid* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/aeneidofvirgil00virg) (Conington, 1904) *
- [ ] Livy — *The Early History of Rome* (Books 1–5) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/historyofromelit01livyuoft) (Spillan, vol. 1, 1864; Books 1–8) *
- [ ] Seneca — *Letters* — free scans (Loeb, Gummere, 1917–25): [vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/adluciliumepistu01seneuoft), [2](https://archive.org/details/adluciliumepistu02seneuoft), [3](https://archive.org/details/adluciliumepistu03seneuoft)
- [ ] Josephus — *The Jewish War* — free scans (Loeb, Thackeray, 1927–28): [Books 1–3](https://archive.org/details/josephuswithengl02joseuoft), [Books 4–7](https://archive.org/details/josephuswithengl03joseuoft) *
- [ ] Tacitus — *Agricola* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/agricolagermanyo00taci) (Church and Brodribb, 1885; also has the *Germania*)
- [ ] Plutarch — *Lives* (start with Lycurgus, Solon, Pericles, Alexander, Caesar) — free scans (Loeb, Perrin, 1914–19): [vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/plutarchslives01plutuoft) (Lycurgus, Solon), [vol. 3](https://archive.org/details/liveswithenglish03plutuoft) (Pericles), [vol. 7](https://archive.org/details/plutarchslives07plut) (Alexander, Caesar) *
- [ ] Marcus Aurelius — *Meditations* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/meditationsofmar00marc_0) (Long, 1910)

## The Early Church
- [ ] *The Didache* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/apostolicfathers01lake) (Loeb, Lake, *The Apostolic Fathers*, vol. 1, 1912)
- [ ] *The Letters of Ignatius*, *The Martyrdom of Polycarp* — free scans (Loeb, Lake, *The Apostolic Fathers*, 1912–13): [Ignatius](https://archive.org/details/apostolicfathers01lake) (vol. 1, with the *Didache*), [Martyrdom of Polycarp](https://archive.org/details/apostolicfathers02lakeuoft) (vol. 2).
- [ ] Justin Martyr — *First Apology* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/antenicenefather01buff) (Roberts and Donaldson, *Ante-Nicene Fathers*, vol. 1, 1885)
- [ ] Eusebius — *Church History* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/cu31924031002102) (McGiffert, *Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers*, 2nd series, vol. 1, 1890). 
- [ ] Athanasius — *On the Incarnation* (with C. S. Lewis's preface) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/stathanasiusonth00athauoft) (Robertson, 1891; an older translation, without Lewis's preface)
- [ ] Augustine — *Confessions*; *City of God* (selections) — free scans: [Confessions](https://archive.org/details/confessionsofsta00auguuoft) (Pusey, Harvard Classics, 1909; also has *The Imitation of Christ*), *City of God* (Dods, 1871–72): [vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/theworksofaureli01auguuoft) (Books 1–13), [2](https://archive.org/details/worksofaureli02augu) (Books 14–22) *
- [ ] Boethius — *The Consolation of Philosophy* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/consolationofphi00boetiala) (James, 1897)
- [ ] Benedict — *The Rule* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/ruleofstbenedict00bene_1) (Hunter Blair, 1906; Latin and English)

## The Middle Ages
- [ ] Patrick — *Confession* (c. 450; short, and good for younger students too) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/writingsofsaintp00patr) (Wright, *The Writings of Saint Patrick*, 1894)
- [ ] Gregory the Great — *The Book of Pastoral Care* (c. 590) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/selectlibraryofn12scha) (Barmby, *Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers*, 2nd series, vol. 12, 1895)
- [ ] Gregory of Tours — *A History of the Franks* (c. 594) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/historyoffranks00greguoft) (Brehaut, 1916; selections) *
- [ ] *Beowulf* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/beowulftroutofo00tink) (Tinker, 1905; prose) *
- [ ] Bede — *Ecclesiastical History of the English People* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/bedesecclesiast00bede) (Sellar, 1912)
- [ ] Einhard — *Life of Charlemagne* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/earlylivesofchar00einh) (Grant, *Early Lives of Charlemagne*, 1907; also has the Monk of St. Gall's stories of Charlemagne)
- [ ] Asser — *Life of King Alfred* (893). The Penguin edition by Keynes and Lapidge adds Alfred's own writings and parts of the *Anglo-Saxon Chronicle* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/asserslifeofking00asseiala) (Cook, 1906; Asser only)
- [ ] Anselm — *Proslogion*, *Why God Became Man* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/stanselmproslogu010392mbp) (Deane, 1910; has both)
- [ ] *The Song of Roland* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/songofrolandtran00butluoft) (Butler, 1904; prose) *
- [ ] Fulcher of Chartres and others — *The First Crusade* (ed. Edward Peters; the eyewitness chronicles) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/firstcrusadeacco00kreyuoft) (Krey, *The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants*, 1921; an older collection of the same chronicles) *
- [ ] Bernard of Clairvaux — *On Loving God* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/saintbernardlove00bernuoft) (Patmore, *Saint Bernard on the Love of God*, 1884)
- [ ] Anna Komnene — *The Alexiad* (the First Crusade as seen from Constantinople, by a Byzantine princess) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/alexiad-english-dawes-1928) (Dawes, 1928) *
- [ ] *Magna Carta* (1215) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/magnacartacommen00mckeuoft) (McKechnie, 1914; the text, a translation, and a commentary on each chapter)
- [ ] Thomas Aquinas — *Summa* (selections; try Peter Kreeft's *A Summa of the Summa*) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/summatheologi01thom) (English Dominican Fathers, vol. 1, 1912; Part 1, Questions 1–26, on God)
- [ ] James I of Aragon — *The Book of Deeds* (13th century; the king's own story of the Reconquista, and his conquest of Majorca and Valencia) — free scans (Forster, *The Chronicle of James I, King of Aragon*, 1883): [vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/chronicleofjames01jame), [2](https://archive.org/details/chronicleofjames02jame) *
- [ ] Villehardouin and Joinville — *Chronicles of the Crusades* (the Fourth Crusade, and the life of Saint Louis) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/memoircrusades00villuoft) (Marzials, *Memoirs of the Crusades*, 1908) *
- [ ] Marco Polo — *The Travels* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/marcopolo00polouoft) (Marsden, Everyman's Library, 1908)
- [ ] Dante — *The Divine Comedy* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/divinecomedyofda00dantiala) (Longfellow, 1867; all three parts in one volume). **
- [ ] John Wycliffe — *On the Truth of Holy Scripture* (1378)
- [ ] Jean Froissart — *Chronicles* (the Hundred Years' War; selections) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/chroniclesoffroi00froiuoft) (Berners, ed. Macaulay, 1899; one volume of selections) *
- [ ] *Sir Gawain and the Green Knight* (try Tolkien's translation) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/sirgawaingreenkn00west) (Weston, 1907; retold in prose)
- [ ] Chaucer — *The Canterbury Tales* (selections) — free scans: [modern English](https://archive.org/details/completepoetica01mackgoog) (Tatlock and MacKaye, 1912), [retold for children](https://archive.org/details/talesofcanterbur00chau) (Darton, *Tales of the Canterbury Pilgrims*, 1908) *
- [ ] Jan Hus — *The Church* (1413; David Schaff's 1915 translation is in the public domain) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/deecclesiachurch00husjuoft) (Schaff, 1915)
- [ ] Thomas à Kempis — *The Imitation of Christ* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/confessionsofsta00auguuoft) (Harvard Classics, 1909; the same book as Augustine's *Confessions* above)
- [ ] *The Trial of Joan of Arc* (1431; the court record) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/jeannedarcmaidof028754mbp) (Murray, *Jeanne d'Arc*, 1902; the records of her trial and retrial) *
- [ ] Thomas Malory — *Le Morte d'Arthur* (1485) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/lemortedarthursi00malouoft) (Strachey, 1897; Caxton's text in modern spelling) *
- [ ] *Everyman* (a short morality play, c. 1500) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/everymanwithothe00rhys) (Rhys, Everyman's Library, 1909; with other early plays)

## Knighthood and Chivalry
Read these beside *The Song of Roland*, *Gawain*, Joinville, Froissart, and Malory above, and Spenser's *Faerie Queene* below.

- [ ] John of Salisbury — *Policraticus*, Books 4–6 (1159; the duties of princes and knights) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/statesmansbookof0000unse) (Dickinson, *The Statesman's Book of John of Salisbury*, 1927)
- [ ] Ramon Llull — *The Book of the Order of Chivalry* (c. 1275; a short handbook on what a knight is for) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/30081000926018) (Caxton's English translation, ed. Byles, 1926; old spelling)
- [ ] Geoffroy de la Tour Landry — *The Book of the Knight of the Tower* (1371; a knight's lessons for his daughters) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/bookknighttower00landgoog) (ed. Wright, 1868; old spelling) *
- [ ] Kenelm Digby — *The Broad Stone of Honour* (1822; chivalry as a rule of life for Christian gentlemen) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/broadstoneofhono00digbuoft) (1823)
- [ ] Léon Gautier — *Chivalry* (1884; has his "Ten Commandments of Chivalry") — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/chivalry00gautrich) (Frith, 1891)

## Reformation and After
- [ ] Erasmus — *The Praise of Folly* (1511) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/thepraiseoffolly00erasuoft) (John Wilson's 1668 translation, ed. Allen, Oxford, 1913)
- [ ] Machiavelli — *The Prince* (1513) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/harvardclassicsm0036char) (Harvard Classics vol. 36, 1910; the same book has More and Luther)
- [ ] Thomas More — *Utopia* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/harvardclassicsm0036char) (Harvard Classics vol. 36, 1910; the same book as *The Prince*)
- [ ] Martin Luther — *The Ninety-Five Theses* (1517), *The Freedom of a Christian* (1520) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/harvardclassicsm0036char) (Harvard Classics vol. 36, 1910; *Freedom* is titled "Concerning Christian Liberty")
- [ ] Erasmus and Luther — *On Free Will* (1524) and *The Bondage of the Will* (1525). Read them as a debate; for older students — Luther: [free scan](https://archive.org/details/bondagewill00colegoog) (Cole's translation, 1823). I found no free English translation of Erasmus's half
- [ ] William Tyndale — *The Obedience of a Christian Man* (1528) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/doctrinaltreatis00tynduoft) (*Doctrinal Treatises*, Parker Society, 1848; the *Obedience* starts on p. 127)
- [ ] Martin Luther — *The Small Catechism* (1529) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/smallcatechismof00luth) (a literal translation, 1872; 22 pages)
- [ ] John Calvin — *Reply to Sadoleto* (1539; short and readable) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/tractsrelatingto1calv) (Beveridge, *Tracts*, vol. 1, 1844; the first tract in the book)
- [ ] John Calvin — *Institutes* (selections) — free scans (Beveridge, 1845–46): [vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/instituteschrist01calvuoft), [2](https://archive.org/details/institutesofchribeve02calv), [3](https://archive.org/details/institutesofchrbeve03calv)
- [ ] Council of Trent — *Decree on Justification* (1547; the Roman Catholic answer to the Reformers) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/cu31924029369760) (Waterworth, 1848; Session VI)
- [ ] Thomas Cranmer — *The Book of Common Prayer* (1549; the 1662 edition is the classic) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/bookofcommonpray1900chur) (the Church of England's 1662 book, Collins, Glasgow, 1900)
- [ ] *The Heidelberg Catechism* (1563) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/heidelch00lond) (German and English, London, 1900)
- [ ] John Foxe — *Book of Martyrs* (1563; use an abridged edition) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/foxsbookofmartyr0000will_r2f6) (Forbush's abridged edition, 1926) *
- [ ] John Knox — *The History of the Reformation in Scotland* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/thehistoryofther00knoxuoft) (modernized by Lennox, 1905; also has Knox's *Confession* and the *Book of Discipline*) *
- [ ] Edmund Spenser — *The Faerie Queene*, Book 1 (1590) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/faeriequeenebook0000unse_n3s9) (ed. Percival, with notes, 1899)
- [ ] Shakespeare — *Julius Caesar*, *Henry V* — free scans (Rolfe's school editions): [Julius Caesar](https://archive.org/details/shakespearestra37rolfgoog) (1898), [Henry V](https://archive.org/details/shakespeareshist04shak) (1905) *
- [ ] The King James Bible translators — "The Translators to the Reader" (1611; their preface) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/prefaceofthetran467smit) (a pamphlet printing, London, 1852)
- [ ] William Bradford — *Of Plymouth Plantation* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/bradfords00brad) (ed. Davis, 1908) *
- [ ] John Winthrop — "A Model of Christian Charity" (1630) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/collectionsofmas00mass_13) (*Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society*, 3rd series, vol. 7, 1838; near the start of the book)
- [ ] George Herbert — *The Temple* (1633; poems) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/templeandpriestt00herbiala) (ed. Waller, 1902; also has *A Priest to the Temple*)
- [ ] Samuel Rutherford — *Lex, Rex* (1644) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/lexrexorlawprinc00ruth) (Edinburgh, 1843)
- [ ] *The Westminster Confession of Faith* and *Shorter Catechism* (1646–47) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/confessionoffai00west) (Edinburgh, 1874; also has the Larger Catechism, with Scripture proofs)
- [ ] Milton — *Areopagitica* (1644), *Paradise Lost* (1667) — free scans: [Areopagitica](https://archive.org/details/areopagitica00miltuoft) (ed. Hales, Oxford, 1894), [Paradise Lost](https://archive.org/details/paradiselostmilt00miltuoft) (ed. Verity, Cambridge, 1910) *
- [ ] Richard Baxter — *The Saints' Everlasting Rest*, *A Call to the Unconverted*, *The Reformed Pastor* — free scans: [Saints' Everlasting Rest](https://archive.org/details/cu31924029347766) (London, 1907), [Call to the Unconverted](https://archive.org/details/calltounconverte1842baxt) (1842), [Reformed Pastor](https://archive.org/details/reformedpasto00baxt) (abridged by Brown, 1850)
- [ ] Pascal — *Pensées* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/thoughtspasc00pascuoft) (Trotter's translation, Harvard Classics vol. 48, 1910)
- [ ] John Bunyan — *Grace Abounding* (1666), *The Pilgrim's Progress* (1678) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/graceaboundingpi0000john) (ed. Brown, Cambridge, 1907; has both)
- [ ] Francis Turretin — *Institutes of Elenctic Theology* (selections; Princeton Seminary taught theology from it until the 1870s) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/turrettinonatone00turr) (only his chapters on the atonement, tr. Willson, 1859; the rest has no free English translation)
- [ ] Thomas Watson — *A Body of Divinity* (1692; sermons on the Shorter Catechism) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/bodyofpracticald00watsuoft) (Glasgow, 1859)

## The Founding of America
- [ ] Jonathan Edwards — "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741) and other sermons of the Great Awakening — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/selectedsermons00edwauoft) (Gardiner, *Selected Sermons of Jonathan Edwards*, 1904)
- [ ] John Dickinson — *Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania* (1767–68) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/lettersfromfarme00dick) (ed. Halsey, 1903)
- [ ] Edmund Burke — *Speech on Conciliation with America* (1775; a British statesman pleads for the colonies) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/burkesspeechonco00burkuoft) (ed. Newsom, 1918)
- [ ] Thomas Paine — *Common Sense* (1776) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/commonsenseaddre00pain) (a first printing, Philadelphia, 1776)
- [ ] John Witherspoon — "The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men" (1776; a sermon by the only minister who signed the Declaration) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-dominion-of-providen_witherspoon-john_1776) (a 1776 printing)
- [ ] The Declaration of Independence (1776), the Articles of Confederation (1777), the Constitution (1787) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/americanhistoric00newyuoft) (*American Historical Documents*, Harvard Classics, 1910)
- [ ] J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur — *Letters from an American Farmer* (1782; "What Is an American?") — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/lettersfromameri00stjo) (ed. Trent, 1904) *
- [ ] Thomas Jefferson — *Notes on the State of Virginia* (1785; Query 19 praises the farmer) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/notesonstateofvi1787jeff) (London, 1787)
- [ ] Hamilton, Madison, and Jay — *The Federalist* (1787–88; start with Nos. 1, 10, and 51) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/federalist00hami) (1901)
- [ ] The Anti-Federalists — the "Federal Farmer," "Cato," and "Agrippa" letters (1787–88; the case against the Constitution) — free scans (ed. Ford): [Federal Farmer](https://archive.org/details/cu31924020874099) (in *Pamphlets on the Constitution*, 1888), [Cato and Agrippa](https://archive.org/details/essaysonconstitu00forduoft) (in *Essays on the Constitution*, 1892)
- [ ] Benjamin Franklin — *Autobiography* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofb01franuoft) (Harvard Classics, 1909; also has John Woolman's *Journal* and William Penn's *Fruits of Solitude*)
- [ ] George Washington — *Farewell Address* (1796) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/americanhistoric00newyuoft) (*American Historical Documents*, Harvard Classics, 1910; the same book as the Declaration)
- [ ] Alexis de Tocqueville — *Democracy in America* (1835–40; the young republic seen by a French visitor) — free scans (Reeve, 1899): [vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/democracyinameri01tocquoft), [2](https://archive.org/details/democracyinameri02tocquoft)
- [ ] M. E. Bradford — *A Worthy Company* (1982; short lives of the men who wrote the Constitution) — [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/worthycompanybri0000brad) (Plymouth Rock Foundation, 1982)
- [ ] Russell Kirk — *The Roots of American Order* (1974; from Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, and London to Philadelphia)

## The British Aristocracy
- [ ] Thomas Elyot — *The Book Named the Governor* (1531; how to raise a boy to govern) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/elyotgovernour1907) (Everyman's Library, 1907)
- [ ] Henry Peacham — *The Complete Gentleman* (1622) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/peachamscomplea00peacgoog) (the 1634 text, ed. Gordon, 1906)
- [ ] Lucy Hutchinson — *Memoirs of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson* (written in the 1660s; a Puritan gentleman in the Civil War, by his wife) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/memoirsoflifeofc00hutc) (ed. Firth, 1906)
- [ ] Lord Chesterfield — *Letters to His Son* (1774; selections, for older students: his manners are better than his morals) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/chesterfieldslet00ches) (selections, 1900)
- [ ] Edmund Burke — *Reflections on the Revolution in France* (1790; his defense of inherited rank and the "age of chivalry") — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/revolutionfran00burkuoft) (ed. Sampson, c. 1900)
- [ ] Jane Austen — *Pride and Prejudice* (1813), *Persuasion* (1817) — free scans: [Pride and Prejudice](https://archive.org/details/prideprejudice00aust) (with Hugh Thomson's pictures, 1894), [Persuasion](https://archive.org/details/persuasion00austuoft) (1905)
- [ ] William Cobbett — *Rural Rides* (1830; the countryside and its landlords, seen from the saddle) — free scans (Everyman's Library, 1912): [vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/ruralrides01cobb), [2](https://archive.org/details/ruralrides02cobb)
- [ ] Benjamin Disraeli — *Sybil, or The Two Nations* (1845; a novel about what the nobility owes the poor) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/sybilortwonation00disruoft) (1920)
- [ ] Anthony Trollope — *Doctor Thorne* (1858; a novel of the landed gentry) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/doctorthorne00troluoft) (c. 1909)
- [ ] Walter Bagehot — *The English Constitution* (1867; read the chapters on the monarchy and the House of Lords) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/englishconstitut00bageuoft) (1888)
- [ ] Evelyn Waugh — *Brideshead Revisited* (1945; a Catholic noble family between the wars; for older students) — [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/bwb_Y0-BIU-609) (Little, Brown, 1945; 1 hour at a time, and you can renew)
- [ ] Mark Girouard — *Life in the English Country House* (1978) — [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/lifeinenglishcou0000giro) (Yale, 1978; 14 days)
- [ ] David Cannadine — *The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy* (1990)

## The Nineteenth Century
- [ ] Bishop William Meade — *Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia* (1857; the colonial Virginia church and its leading families) — free scans (Lippincott, 1861): [vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/oldchurchesminis01meaduoft), [2](https://archive.org/details/oldchurchesminis02meaduoft)
- [ ] James Henley Thornwell — *Discourses on Truth* (his ethics lectures at South Carolina College) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/discoursesontrut00thorrich) (New York: Carter, 1855)
- [ ] James Henley Thornwell — *Collected Writings* (selections): his essays on the church, and his sermons "The Rights and the Duties of Masters" (1850) and "The State of the Country" (1860) — free scans: [Collected Writings, vol. 4](https://archive.org/details/collectedwriting0004thor) (1873; the whole volume is on the church, and the 1850 sermon is on p. 398, titled "The Christian Doctrine of Slavery" here), ["The State of the Country"](https://archive.org/details/stateofcountryar00thor) (a pamphlet, Columbia, S.C., 1861)
- [ ] Benjamin Morgan Palmer — *The Life and Letters of James Henley Thornwell* (1875; read beside Thornwell) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/lifelettersofjam00palm) (Richmond: Whittet & Shepperson, 1875)
- [ ] Benjamin Morgan Palmer — Thanksgiving Sermon of 1860, "The South: Her Peril and Her Duty" — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/southherperilher1860palm) (New Orleans, 1860; 24 pages)
- [ ] Benjamin Morgan Palmer — *The Formation of Character* (1889; lectures to young people) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/formationofchara00palm) (New Orleans, 1889)
- [ ] Robert Lewis Dabney — *Life and Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. Thomas J. Jackson* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/lifecampaignsofl00dabn) (New York: Blelock, 1866)
- [ ] Robert Lewis Dabney — *Systematic Theology* (selections) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/syllabusnotesofc00dabn) (*Syllabus and Notes of the Course of Systematic and Polemic Theology*, St. Louis, 1878)
- [ ] Robert Lewis Dabney — *A Defence of Virginia, and Through Her, of the South* (1867) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/defenceofvirgini00dabn) (New York: Hale, 1867)
- [ ] Abram J. Ryan — *Poems: Patriotic, Religious, Miscellaneous* (1880; the Catholic priest-poet of the Confederacy) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/poemspatrioticre00ryanrich) (Baltimore: Piet, an 1884 printing)
- [ ] Sidney Lanier — *Poems* (1884) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/cu31924022064194) (ed. by his wife, with a memorial by Ward; New York: Scribner, 1884)
- [ ] J. William Jones — *Christ in the Camp, or Religion in Lee's Army* (1887; the revivals in Lee's army) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/christincamporre00jone) (Richmond: B. F. Johnson, 1887)
- [ ] James P. Boyce — *Abstract of Systematic Theology* (1887; the Southern Baptist counterpart to Dabney) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/abstractofsystem00boyc_0) (Baltimore, 1887)
- [ ] Mary Anna Jackson — *Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson* (1892; his widow's life of him, told through his letters; read beside Dabney and Tate) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/lifelettersofgen00jack) (New York: Harper, 1892)
- [ ] Robert E. Lee Jr. — *Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee* (1904; Lee's faith, and his years as a college president after the war) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/recollectionslet00leer) (New York: Doubleday, Page, 1904)

## The Southern Agrarians (1930s)
- [ ] Twelve Southerners — *I'll Take My Stand* (1930). Start with the "Statement of Principles," then Ransom's "Reconstructed but Unregenerate," Lytle's "The Hind Tit," and Tate's "Remarks on the Southern Religion" — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/illtakemystandso0000bytw) (the first edition, 1930)
- [ ] Herbert Agar and Allen Tate, eds. — *Who Owns America?* (1936), the Agrarians beside Belloc and the English distributists (read with Chesterton) — [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/whoownsamericane00agar) (Houghton Mifflin, 1936)
- [ ] John Crowe Ransom — *God Without Thunder* (a defense of orthodox faith) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/godwithoutthunde0000rans) (Harcourt, Brace, 1930)
- [ ] Allen Tate — *Stonewall Jackson: The Good Soldier* (read beside Dabney's *Jackson*) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/stonewalljackson0000unse) (Minton, Balch, 1928)
- [ ] Allen Tate — *The Fathers* (1938; a novel about an old Virginia family at the start of the war; for older students) — [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/fathers0000alle) (Swallow Press reprint) *
- [ ] Andrew Lytle — *Bedford Forrest and His Critter Company* — [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/bedfordforresthi0000lytl) (Minton, Balch, 1931) *
- [ ] Frank Owsley — *Plain Folk of the Old South* (the small farmers of the South) — [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/bwb_S0-BMC-471) (Louisiana State University Press, 1949)
- [ ] Donald Davidson — *The Tennessee* (2 vols., a history of the river and its people) — borrow free: [vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/tennessee0000unse) (Rinehart, 1946), [2](https://archive.org/details/tennesseenewrive0002dona) (1948)
- [ ] Robert Penn Warren — *All the King's Men* (a novel; for older students) — [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/bwb_T4-APU-705) (1946) *

## Modern Writers in the Same Tradition
- [ ] G. K. Chesterton — *Orthodoxy*, *The Everlasting Man* — free scans: [Orthodoxy](https://archive.org/details/orthodoxy00chesuoft) (Bodley Head, 1908), [The Everlasting Man](https://archive.org/details/everlastingman0000ches_n7k1) (Dodd, Mead, 1925)
- [ ] C. S. Lewis — *Mere Christianity*, *The Abolition of Man* — borrow free: [The Abolition of Man](https://archive.org/details/abolitionofmanor0000lewi) (Macmillan, 1947). *Mere Christianity* first came out as three short books: [The Case for Christianity](https://archive.org/details/caseforchristian0000csle_q0j6) (1944), [Christian Behaviour](https://archive.org/details/christianbehavio0000lewi) (Macmillan, 1943), [Beyond Personality](https://archive.org/details/beyondpersonalit0000csle_v3t3) (Macmillan, 1945)
- [ ] Josef Pieper — *Leisure: The Basis of Culture* — [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/leisurebasisofcu0000unse) (Pantheon, 1952)
- [ ] Richard Weaver — *Ideas Have Consequences*, *The Southern Tradition at Bay* — *Ideas Have Consequences*: [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/ideashaveconsequ0000unse) (1948)
- [ ] Wendell Berry — *The Unsettling of America*; the novels *Jayber Crow* and *Hannah Coulter* — *The Unsettling of America*: [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/unsettlingofamer00berrrich) (Sierra Club, 1977)

## Logic and Rhetoric
- [ ] Aristotle — the *Organon* (start with the *Categories*, and the *Sophistical Refutations* on fallacies) — free scans (Owen, 1889–90): [vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/theorganon01arisuoft) (*Categories* to *Prior Analytics*), [2](https://archive.org/details/organonorlogical02arisuoft) (*Posterior Analytics*, *Topics*, *Sophistical Refutations*)
- [ ] Arnauld and Nicole — *The Port-Royal Logic* (1662; the standard school logic for two centuries) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/artofthinking00arnauoft) (Baynes, 1850)
- [ ] Isaac Watts — *Logic, or The Right Use of Reason* (1724; by the hymn writer, and long a standard college text) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/logicorrightuseo00watt) (1819)
- [ ] Richard Whately — *Elements of Logic* (1826) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/elementsoflogicc00whatuoft) (1859)
- [ ] W. Stanley Jevons — *Elementary Lessons in Logic* (1870; short lessons with exercises) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/elementarylesson00jevouoft) (1898)
- [ ] Lewis Carroll — *The Game of Logic* (1886; syllogisms as a game, for younger students) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/gameoflogic00carruoft) (1887)
- [ ] Aristotle — *Rhetoric* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/rhetoricaristot12sandgoog) (Jebb, ed. Sandys, 1909)
- [ ] Cicero — *On the Orator* (55 BC) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/ciceroonoratorya00ciceuoft) (Watson, *Cicero on Oratory and Orators*, 1875)
- [ ] Quintilian — *The Education of an Orator* (c. 95; read Book 1, on teaching children, and Book 12, on the good man who speaks well) — free scans (Loeb, Butler, 1920–22): [vol. 1](https://archive.org/details/institutioorator0001quin_x7w8) (Books 1–3), [vol. 4](https://archive.org/details/institutioorator04quinuoft) (Books 10–12)
- [ ] Augustine — *On Christian Doctrine* (Book 4 is about preaching: rhetoric for Christians) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/onchristiandoctr00augu) (Shaw, 1873; also has the *Enchiridion*)
- [ ] Longinus — *On the Sublime* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/LonginusOnTheSublime_376) (Havell, 1890)
- [ ] Hugh Blair — *Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres* (1783) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/lecturesonrhetor00blaiuoft) (1847)
- [ ] Richard Whately — *Elements of Rhetoric* (1828) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/elementsofrheto00what) (1861)
- [ ] John A. Broadus — *A Treatise on the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons* (1870; it taught American preachers for a century; read beside Augustine's Book 4) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/treatiseonprepar00broa) (the first edition, 1870)
- [ ] Sister Miriam Joseph — *The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric* (1937; a modern guide to all three)

## For Younger Readers
- [ ] D'Aulaires' *Book of Greek Myths*
- [ ] Padraic Colum — *The Children's Homer* — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/childrenshomerad00colu) (Macmillan, 1918)
- [ ] Rosemary Sutcliff — *Black Ships Before Troy*, *The Wanderings of Odysseus* — *The Wanderings of Odysseus*: [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/wanderingsofodys00sutc) (Delacorte, 1996) *
- [ ] Marguerite de Angeli — *The Door in the Wall* (the Middle Ages)
- [ ] Howard Pyle — *Otto of the Silver Hand*, *Men of Iron* (the Middle Ages) — free scans: [Otto of the Silver Hand](https://archive.org/details/ottoofsilverhand00pylerich) (Scribner, 1888), [Men of Iron](https://archive.org/details/menofironhoward00pylerich) (Harper, 1892) *
- [ ] Howard Pyle — *The Story of King Arthur and His Knights* (knighthood) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/storyofkingarthu00pylerich) (Scribner, 1904)
- [ ] Sidney Lanier — *The Boy's King Arthur*, *The Boy's Froissart* (knighthood) — free scans: [The Boy's King Arthur](https://archive.org/details/boyskingarthurbe00lanirich) (Scribner, 1880), [The Boy's Froissart](https://archive.org/details/boysfroissartbei02froi) (Scribner, 1879) *
- [ ] G. A. Henty — *Winning His Spurs* (the Crusades), *St. Bartholomew's Eve* (the Huguenots), *By Pike and Dyke* (the Dutch Reformation) — free scans: [Winning His Spurs](https://archive.org/details/winninghisspurst00hentiala) (Sampson Low, 1897), [St. Bartholomew's Eve](https://archive.org/details/stbartholomewsev00hentuoft) (Blackie, 1890s), [By Pike and Dyke](https://archive.org/details/bypikedyketaleof00hentiala) (Blackie, about 1889) *
- [ ] Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire — *George Washington*, *Benjamin Franklin* (the Founding) — borrow free: [George Washington](https://archive.org/details/georgewashington00daul) (Doubleday, 1936), [Benjamin Franklin](https://archive.org/details/benjaminfranklin00daul) (Doubleday, 1950)
- [ ] Esther Forbes — *Johnny Tremain* (the Founding) — [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/bwb_S0-EHF-394) (Houghton Mifflin, 1943)
- [ ] Frances Hodgson Burnett — *Little Lord Fauntleroy* (the British aristocracy) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/littlelordfauntl00burn) (Scribner, 1887)
- [ ] Richard Hannula — *Trial and Triumph: Stories from Church History*
- [ ] Simonetta Carr — *Christian Biographies for Young Readers* (Calvin, Luther, Knox, and others)
- [ ] Susan Wise Bauer — *The Story of the World* (a history spine)

## For the Parent
- [ ] Dorothy Sayers — *The Lost Tools of Learning* (a short essay) — [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/losttoolsoflearn0000saye_m7a8) (CrossReach, 2017; about 50 pages)
- [ ] C. S. Lewis — "On the Reading of Old Books" (his preface to *On the Incarnation*) — [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/stathanasiusonin00atha) (*St. Athanasius on the Incarnation*, St. Vladimir's, 1953; the translation Lewis wrote it for)
- [ ] Hugh of St. Victor — *Didascalicon* (c. 1125; a medieval guide to how to study and read) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/didascaliconmedi00hugh) (Taylor, Columbia University Press, 1961)
- [ ] Susan Wise Bauer — *The Well-Trained Mind*
- [ ] Richard Baxter — *The Godly Home* (his chapters on family life, from *A Christian Directory*) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/practicalworksof01baxt_0) (*Practical Works*, vol. 1, London, 1845; Part 2 of *A Christian Directory*, "Christian Economics," starts on p. 394)
- [ ] Robert Lewis Dabney — *On Secular Education* (a short essay on who should teach children) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/discussions04dabn) (*Discussions*, vol. 4, 1897; the essay starts on p. 225, titled "Secularized Education" here)
- [ ] Benjamin Morgan Palmer — *The Family, in Its Civil and Churchly Aspects* (1876; read with Baxter's *The Godly Home* and Xenophon's *Oeconomicus*) — [free scan](https://archive.org/details/familyinitscivil00palm) (Richmond, 1876)
- [ ] Douglas Kelly — *Preachers with Power: Four Stalwarts of the South* (1992; short lives of Daniel Baker, Thornwell, Palmer, and Girardeau) — [borrow free](https://archive.org/details/preacherswithpow0000kell) (Banner of Truth, 1992)

---

Books marked * may be graphic or crude in places. Read ahead before you assign them.]]></description><link>https://ilyaradchenko.com/notes/tz32g629isa3nhh55xkcj0q6</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://ilyaradchenko.com/notes/tz32g629isa3nhh55xkcj0q6</guid><pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate></item></channel></rss>