Book Shelf

Welcome to the Thomas Jefferson Center Book Shelf. This web page offers a list of many of the core texts which are read and discussed in Jefferson Center classes, and which can provide the foundation for a serious great books education. We are offering this list, accessible on the left of this page and broken down by four major categories, for two main reasons. First, we want to give students an idea of what works they can expect to study if they decide to pursue our certificate. Second, we want to provide a public resource to help guide people outside the university who are interested in studying the core texts on their own. We hope that this list will help guide you in your own reading.

We have offered a set of readings for each of the four main fields of study that Jefferson Center students pursue. All of the books mentioned below are books taught in Core Texts classes. For the most essential readings, we have said roughly what each book is about, what kinds of questions one might bring to it, and what one might hope to learn from it. These are not meant to be exhaustive in any way, but merely launching pads for your own explorations and discussions.

These are exceptionally deep texts, which can be read repeatedly for added enjoyment and benefit. While it is certainly possible to read them profitably on one’s own, we recommend seeking out other readers and discussing these books in groups. By discussing and debating the texts, it is far easier to unlock their true riches – and more than that, there are few better foundations for good friendships than the shared discussion of the great ideas. In the words of Socrates in Xenophon’s Memorabilia,

     “Reading in company with my friends, I go through the treasures of the wise ones of old which they wrote and left behind in their books; and if we see something good, we pick it out; and we hold that it is a great gain if we become friends to one another.”