Classic Cultural Texts and Historical Books to Read Before College

When The College Board released a list of 101 books to read before college they also included 20 classic cultural and historical texts. This is not a comprehensive list of every classic historical book, but it is an excellent list for high school students and college prep.

To make it as easy as possible to check out, rent, or buy these books, I included direct links to Amazon Books search, The World Catalog (to find out which local libraries have a copy), and to the Kindle bookstore search.

1. The Arabian Nights
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2. Profiles in Courage
   

   Written by: Kennedy, John F. | Lexile scale: 1410

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3. The Bible
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4. A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and
   

   Written by: King, Martin Luther, Jr.

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5. Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
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6. The Education of Henry Adams
   

   Written by: Adams, Henry

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7. Le Morte D'Arthur
   

   Written by: Malory, Sir Thomas

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8. Aesop's Fables
   

   Written by: Aesop

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9. The Prince
   

   Written by: Machiavelli, Niccolò | Lexile scale: 1350

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10. Andersen's Fairy Tales
    

    Written by: Andersen, Hans Christian | Lexile scale: 1060

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11. The Communist Manifesto
    

    Written by: Marx, Karl | Lexile scale: 1360

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12. Nicomachean Ethics
    

    Written by: Aristotle | Lexile scale: 1260

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13. Common Sense
    

    Written by: Paine, Thomas | Lexile scale: 1330

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14. The Souls of Black Folk
    

    Written by: DuBois, W.E.B. | Lexile scale: 1280

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15. The Republic
    

    Written by: Plato | Lexile scale: 1120

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16. Autobiography
    

    Written by: Franklin, Benjamin | Lexile scale: 1370

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17. Democracy in America
    

    Written by: Tocqueville, Alexis de | Lexile scale: 1310

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18. Mythology
    

    Written by: Hamilton, Edith | Lexile scale: 1040

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19. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
    

    Written by: X, Malcolm with Haley, Alex | Lexile scale: 1120

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20. The Federalist Papers
    

    Written by: Hamilton, John, et al. | Lexile scale: 1450

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