BVBook Verdict

If you liked

Books like Marius the Epicurean

Loved Marius the Epicurean by Walter Pater? Here are 10 books with a similar appeal — drawn mostly from philosophy, ranked by how confidently we'd recommend them next.

10 books · ranked

  1. 1

    Sophie's World

    Jostein Gaarder · 1991 · Philosophy

    A teenager receives mysterious lessons that walk through the whole history of Western philosophy; a story and a course in one.

  2. 2

    The Republic

    Plato · -380 · Philosophy

    Socrates argues with Athenian citizens about the nature of justice, the ideal city-state, the philosopher-king, the allegory of the cave, and the forms. Plato's dialogue is the foundational text of Western political philosophy and one of the most influential works of thought ever written.

  3. 3

    Thus Spoke Zarathustra

    Friedrich Nietzsche · 1883 · Philosophy

    A prophet descends to teach a new way of valuing life; poetic, provocative and frequently misread.

  4. 4

    Mutual Aid

    Peter Kropotkin · 1891 · Philosophy

    Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution is a 1902 collection of anthropological essays by Russian naturalist and anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin. The essays, initially published in the English periodi

  5. 5

    De la division du travail social

    Émile Durkheim · 1893 · Philosophy

    "In 1893, a young doctoral student was to publish an entirely original work on the nature of labor and production as they were being shaped by the industrial revolution. Emile Durkheim's The Division

  6. 6

    The Book of the Dead

    E. A. Wallis Budge · 1894 · Philosophy

    The Book of the Dead is the title now commonly given to the great collection of funerary texts which the ancient Egyptian scribes composed for the benefit of the dead. These consist of spells and inca

  7. 7

    Autobiography

    John Stuart Mill · 1873 · Philosophy

    John Stuart Mill was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed wi

  8. 8

    Fields, Factories, and Workshops

    Peter Kropotkin · 1899 · Philosophy

    Fields, Factories, and Workshops is an 1899 book by anarchist Peter Kropotkin that discusses the decentralization of industries, possibilities of agriculture, and uses of small industries. Before this

  9. 9

    A Modern Utopia

    H. G. Wells · 1900 · Philosophy

    Imagine a life without worries. You live in a perfect environment untouched by pollution. You have a job to do and play an important role in society. The politicians are watching out for your best int

  10. 10

    A Study of History

    Arnold J. Toynbee · 1900 · Philosophy

    A masterful attempt to describe a universal history. Staggering depth of scholarship and breath of thought.

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