The best books ever written - Penguin Classics since 1946
Don't take our word for it

Ever wondered what the world's movers and shakers favourite Classics are? Well, wonder no more…
MiddlemarchCherie Blair
Middlemarch
by George Eliot
War And PeaceNelson Mandela
War And Peace
by Leo Tolstoy
Gulliver's TravelsSam Mendes
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift
The Great GatsbyAnthony Hopkins
The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Bridge Of San Luis ReyTony Blair
'Mr Blair does not have a favourite book; however, in the past he has chosen Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott to take to a desert island.'
He's also mentioned the Bridge Of San Luis Rey too by Thorton Wilder.
MiddlemarchMartin Amis
Middlemarch
by George Eliot 'Jane Austen with passion and amplitude.'
Tristram ShandyRichard Curtis
Tristram Shandy
by Laurence Sterne
Mansfield ParkGraham Norton
Mansfield Park
by Jane Austen
Great ExpectationsJulie Burchill
'My favourite classic novel is Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens.'
Bridge Of San Luis ReyJeffrey Archer
A Tale Of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens
'It's a brilliant piece of writing, wonderful piece of storytelling and boy can he write!
Plus, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. And, for a short yet fantastic read, you can't beat Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. It's a book you want to go back to every year to see what happens again.'
KimStephen Spielberg
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Great ExpectationsAli Smith
Emma
by Jane Austen
'as it's both perfect and humane.'
KimJoanna Lumley
Kim
by Rudyard Kipling
'Simply the best book about India. Read it, smell it, hear it.'
Great ExpectationsSam Taylor Wood
La Bęte Humaine
by Emile Zola

Now you know what they like, tell us which is your favourite Classic of all time from our top twenty.