
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726)Ī satirical masterpiece that’s never been out of print, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels comes third in our list of the best novels written in EnglishĬlarissa is a tragic heroine, pressured by her unscrupulous nouveau-riche family to marry a wealthy man she detests, in the book that Samuel Johnson described as “the first book in the world for the knowledge it displays of the human heart.” Crusoe’s world-famous novel is a complex literary confection, and it’s irresistible.ģ. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)īy the end of the 19th century, no book in English literary history had enjoyed more editions, spin-offs and translations. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (1678)Ī story of a man in search of truth told with the simple clarity and beauty of Bunyan’s prose make this the ultimate English classic.Ģ.
