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20th Century

The turbulent 1900s birthed revolutionary ideas and radical artistic movements that forever changed how we see ourselves and society. Between world wars and social upheaval, writers grappled with existentialism, stream of consciousness, and the growing shadows of totalitarianism through groundbreaking works that defined modern literature.

20th Century Book Summaries

The Stranger Summary
The Stranger
by Albert Camus 1942 123 pages
4.03
1.3M ratings
Literature
French Literature
School
Totality and Infinity Summary
Totality and Infinity
An Essay on Exteriority
by Emmanuel Levinas 1961 314 pages
4.22
1.9K ratings
Philosophy
Theory
Essays
The Trial Summary
The Trial
by Franz Kafka 1925 255 pages
3.95
369.3K ratings
Philosophy
Literature
Novels
Mother Courage and Her Children Summary
Mother Courage and Her Children
by Bertolt Brecht 1941 93 pages
3.62
22.1K ratings
Theatre
School
20th Century
Homo Faber Summary
Homo Faber
by Max Frisch 1957 214 pages
3.68
29.8K ratings
Classics
German Literature
School
Zeno's Conscience Summary
Zeno's Conscience
by Italo Svevo 1923 437 pages
3.77
30.4K ratings
Italian Literature
Italy
Literature
A Passage to India Summary
A Passage to India
by E.M. Forster 1924 376 pages
3.68
83.8K ratings
Historical Fiction
Classics
Literature
All My Sons Summary
All My Sons
by Arthur Miller 1947 112 pages
3.91
29.5K ratings
Plays
Classics
Drama
Ariel Summary
Ariel
by Sylvia Plath 1965 128 pages
4.19
85.4K ratings
Poetry
Classics
Feminism
The House of Hunger Summary
The House of Hunger
by Dambudzo Marechera 1978 160 pages
3.96
1.2K ratings
Africa
Short Stories
Zimbabwe
Dubliners Summary
Dubliners
by James Joyce 1914 352 pages
3.84
167.9K ratings
Classics
Short Stories
Ireland
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Summary
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
by James Joyce 1916 329 pages
3.64
159.6K ratings
Classics
Literature
Irish Literature
Ulysses Summary
Ulysses
by James Joyce 1922 783 pages
3.77
137.3K ratings
Classics
Literature
Ireland
Amerika Summary
Amerika
by Franz Kafka 1927 336 pages
3.74
32.6K ratings
Classics
German Literature
Literature
The Sound and the Fury Summary
The Sound and the Fury
by William Faulkner 1929 366 pages
3.86
190.5K ratings
Literature
Classics
Novels
To the Lighthouse Summary
To the Lighthouse
by Virginia Woolf 1927 209 pages
3.81
203.7K ratings
Classics
Literature
Novels
Ethics and Infinity Summary
Ethics and Infinity
Conversations with Philippe Nemo
by Emmanuel Levinas 1982 126 pages
3.89
659 ratings
Philosophy
France
Religion
The Counterfeiters Summary
The Counterfeiters
by André Gide 1925 451 pages
3.83
10.0K ratings
France
Classics
French Literature
Lectures on the Will to Know Summary
Lectures on the Will to Know
Lectures at the Collège de France, 1970-1971, & Oedipal Knowledge
by Michel Foucault 2014 293 pages
4.27
233 ratings
Philosophy
Politics
France
Women in Love Summary
Women in Love
by D.H. Lawrence 1920 416 pages
3.66
33.0K ratings
Literature
Classics
Romance
توتالیتاریسم Summary
توتالیتاریسم
by Hannah Arendt 1968 365 pages
4.16
758 ratings
Politics
History
Philosophy
The Custom of the Country Summary
The Custom of the Country
by Edith Wharton 1913 370 pages
4.06
15.2K ratings
Classics
Historical Fiction
American
What Is Existentialism? Summary
What Is Existentialism?
by Simone de Beauvoir 1944 128 pages
3.91
1.3K ratings
Philosophy
Classics
Essays
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Other Plays Summary
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Other Plays
by Tennessee Williams 1955 329 pages
4.06
1.5K ratings
Plays
Classics
Drama
The Waste Land, Prufrock and Other Poems Summary
The Waste Land, Prufrock and Other Poems
by T.S. Eliot 1922 88 pages
4.14
12.0K ratings
Poetry
Classics
Literature
The Salon of Exiled Artists in California Summary
The Salon of Exiled Artists in California
by Núria Añó 2020 237 pages
4.25
12 ratings
Art
LGBT
Bisexual
The Poetry of Robert Frost Summary
The Poetry of Robert Frost
by Robert Frost 1969 607 pages
4.24
48.8K ratings
Poetry
Classics
Literature
The Concept of Mind Summary
The Concept of Mind
by Gilbert Ryle 1949 348 pages
3.93
1.7K ratings
Philosophy
Psychology
Science
Lenin Summary
Lenin
A Biography
by Robert Service 2000 592 pages
3.84
1.8K ratings
History
Biography
Russia
Men Without Women Summary
Men Without Women
by Ernest Hemingway 1927 153 pages
3.59
14.9K ratings
Classics
Short Stories
Literature
The Common Sense of Science Summary
The Common Sense of Science
With a New Preface by Sir Hermann Bondi
by J. Bronowski 1951 160 pages
3.82
139 ratings
Science
Philosophy
20th Century
Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy Summary
Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy
A Primer in the Social History of Pictorial Style
by Michael Baxandall 1972 200 pages
3.96
3.0K ratings
Art
Art History
History
Life Summary
Life
A User's Manual
by Georges Perec 1978 581 pages
4.18
9.7K ratings
France
Classics
French Literature
The Man Without Content Summary
The Man Without Content
by Giorgio Agamben 1970 144 pages
4.16
365 ratings
Philosophy
Art
Theory
Contesting Democracy Summary
Contesting Democracy
Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe
by Jan-Werner Müller 2006 304 pages
4.03
147 ratings
Politics
History
Philosophy
The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway Summary
The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway
by Ernest Hemingway 1987 650 pages
4.29
37.4K ratings
Short Stories
Classics
Literature
Mexico Summary
Mexico
Biography of Power
by Enrique Krauze 1997 896 pages
4.27
634 ratings
History
Politics
Biography
The Real Thing Summary
The Real Thing
by Tom Stoppard 1982 81 pages
3.90
4.8K ratings
Plays
Drama
Theatre
Fantastic Night & Other Stories Summary
Fantastic Night & Other Stories
by Stefan Zweig 1922 164 pages
3.99
1.7K ratings
Short Stories
Classics
German Literature
That Mad Ache Summary
That Mad Ache
by Françoise Sagan 1965 311 pages
3.98
1.5K ratings
France
Classics
French Literature
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