The New Lifetime Reading Plan

Alexis de Tocqueville—The best edition of Democracy in America is that edited by Phillips Bradley. Vintage has it in two volumes, Anchor in one. Mentor offers an abridged edition.

Further reading: A good standard biography is J.P. Mayers Alexis de Tocqueville: A Biographical Essay in Political Science. Recommended: a careful reading of Phillips Bradley's long and thoughtful introduction to his monumental two-volume edition of Democracy in America. See also: G. W. Pierson, Tocqueville in America, abridged by Dudley C. Lunt; J.P. Mayer, Alexis de Tocqueville: Journey to America.

71. John Stuart Mill—On Liberty: Bobbs-Merrill, Norton. Oxford has Three Essays (On Liberty, Representative Government, Subjection of Women). Columbia U. Press and Riverside publish the Autobiography.

Further reading: Maurice Cranston,/.S. Mill; Michael St. John Packe, The Life of John Stuart Mill, the fullest account; E.R. August,John Stuart Mill; J. Plamenatz, The English Utilitarians.

73. Charles Darwin—On the Origin of Species (Harvard U. Press, Penguin); The Descent of Man (Princeton U. Press, Penguin); Charles Darwin's Beagle Diary, ed. R.D. Keynes (Cambridge U. Press); Journal of Researches. . . during the Voyage of H.M.S.

Beagle. . . [more commonly known by its short title, The Voyage of the Beagle] (John Murray); The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, ed. Nora Barlow (Collins). Cambridge University Press publishes the Complete Correspondence and the Scientific Journals in multi- ple volumes, edited by Frederick Burkhardt.

Further reading: Gertrude Himmelfarb, Darwin and the Darwinian Revolution; Janet Browne, Charles Darwin: A Biography (2 vols); Adrian Desmond and James Moore, Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist; John Bowlby, Charles Darwin: A New Life; Peter J. Bowler, Charles Darwin: The Man and His Influence. On Darwinian evolution, see Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker.

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol—Dead Souls, tr. B. G. Guerney (Holt, Rinehart), may be hard to find. Other good versions are issued by Norton, Airmont, Signet, and Penguin. Signet has Diary of a Madman and Other Stories; Norton offers The Overcoat and Other Tales of Good and Evil; University of Chicago Press issues The Complete Tales of Nikolai Gogol in two volumes.

Further reading: As you read Gogol, Turgenev (81), Tolstoy (88), Dostoyevsky (87), and Chekhov (101), you may find useful Mark Slonim's Outline of Russian Literature. Fuller treatments of Gogol: Vladimir Nabokov's somewhat eccentric but interesting Nikolai Gogol; J. Lavrin, Gogol; V. Erlich, Gogol; Jesse Zeldin, Nicolai Gogol's Quest for Beauty: An Exploration into His Works; V. Setchkarev, Gogol: His Life and Works; D. Magarshack, Gogol: A Life.

Edgar Allen Poe—Vintage (Giant) has Complete Tales and Poems. Other convenient editions: Meridian, Signet, Everyman. Viking issues a good Portable Poe. The Library of America has a volume of Poetry and Tales, and one of Essays and Reviews.