Today’s TTT prompt is books with a high pagecount. I’ve read the entire Story of Civilization, so this should be easy. But first, a tease from Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend.
Jim had built an entire character for Bear that he came out of the South,” Patty Woo says, laughing. “None of this was ever discussed. None of this was in the plot. But for Jim, it was important. And then he had to work on his Southern accent, and it became an issue—he got himself a coach, because Jim, from New Jersey, does not have access to an au then tic Southern accent. And now he’s killing himself to be au then tic to it!
(1) The Age of Louis XIV, Will Durant. 816 pages.
(2) The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky. 840 pages.
(3) The Age of Napoleon, Will Durant. 870 pages.
(4) The Age of Voltaire, Will Durant. 898 pages
(5) Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution, Simon Schama. 949 pages.
(6) The Reformation, Will Durant. 1025 pages.
(7) Our Oriental Heritage, Will Durant 1048 pages.
(8)The Age of Faith, Will Durant. 1200 pages.
(9) War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy. 1444 pages.
(10) The Gulag Archipelago, Alexander Solyzhenitsyn. 1915 pages across three volumes.
….can you tell I was a history major?
Reading Freely 
Interesting that all but one are either Russian or by Will Durant…. [grin]
I’ve just realized I forgot to include LOTR — Tolkien intended it as one big thing, it just happened that the publisher decided to split it into three parts! It should be #8, with Louis XIV dropping off.
The 1st time I read LoTR was in a single HUGE volume. That took a ‘while’! The 2nd time I read them as a trilogy which each volume being read just before the movie came out.
Was your takeaway different on each approach? Granted, the second one would be different regardless given that it was a re-read…
Well, you never really read the same book twice… I do remember being *totally* absorbed in my first reading – although I don’t think that had anything to do with the size.
Oh, yes! My first thought when I glanced over your list, historical fiction, yay! Besides reading a lot of history and historical fiction lately, my list focuses on women writers 🙂
Thanks for The Gulag Archipelago, Alexander Solyzhenitsyn, it sounds so enticing.
GA is one of the very best books I’ve read in my 18+ years book-blogging!
Those are some big books. I did not realize The Story of Civilization was so huge. It’s 13,549 pages across its eleven volumes (Wikipedia). Wow!
It’s monumental, but very rewarding.
War and Peace is on my list this week too. I’m hoping to read The Brothers Karamazov soon!
Good luck!
Epic fantasy. that would have also pumped your numbers up 🙂
A friend did try to get me into Robert Jordan’s books….
Oh, 14 books almost all over 500. And the last 3 over 800 😀 can’t recommend it though. I think you’re too old now…
I’d say that sounds like a challenge, but there are far too many other books to read! 😉
See, that’s the correct attitude!
And I just realized after seeing Lydia’s list that I forgot LOTR!
The important question is though, do you count that as 3 books or as 1?
Or six! I will go with one, at least for this purpose.
Someday I should read War and Peace.
The “long march” is fascinating character-wise and in its analysis of history.
I love this prompt and your choices, yes, very history-inclined, which is great. Some of the longest books I’ve read or re-read in past years are Les Misérables (1463 pages), The Count of Monte Cristo (1312 pages), The Arabian Nights (1049 pages), The Luminarries (832 pages), and, probably, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (over 800 pages). By the end of this year I also want to read The Quincunx (1221 pages) and re-read Don Quixote (1023 pages). Ambitious since I feel like I don’t have the required attention span for longer novels anymore.
I haven’t heard of Qincunx!
Those are some long books! I haven’t read any of them, but several sound really good.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
You’ve read some heavy (both in weight and subject matter) books!
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/ten-biggest-books-on-my-tbr/
That’s quite a collection. They sound really interesting.
The Story of Civilization series is amazing. Age of Faith was my favorite volume. It covers not only medieval Europe, but Byzantium and Persia as well.
Wow, those are some super chunksters! I tend to shy away from anything over about 500 pages these days. I’m getting impatient in my old age. Ha ha.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
War and Peace made more than one list today, Stephen. I love history, too. Thanks for sharing.
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2025/08/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-books-with-high.html
I only read two of your books but a few others by your authors. Always great to see some Russian authors.
Thanks for visiting my post.
This list is so intimidating! Not only are they huge, they are also not easy reads! Great list!!
Wow, I don’t remember my copy of The Gulag Archipelago being that long! I can’t remember now properly, feels like it must’ve been abridged…
There WAS an authorized abridged version, so if you found it in one volume that may have been it.
Amazing!
I have only read 3 here.
As I had done a post like this in 2018, I didn’t redo one, just updated it at the end:
https://wordsandpeace.com/2018/10/09/top-ten-longest-books-ive-ever-read/