Classics are the one kind of book you should never have to pay for. They’re out of copyright, so the ebooks are free.
The catch is that free doesn’t always mean good. Some free copies are beautifully formatted. Others have no contents page, odd typos and a cover that looks like clip art. A decent free classic is usually better than the £1.99 version on the Amazon store, so here’s where to get good ones, how to spot a bad edition, and a starter list of classics worth having on your Kindle.
Why classics are free
Books go out of copyright after a set time, and then anyone can publish them. In the UK that’s generally 70 years after the author’s death. Copyright rules differ between countries, though, so I’d stick to well-known older classics, like the ones on the list below, rather than anything from the last century.
Where to get free classics
1. Standard Ebooks
A volunteer project that makes carefully formatted, proofread editions of public domain classics, free to download. The catalogue is smaller than the others, but the editions are consistently well formatted, so it’s where I’d start. Find them at standardebooks.org.
2. Project Gutenberg
The giant of free ebooks, with tens of thousands of books. The quality is more mixed, and some books don’t have a cover or title page. But if a classic isn’t anywhere else, it’s usually here. Find it at gutenberg.org.
3. Amazon’s own free classics
The easiest option, because they go straight to your library. But there are lots of different editions of the same book and the quality varies a lot, so don’t just grab the first one. The checklist below will help.
How to get a Standard Ebooks or Gutenberg book onto your Kindle
- Download the EPUB version of the book.
- Go to Amazon’s Send to Kindle page and sign in. Add the EPUB file and choose which Kindle, or Kindle app, to send it to.
- Sync your Kindle and the book appears in your library.
How to spot a good free edition on Amazon
- Use “Look inside”. Check there’s a contents page you can tap, and that the text looks clean, with no strange symbols or typos on the first pages.
- Check the price says £0.00, not 99p. There are plenty of paid copies of books that are free elsewhere.
- Read the reviews for comments on the formatting. Complaints about missing chapters or messy text are a red flag.
- Watch the translation for books written in another language, such as Dumas, Marcus Aurelius or Sun Tzu. A free old translation can read stiffly, and a modern translation is still in copyright, so it won’t be free.
A starter list of classics worth having
These are all older books that are free to get.
| Book | Author | Why start here |
|---|---|---|
| Pride and Prejudice | Jane Austen | The Regency romance everyone knows |
| Frankenstein | Mary Shelley | The original monster story |
| Dracula | Bram Stoker | Told through diaries and letters, so it’s easy to read in short bursts |
| The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle | Short stories you can read one at a time |
| Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland | Lewis Carroll | Short and quick to read |
| The Picture of Dorian Gray | Oscar Wilde | A short, dark novel |
| Jane Eyre | Charlotte Brontë | A gothic romance |
| The Count of Monte Cristo | Alexandre Dumas | A huge revenge adventure, so a long one (check the translation) |
| Meditations | Marcus Aurelius | Short notes you can dip in and out of (check the translation) |
| The Art of War | Sun Tzu | A short strategy classic (check the translation) |
Your library may have many of these too, including as audiobooks. See my guide to Libby and BorrowBox.
Free classics vs 99p deals
Classics are free forever, so there’s no rush. The 99p deals are the ones that come and go, which is why I check the monthly 99p Kindle deals on the 1st and pick up a classic whenever I fancy one. There are more of my tricks in how I fill my Kindle without spending a fortune.
What’s your favourite free classic? Let me know and I’ll add it to the list.
[…] I read for free without a subscription? Yes. See my guides to free classics for Kindle and borrowing ebooks and audiobooks from your […]