Recommended Reading for GMs

This list focuses quite a bit on ancient and classical literature because I have found a great deal of inspiration from the classics, though I also include some more modern works that are also suitable.   The criteria for books being added to this list is if the book inspired ideas for my Campaigns, or helped provide considerations for the Back Story of my World.  Pick and choose as you see fit, and I'm sure that there will be something to appeal to almost every Gamesmaster somewhere in the list...

So without further ado, here is my list of recommended readings for my fellow Gamesmasters.  Best wishes on magnificent Worlds!

1. The Holy Bible [King James] (1)(2)(3)(4) *
2. The Travels, M. Polo (2)(4)(3) *
3. The Quest of the Holy Grail, Walter Map [Mattarasso] (2)(3)(1)(4) *
4. Parzival, W.V. Eschenbach (1)(2)(3)(4) *
5. Willehalm, W.V. Eschenbach (1)(2)(3)(4) *
6. The Death of King Arthur, Walter Map (2)(3)(1) *
7. Divine Comedy, Dante (3) *
8. La Vita Nova, Dante (1)(3)
9. Piers the Ploughman, William Langland (3)
10. The Nibilungenlied (1)(2)(3)(4) *
11. The Mabinogion (2)(3) *
12. Arthurian Romances, Chretien de Troyes (1)(2)(3)(4) *
13. The Aeneid, Virgil (1)(2)(3)(4) *
14. Lysistrata, Aristophanes (3)
15. Sir Gwaine and the Green Knight (1)(2)(3) *
16. The Pearl, Anonymous (1)(2)(3) *
17. Tristan and Isolde, Strassburg, Beroul, Thomas, & Morris (1)(2)(3) *
18. The Song of Roland (1)(2)(3)(4) *
19. The Lady of the Lake, Sir Walter Scott (1)(2)(3) *
20. Dark Night of the Soul, St. John of the Cross (3)
21. The Ladder of Perfection, Walter Hilton (3)
22. Shrimad Bhagamatam (Volumes 1-14) (3) *
23. Dharmapada (3)
24. Bhagavad Gita (3) *
25. Tao te Ching, Lao Tzu (3)
26. The History of the Kings of Britain, Georffrey of Momouth (3)(4) *
27. Idylls of the King, Alfred Lord Tennyson (1)(2)(3) *
28. The Knights Templar, Stephen Howarth (4)
29. The Laxdaela Saga (2)(4) *
30. John Dee, P. J. French (4)(3)
31. Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, Frances Yates (3)(4)
32. The Essays, Francis Bacon (4)(3)
33. Tales of King Arther, Sir Thomas Malory (1)(2)(3)
34. Oxford History of the American People (vol. 1,2), S. Morrison (4)
35. The Histories, Herodotus (2)(4) *
36. Combat World War I, Assorted Authors (2)(4)
37. The Epic of Gilgamesh (3)(2)(1)(4) *
38. The Scarlet Pimpernel (2)(1)(3)(4) *
39. Selected Essays, Emerson (On Nature) (3)
40. Metamorphosis, Ovid (3)(2)(1)
41. Fables of Aesop (3) *
42. The Prince, Machiavelli (4)(3)
43. The Republic, Plato (3) *
44. The Meno, Plato (3)
45. The Crito, Plato (3)
45. Metaphysics, Aristotle (3)
46. Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle (3)
46. Lives, Plutarch (4)(2) *
47. The City of God, Augustine (3)
48. The Peloponnesian War, Thucydides (4)(3) *
49. The Early History of Rome, Livy (4) *
50. The Age of Alexander, Plutarch (4)(2) *
51. The Symposium, Plato (3)
52. The Politics, Aristotle (3) *
53. The Laws, Plato (3)
54. The Fathers of the Church; Homilies on Leviticus, Origen (3)
55. The Clouds, Aristophanes (3)
56. Beowulf (2)(3) *
57. Confessions, Saint Augustine (3)
58. Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Bede (4)(3)(2) *
59. The Faerie Queen, Edmund Spenser (1)(4)(3) *
60. The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis *
61. The Guide for the Perplexed, Moses Maimonides (3)(4)
62. The Art of War, Sun Tzu (4)(3) *
63. Anderson's Fairy Tales *
64. Grimm's Fairy Tales *
65. Mythologies of the Ancient World, S. Kramer (4) *
66. Myths from Mesopotamia, Stephanie Dalley (4) *
67. Dracula, Bram Stoker (1)(2)(3) *
68. Frankenstien, Mary Shelly (2)(3)
69. Vathek, William Beckford (2)(3) *
70. Castle of Oranto, Horace Walpole (2)(3) *
71. The New Atlantis, Francis Bacon (3)
72. The Dragon and the Unicorn, A. A. Attanasio (1) (2) (3) (4) *
73. The Eagle and the Sword, A. A. Attanasio (2) (3) (4) *
74. The Wolf and the Crown, A. A. Attanasio (2) (3) (4) *
75. The Serpent and the Grail, A. A. Attanasio (2) (3) (4) *
76. Rosslyn, Guardian of the Holy Grail, Tim Wallace-Murphy (3) (4)
77. Bloodline of the Holy Grail, Laurence Gardner (3) (4)
78. Tolkien’s Ring, Allen Lee (3) (4) *
79. The Norse Myths, Kevin Crossley-Holland (2) (3) (4)
80. The Return of Merlin, Deepak Chopra (2) (3) (4) *
81. The Cup of Destiny, Ravencroft (3) (4)
82. The Spear of Destiny, Ravencroft (3) (4)
83. Paradise Lost, Milton (2) (3) *
84. The Golden Bough, Fraser (3) (4) *
85. The Rise of the Roman Empire, Polybius (2) (4) *
86. Caesar and Christ, Will Durant (4) *
87. Warriors of God; Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the 3rd Crusade, James Reston, Jr. (4)
88. The Grand Alliance, Winston Churchill (4)
89. Alexander the Great and His Time, Agnes Savill (4) *
90. The Lensmen Series, E. Smith (2) *
91. Caesar: The Civil War, Jane F. Gardner (4)
92. The Bible as History, Werner Keller (4)
93. The Ancient Engineers, L. Sprague De Camp (4) *
94. Bureaucracy, Ludwig von Mises (4)
95. The Anti-Capitalist Mentality, Ludwig von Mises (4)
96. Omnipotent Government, Ludwig von Mises (4)
97. Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman (4)
98. The Road to Serfdom, F.A. Hayek (4) *
99. The Works of Walter Scott, Walter Scott (2)(4)(1)(3) *
100. Lord of the Rings, J R Tolkien (2)(3) *
101. The Illiad, Homer (2)(4)(1)(3) *
102. A Leap in the Dark, John Ferling (4)
103. Alexander Hamilton, American by Richard Brookhiser (4)
104. George Washington's War by Bruce Chadwick (4)
105. Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper (2)(4) *
106. Invincible Warrior by John Stevens (4)(3)
107. The History of Money in America by Alexander Del Mar (1899) (4) *
108. The Rosicrucian Enlightenment by Frances A. Yates (4)(3)
109. Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs by Adrienne Mayor (4)(3) *
110. The Inklings by Humphrey Carpenter (4)(3)
111. Fire in the Head, Tom Cowan (3)(2) *
112. A War Like No Other, Victor David Hanson (3)(2)
113. Coyote Wisdom; the power of story in healing, Lewis Mehl-Madrona (3) *
114. Celtic Myths and Legends, Peter B. Ellis (3)(4)(1)(2) *
115. Gods and Myths of the Viking Age, H. R. Ellis Davidson (3)(2) *
116. Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe, HR Ellis Davidson *
117. Collected Works of Lord Dunsany, Lord Dunsany (2) *
118. The Gods of Pegana, Lord Dunsany (2) *
119. Time and the Gods, Lord Dunsany (2) *
120. Taliesin; The Last Celtic Shaman, John Matthews (3)(4)(1)(2) *
121. The Song of Arthur, John Matthews (3)(4)(1)(2) *
122. Mabon and the Guardians of Celtic Britain, John Matthews (3)(4)(1)(2) *
123. The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Myth and Legend, John Matthews (3)(4)(1)(2)
124. Arthur and the Sovereignty of Britain, Caitlin Matthews (3)(4)(1)(2) *
125. The Western Way, Caitlin and John Matthews (3)(4)(1)(2) *
126. Ladies of the Lake, Caitlin and John Matthews (3)(4)(1)(2) *
127. Mabon and the Mysteries of Britain, Caitlin Matthews (3)(4)(1)(2) *
128. Sicily; Three Thousand Years of Human History, Sandra Benjamin (4) *
129. Black God’s Kiss, C.L. Moore (2) *
130. The Song of Arthur, John Matthews (3)(4)(1)(2) *
131. King Arthur’s Raid on the Underworld, Caitlin & John Matthews (3)(1)(2) *
132. The Phoenix and the Mirror, Avram Davidson (3)(4)(1)(2) *
133. Occult America, Mitch Horowitz (3)(4)
134. Walkers Between the Worlds; The Western Mysteries, Caitlin Matthews (3)(4)(1)(2) *
135. The Masks of Odin; The Wisdom of the Ancient Norse, Elsa-Brita Titchenell (3)(4) *
136. A Dark History, The Kings and Queens of England, Brenda R. Lewis (3)(4) 
137. Elves, Wights, and trolls, Kveldulf Gundarsson (3)(4) *
138. Futhark; A Handbook of Rune Magic, Edred Torsson (3)(4)
139. The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett (3)(4)(1)(2)
140. The Book and the Sword, Louis Cha (3)(4)(1)(2) *
141. The Greater Trumps, Charles Williams, (3)(2) *
142. On Stories, C. S. Lewis, (3) *
143. Age of Wonder, Richard Holms (3)(4)(1)(2)
144. Journey to the West, Anonymous (3)(4)(1)(2) *
145. Narnia Series, C.S. Lewis (1) (2) (3) *

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(1) Romance Literature / Love Story
(2) Adventure / Science Fiction / Fantasy / Fairy tale
(3) Mystical/Philosophy
(4) History/Economics
* - Particularly Good For Gamesmasters