www.gutenberg.net

The British once stated that they would rather give away their vast empire than any of Shakespeares works. Today, thanks to Project Gutenberg, anyone with just a computer and internet connection can download an electronic copy of such invaluable books as the Complete Works of Shakespeare without paying a single penny.

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The first thing that visitors see is the Project Gutenberg logo: an ancient printing machine with digits interspersed in the background. This ingenious logo implies that the impact of digitally republishing books would be as revolutionary as the invention of printing by Johan Gutenberg 550 years ago. To me this is completely true.

The idea of this website is so simple. The project selects works that arent covered by copyright anymore (this lapses 75 years after the authors death), and they reproduce them in a very simple electronic version that can be read in all computer operating systems. These files can be easily converted to other formats, so they can survive the continuous change in operating systems and ensure that these great books will be available forever.

The website currently harbours 6386 ebooks, and more titles are added every month. You can search by authors name, title, or subject, and files can be downloaded in matter of seconds. An advanced search engine helps you to search through the books.

You can find a myriad chefs doeuvre that have influenced the human culture for centuries. For example, if history is your thing you will find Edward Gibbons masterpiece, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. More into literature? You can easily browse through thousands of classics by Virgil, Dante, Tolstoy, John Milton, Jules Verne, and many others. Medical students can find Evolution of Modern Medicine by Sir William Osler, the complete works of Sir Oliver Windell Holmes, and Bernard Shaws The Doctors Dilemma.

The beauty of Project Gutenberg is that has the books that you always wanted to read but you didnt because of their price. Project Gutenberg brings them to your desk, fast and free. You wont be able to get the latest bestseller, but you will be amazed how many books you can get without buying them. If you think is too good to be true, just go and see for yourself.