Oxford and Cambridge reading lists, by subject
We collected 30 reading lists that Oxford and Cambridge faculties and colleges publish for applicants and incoming students, across 11 subjects: 647 entries in all. 43 books appear on more than one list. The most widely shared are Think (4 lists), An Introduction to Political Philosophy (3 lists) and On Liberty (3 lists). Every list links to its source, retrieved 3 October 2026.
Starting at a US college instead? See first-year common reads.
Lists by subject
English Literature
- Oxford, Faculty of English · 8 books
- Cambridge, Robinson College · 42 books
- Oxford, New College · 79 books
History
- Oxford, St Hilda's College · 74 books
- Cambridge, Robinson College · 22 books
- Cambridge, Churchill College · 7 books
Philosophy
- Cambridge, Faculty of Philosophy · 44 books
- Cambridge, Downing College · 30 books
- Oxford, Somerville College (PPE) · 6 books
Economics
- Cambridge, Faculty of Economics · 37 books
- Cambridge, Downing College · 8 books
- Oxford, New College (PPE) · 7 books
Law
- Oxford, St Hilda's College · 9 books
- Oxford, New College · 13 books
- Cambridge, Robinson College · 10 books
Psychology
Politics
- Oxford, St Peter's College (PPE) · 11 books
- Oxford, Somerville College (PPE) · 8 books
- Cambridge, Human, Social and Political Sciences · 19 books
Classics
- Oxford, Balliol College · 17 books
- Oxford, St Hilda's College (Classical Archaeology and Ancient History) · 19 books
- Cambridge, Faculty of Classics · 24 books
Medicine
- Oxford, Medical Sciences Division · 18 books
- Oxford, St Hilda's College · 7 books
- Cambridge, Natural Sciences (biological sciences sections) · 15 books
Engineering
- Oxford, Balliol College · 20 books
Mathematics
- Oxford, Balliol College · 12 books
- Cambridge, Faculty of Mathematics · 43 books
Books on more than one list
Ordered by how many of the 30 lists name them. A book can recur within one subject (two colleges set it) or across subjects.
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- 2.An Introduction to Political PhilosophyJonathan Wolff
- 4.Riddles of ExistenceEarl Conee and Theodore Sider
- 5.The Rule of LawT. Bingham
- 6.Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and PovertyAcemoglu, Daron, and James Robinson
- 7.A First Course in MechanicsM. Lunn
- 8.Ancient Philosophy: A very short introductionJulia Annas
- 9.Bad ScienceBen Goldacre
- 10.Being Good: A short introduction to ethicsSimon Blackburn
- 11.Cambridge Economic History of Modern BritainFloud, R., Humphries, J. & Johnson, P.
- 12.Early GreeceMurray, O.
- 13.Essential Cell BiologyAlberts, Heald, Hopkin, Johnson, Morgan, Roberts, Walter
- 14.Essential Mathematics for Economic AnalysisSydsaeter, K and P Hammond
- 15.Great Debates in Criminal LawJonathan Herring
- 16.Great ExpectationsCharles Dickens
- 17.How to Think Like a MathematicianKevin Houston
- 18.Intermediate MicroeconomicsVarian, H
- 19.Introductory StatisticsRoss, S M
- 20.Jane EyreCharlotte Brontë
- 21.Knowledge: A very short introductionJennifer Nagel
- 22.Letters to a Law Student: A Guide to Studying Law at UniversityNicholas McBride
- 23.LogicWilfrid Hodges
- 24.Mathematical Methods for Science StudentsG Stephenson
- 25.MeditationsDescartes
- 26.Meno and EuthyphroPlato
- 27.MiddlemarchGeorge Eliot
- 28.ParadoxesR M Sainsbury
- 29.Philosophy of ScienceAlexander Bird
- 30.The Communist ManifestoKarl Marx and Friedrich Engels
- 31.The Logic ManualVolker Halbach
- 32.The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a HatOliver Sacks
- 33.The Mechanical MindTim Crane
- 34.The Problems of PhilosophyBertrand Russell
- 35.The Pursuit of HistoryJ. Tosh
- 36.The Return of Martin GuerreNatalie Zemon Davis
- 37.The Social ContractJean Jacques Rousseau
- 38.Themes in macroeconomic history: the UK economy 1919-1939Solomos Solomou
- 40.UtilitarianismJ. S. Mill
- 41.VilletteCharlotte Brontë
- 42.What Does It All Mean?Thomas Nagel
- 43.Wuthering HeightsEmily Brontë
How this list was made
We fetched the list from the institution's own page or PDF on the date shown and recorded each title and author as printed. We did not add books, and we copied no descriptions. Obvious misprints are corrected and marked. The extraction was done with AI assistance and checked against the source. Lists change every year, so check the source page before you buy anything.