I stumbled on this more-than-a-decade-old amazing trove of essays. Just reading the authors’ names is impressive.

They are essays written by great thinkers, writers, etc on “best” things of the past thousand years. I’ll cut and paste most of the essay titles and links here. I’ve only read a few so far, but I’ve loved each.

Sorry I haven’t reformatted much, but you can always go to the original site for the full treatment.

Eyes Wide Open
By Richard Powers

Every Dictator’s Nightmare
By Wole Soyinka

When Tristram Met Isolde
By Joyce Carol Oates

Best Magic Trick
By Teller
Video

Best Feat of Engineering
By David Macaulay

Best Nuisance
By Penelope Fitzgerald

Best Innovation in Painting
By Michael Kimmelman
Slide Show

Best Vision
By James Gleick
Slide Show

Best Species
By Edward O. Wilson

Best Building
By Herbert Muschamp

Best Shot
By Charles McGrath

Best Punctuation
By Alberto Manguel

Best Utopia
By Margaret Atwood

Best Port
By Jan Morris
Slide Show

Best Leader
By Gail Collins

Best Escape
By David Fromkin

Best Treaty
By Fareed Zakaria

Best Clown
By Wendy Wasserstein

Best Lawyer
By Bernhard Schlink

Best Sermon
By Peter J. Gomes
Audio

Narrate or Die
By A.S. Byatt
Audio

The Book That Killed Colonialism
By Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Morality Bites
By Elmore Leonard

Best Love Song
By Lorrie Moore
Audio

Best Pope
By A.N. Wilson

Best Sex Scandal
By Josephine Hart

Best Trial
By Scott Turow

Best View of the World
By Charles Johnson
Map

Best Revolution
By Alan Brinkley

Best Toy
By Stephen Mihm

Best Land Deal
By Ron Chernow

Best Town Square
By Vincent Scully

Best Naval Battle
By Patrick O’Brian

Best Fable
By Marina Warner

Best Musical Instrument
By Leon Botstein
Audio

Best Poem
By Helen Vendler

Best Come-From-Behind Victory
By Keith Olbermann

Everything in Its Place
By Oliver Sacks

How the Bean Saved Civilization
By Umberto Eco

Invention Is the Mother of Necessity
By Jared Diamond

Best Piano Composition
By Charles Rosen
Audio

Best Ergonomic Design
By David Gelernter
Slide Show

Best Tool
By Witold Rybczynski

Best Stage Comedy
By David Lodge

Best Mistake
By John Lukacs

Best Medical Insight
By Jerome Groopman

Best of Breed
By Caroline Knapp

Best Meal
By Ruth Reichl

Best Deception
By John Julius Norwich

Best Garden
By W.S. Merwin

Best Battle
By R.W. Apple Jr.

Best Game
By Paul Auster

Best Fashion
By Alison Lurie

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