Power

This curated selection of titles examines the concept of power and its role in shaping society. The texts in the Power Collection draw upon a wide range of literary traditions and genres to explore concepts related to power and its pursuit, such as equality and injustice, colonialism, authority, and conflict.

Publication year 2010

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Emotions/Behavior: Love

Tags Romance, Love / Sexuality, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Relationships, Addiction / Substance Abuse, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Drama / Tragedy

Safe Haven is a novel by New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sparks. Written in 2010, Safe Haven was adapted into a movie of the same name in 2013. Like most of Sparks’s novels, the setting of this story is North Carolina. The author often uses his home state as a backdrop to his romances, incorporating the beauty and history of the state as a central motif. In this novel, Sparks contrasts the beauty and... Read Safe Haven Summary


Publication year 1925

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Society: Colonialism, Society: Class, Relationships: Marriage, Identity: Gender

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, British Literature, Colonialism / Postcolonialism, Regency Era, History: World


Publication year 2015

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Economics, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Business / Economics, Sociology, History: World, Philosophy, Philosophy, Politics / Government


Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Society: Community

Tags Children's Literature, Action / Adventure, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction


Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Fate, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Fairy Tale / Folklore, Fantasy, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Romance


Publication year 1982

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Identity: Race, Society: War

Tags Historical Fiction, Holocaust, WWII / World War II, Auto/Biographical Fiction, Race / Racism, History: World, Immigration / Refugee, Incarceration, Military / War, Politics / Government, Social Justice, Sociology, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Classic Fiction, Biography

Schindler’s List (originally titled Schindler’s Ark) is a 1982 historical novel by Australian author Thomas Keneally. It tells the story of Oskar Schindler, a member of the Nazi party who used his position as a German industrialist to save more than 1,200 people’s lives during the war. In protecting as many people as he could from the genocidal Nazi regime, Schindler risked being sent to a concentration camp himself. Keneally wrote the novel with the... Read Schindler's List Summary


Publication year 1689

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Politics & Government, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Politics / Government, Philosophy, Age of Enlightenment, Education, Education, History: World, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

The Second Treatise of Government is a philosophical text written by Enlightenment thinker and “Father of Liberalism” John Locke in 1689. When the treatise was published in the late 17th century, England was in a state of political unrest. King William III and Queen Mary II were in power, as monarch King James II had been deposed two years earlier. This period of history is known as the Glorious Revolution, and it followed years of... Read Second Treatise of Government Summary


Publication year 1987

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Society: Colonialism, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict

Tags Poetry: Dramatic Poem, British Literature


Publication year 1811

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Society: Class, Society: Economics, Identity: Gender

Tags Romance, Romanticism / Romantic Period, British Literature, Relationships, Class, Gender / Feminism, History: World, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction

Sense and Sensibility (1811) was the first published novel of English writer Jane Austen (1775-1817). She published it anonymously, identifying herself only as "a lady." It tells the story of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who find love after their father dies and they are plunged into a more modest lifestyle. Sense and Sensibility’s continual presence in the cultural imagination is evident in its numerous film and TV adaptations, including the award-winning 1995 version... Read Sense and Sensibility Summary


Publication year 1939

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Hope

Tags WWII / World War II, Grief / Death, Military / War, Classic Fiction


Publication year 2003

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Colonialism, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Identity: Indigenous, Life/Time: The Past

Tags History: European, History: The Americas, Colonialism / Postcolonialism, History: U.S., Latin American Literature, American Literature, History: World


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Fantasy, Magical Realism, Action / Adventure, Middle Eastern Literature, Romance, Religion / Spirituality

Shadow and Bone (2012) by Leigh Bardugo is a young adult fantasy adventure and romance novel. It is Bardugo’s debut novel and the first book in her Shadow and Bone trilogy, also called the Grisha trilogy. Inspired by 19th-century Tsarist Russia, Bardugo creates a darkly magical world characterized by strange armies, extreme wealth and poverty, and personifications of light and shadow. The novel was a New York Times best seller, a Los Angeles Times best... Read Shadow and Bone Summary


Publication year 2019

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Gender

Tags Gender / Feminism, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Mystery / Crime Fiction, Journalism, History: World, Social Justice, Politics / Government


Publication year 1992

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Drama / Tragedy, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness

She’s Come Undone is a realistic fiction novel written by Wally Lamb and originally published in 1992. Lamb demonstrates his penchant for creating detailed psychological character portraits in his debut novel, which is a coming-of-age story about a woman named Dolores Price. As the novel traces Dolores’s life from childhood through middle age in the mid-20th century, Lamb examines imbalanced power dynamics within relationships, intergenerational trauma and healing, the loss of innocence, and body image... Read She's Come Undone Summary


Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Society: Community, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Survival Fiction, Health / Medicine, Education, Food, Technology, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction


Publication year 1975

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Identity: Language, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose

Tags Historical Fiction, Action / Adventure, History: Asian, Politics / Government, Military / War, American Literature, History: World, Fantasy, Japanese Literature, Classic Fiction

Shogun is a 1975 novel by American author James Clavell. It is one of six books in Clavell’s Asian Saga, which chronicles the ways Europeans interacted with countries in Asia from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The novel tells the story of English ship pilot John Blackthorne, loosely based on the real life navigator William Adams, who becomes intimately involved in the rise to power of Yoshi Toranaga, a fictionalized version of Tokugawa Ieyasu... Read Shogun Summary


Publication year 1936

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Society: Colonialism, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Education, Education, History: World, Classic Fiction, Politics / Government, Biography

“Shooting an Elephant,” is an essay by British author George Orwell, first published in the magazine New Writing in 1936. Orwell, born Eric Blair, is world-renowned for his sociopolitical commentary. He served as a British officer in Burma from 1922 to 1927, then worked as a journalist, novelist, short-story writer, and essayist for the remainder of his career, going on to produce celebrated works such as Animal Farm (1945) and 1984 (1949). Before penning this... Read Shooting an Elephant Summary


Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Society: War, Self Discovery, Natural World: Animals, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness

Tags Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Leadership/Organization/Management, Love / Sexuality, Military / War, Politics / Government, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Religion / Spirituality, Romance


Publication year 1900

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, American Literature, Gender / Feminism, Naturalism, Education, Education, History: World

Sister Carrie is a novel published in 1900 by the American author Theodore Dreiser. Dreiser uses the story of Caroline Meeber, a naïve young woman who gets caught up in the gaudy venality of the city, to explore the emptiness of materialism, the tension between flesh and spirit, the inevitability of loneliness, and the role of women in the emerging America of the new century. Now recognized as one of the defining expressions of American... Read Sister Carrie Summary


Publication year 1984

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Relationships: Mothers, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Race, Society: Community

Tags Race / Racism, LGBTQ, Social Justice, Gender / Feminism, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Classic Fiction, Politics / Government