The World’s Greatest Love Letters

by Various

An elevated, gifty anthology of love letters from history’s most passionate romantics.

This beautiful volume features love letters from a variety of people throughout history, including Heloise and Abelard, Henry VIII, Margaret of Valois, Napoleon Bonaparte, Mary Wollstonecraft, Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, John Keats, Robert Browning, and Mary, Queen of Scots. Contents are organized thematically in chapters such as Mad Love, Bad Love, and The World’s Greatest Lover (John Keats, of course).

Genres: Nonfiction, History

320 pages, Hardcover

Published December 6, 2022

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[vinnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

inspired me to write like 6 letters i’ll never send. it’s fun i think i’ll take it up as a hobby (if that even counts as a hobby). i am a changed woman. screw you víctor hugo AND SCREW CLAIRE TOO i’m still soooo salty abt that

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited for this and then it was just. Fine. It wasn’t great. Some of the letters were good, others sucked balls. There were a few really good lines in there.

I didn’t like that there was no information on the people writing the letters or the story behind the letters. I was left to figure out what was going on by myself. A lot of those letters would’ve been better if there was context. Also- it didn’t make sense for all of the letters to only be before the 1900’s. Why stop there?

Maybe I’m stupid and don’t know any history but after reading a lot of love letters written to Josephine by Napoleon I was genuinely shocked when I got to the “love on the rocks” section of the book and found out that they divorced?? What.

[lw · Rating 1 out of 5]

Big names but boring letters. I do not understand the decision to only go as far as the 1800s one bit, especially since you then lose the chance to include letters from powerhouses like the Fitzgeralds. I just think this sucked, I have nothing more intelligent to say.

[Siena Bannister · Rating 2 out of 5]

some of them were good…but none of them were from past the 19th century😕

[Matias · Rating 1 out of 5]

Have you ever wanted to read a book of various love letters with no preface of the letters themselves? Did you want to read nearly completely anglo saxon focused letters? Do you want to read letters where women ‘romantically’ degrade themselves for men? For half of the male written letters to be men empowering themselves just to push their lover down?
Me neither.

Also, apparently the only time romantic letters were written were 1600 to barely 1900. Would’ve killed to see some letters from husbands writing their wives while fighting in WW2.

[Karina · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

Tenía tanto potencial!!! Me hubiera sentido más que satisfecha si se hubieran usado 1/4 de las cartas usadas aquí, ya que muchas no tenían mucho sentido o no me decían mucho sobre el amor.

En vez del 3/4 restante de cartas, hubiera preferido que me dieran contexto de la pareja, quienes eran, como se conocieron, que fue de ellos… porque el libro solo te pone carta tras carta tras carta sin decirte nada sobre los que la escribieron!!!!

Me sentía tan frustrada cada que agarraba el libro, por eso me tardé casi dos meses en leerlo. Algo que también hubiera estado bueno hubiera sido poner fotografías de algunas cartas y la transcripción al lado.

[Kathryn Douglas · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fact that most of these letters are written by men and have been compiled into this book by a man is incredibly obvious. I would love to read the romantic letters minus the side of sexism please and thank you. Also, this was just very bland and uninteresting. I didn’t enjoy the chapter where people referred to god every other sentence and the mad and bad love chapters. Why do we need mad and bad love in a book that’s supposed to be romantic? Give me a love letter compendium that is written by women and compiled by women and I will be much happier.

[Nox · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 ⭐
Though there were some very good letters in here, most of them were just fine. I was really excited for this, but was ultimately let down. I also do not understand the decision to only go to the 1800s. You miss out on the chance to include some incredible writers from the 1900s.
Side note: The choice to make John Keats the "worlds greatest lover" was something I really disagree with after reading his letters. He was a very good poet, but so much of his letters to Fanny Brawne were just talking about how he only fell for her beauty.

[sol moyano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a hopeless romantic, so naturally every time I see a book about love letters or just romantic gestures in general, I have to pick it up.

This is a wonderful read and there are some love letters that I annotated and marked to go back to and read every time I need to remind myself that passion and love like this exists :)

However, I do wish that there were more current love letters like from the 1900s or even in the 2000s. Could’ve had Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton or Alex Turner and Alexa Chung…

[TJ Fryer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Few letters are as moving as the vidid and painful set Keats sent to his love at the end of the book. Byron, Poe, and Napoleon offer some unique insight into the romantic private lives of famous figures, that I enjoyed.

Most letters lack the narrative and context, or particular quotable line I was hoping to encounter.

However, if you enjoy regency era fiction or need a little inspiration, there is some to be found here.

[Megan Tran · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a hopeless romantic, so of course I felt compelled to read this anthology of love letters! BUT it was actually disappointing, never going past the 19th century, and to be honest the letters were rather boring.

Quotes I Love(d) though:
•”nothing has humbled me so much as your love.”

[Camila · Rating 5 out of 5]

it took me so long to finish because it was so romantic i would start crying while reading so i had to put a #pause on it but i loveeee how romance has always been the same expressing love for another hasn't changed much

[Mathea Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun collection! I liked the way it was organized into different categories ie "unrequited love" "married love" "mad love" and I thought it was especially funny when certain couples would appear in all of the categories depending on when you're looking at their relationship! Got it for Valentine's day and had a great time with it