''Great Books'' is an hour-long documentary and biography program that aired on

The Learning Channel TLC is an American multinational cable television, cable and satellite television, satellite television network owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established in 1980 as The Learn ...

. The series was a project co-created by

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' from 1962 to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trust ...

and television producer Jonathan Ward under a deal they had with their company Cronkite Ward,

The Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It initi ...

, and The Learning Channel. Premiering on September 8, 1993, to coincide with

International Literacy Day International Literacy Day is an international observance, celebrated each year on 8 September. It was declared by UNESCO on 26 October 1966 at the 14th session of UNESCO's General Conference and celebrated for the first time in 1967. The day ai ...

, the series took in-depth looks at some of literature's greatest fiction and nonfiction books, along with the authors who created them. Most of the narration was provided by

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (17 July 1935 – 20 June 2024) was a Canadian actor. With a career spanning six decades, he received List of awards and nominations received by Donald Sutherland, numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award ...

. Episodes feature insights from historians, scholars, novelists, artists, writers, and filmmakers who were directly influenced by the books showcased and discussed. __TOC__

List of episodes

Portuguese adaptation

''Grandes Livros'' premiered in 2009 and was a multi-platform release of Portuguese literature that involves a series of 12 documentaries. Each episode was a biography and documentary at 50-minutes each, narrated by Diogo Infante, actor and director of the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II. The featured episodes include: * 1. Os Maias ( Eça de Queirós) * 2. Os Lusíadas ( Luís Vaz de Camões) * 3. O Delfim (José Cardoso Pires) * 4. Amor De Perdição ( Camilo Castelo Branco) * 5. Viagens na Minha Terra (

Almeida Garrett João Baptista da Silva Leitão de Almeida Garrett, 1st Viscount of Almeida Garrett (; 4 February 1799 – 9 December 1854) was a Portuguese poet, orator, playwright, novelist, journalist, politician, and a peer of the realm. A major promoter ...

) * 6. Sermão de Santo António Aos Peixes * 7. Aparição (

Vergílio Ferreira Vergílio António Ferreira, JOSE (Melo, Gouveia, born 28 January 1916 – Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits ...

) * 8. Livro do Desassossego (

Fernando Pessoa Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra Pessoa (; ; 13 June 1888 – 30 November 1935) was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, and publisher. He has been described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th c ...

) * 9. Mau Tempo No Canal (

Vitorino Nemésio Vitorino Nemésio Mendes Pinheiro da Silva (19 December 1901 – 20 February 1978) was a Portuguese poet, author and intellectual from Terceira, Azores, best known for his novel ''Mau Tempo No Canal (literally, ''Bad Weather in the Channel'' bu ...

) * 10. Peregrinação (

Fernão Mendes Pinto Fernão Mendes Pinto (; 1509 – 8 July 1583) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese explorer and writer. His voyages are recorded in ''Pilgrimage'' (), his autobiographical memoir, which was published posthumously in 1614. The historical accura ...

) * 11. Sinais De Fogo ( Jorge de Sena) * 12. Navegações (

Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (6 November 1919 – 2 July 2004) was a Portuguese poet and writer. Considered one of the most important Portuguese poets of the 20th century, she published fourteen poetry books between 1944 and 1997, covering th ...

)

References

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External links

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Greater Books
{{Former TLC Programming Television shows about books and literature 1993 American television series debuts 1990s American documentary television series 2000s American documentary television series 2002 American television series endings American English-language television shows TLC (TV network) original programming Discovery Channel original programming