The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia (Oxford World's Classics)
Worth buying if: You enjoy concise philosophical fiction like Johnson's moral aphorisms and dialogue.
Skip it if: You want a long-form novel—Rasselas is a short, essayistic narrative of about 212 pages.
Exact edition: Paperback · ISBN-13 9780192839138. The Amazon link uses this ISBN, so the product page should open to the edition shown here.
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Summary
In The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, Johnson traces Prince Rasselas's travels and the conversations of an exile court as they test theories of happiness, society, and human appetite in a brisk 18th-century fable.
Why this book now
This Oxford World's Classics edition brings Johnson's moral inquiry about ambition and contentment back into conversation for readers wrestling with modern work, choice, and purpos.
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Best for readers who...
Good fit if you want...
- You enjoy concise philosophical fiction like Johnson's moral aphorisms and dialogue.
- You read Oxford World's Classics introductions and notes alongside canonical texts.
- You want a long-form novel—Rasselas is a short, essayistic narrative of about 212 pages.
- You prefer plot-driven adventure over reflective conversations about happiness and society.
- You are specifically hunting for the newest framing rather than a backlist perspective.
Decided it fits?
Exact edition: Paperback · ISBN-13 9780192839138
Worth buying if: You enjoy concise philosophical fiction like Johnson's moral aphorisms and dialogue.
Skip it if: You want a long-form novel—Rasselas is a short, essayistic narrative of about 212 pages.
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.
Reader guide
Cues to help you decide faster.
Reading commitment
Balanced Moderate time
At roughly 212 pages, this compact Johnson novella is readable in several focused sittings and rewards close reading of its dialogues and aphorisms.
What stands out here
This Oxford World's Classics edition emphasizes Johnson's original prose with scholarly notes and an introduction that situates Rasselas in 18th-century literature and moral philosophy.
Best way to approach it
Approach Rasselas as a philosophical dialogue: pause at aphorisms, read the governor and princes' debates aloud if helpful, and consult the edition's notes for historical context.
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Paperback: ISBN-13 9780192839138
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.