(Despite a few bizarre choices. Paul Bourget, seriously ?)
If I had to choose myself : Homer (The Iliad and the Odyssey), the Bible (David's psalms and Job's book), Augustine, Dante, Saint Simon, Shakespeare, Rousseau, Dostoievsky, Proust, Céline.
Aparté :
If you like ambitious history with economic insights, I would strongly suggest to read Fernand Braudel works. He wrote three fantastic triptychs :
- The Mediterranean: And the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II (his thesis)
- Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century (the best history books I've ever read)