One Hundred Great Essays is published as part of the Penguin Academics Series, a series of low-cost, high-quality offerings intended for use in introductory college courses.

One Hundred Great Essays collects that number of the most teachable and rewarding essays used in today's college composition class. The anthology combines classic essays that are commonly taught in composition courses with the most frequently anthologized essays of recent note by today's most highly regarded writers. The selections exhibit a broad range of diversity in subject matter and authorship. All essays have been selected for their teachability, both as models for writing and for their usefulness as springboards for student writing. An introductory section informs students about the qualities of the essay form and offers instruction on how to read essays critically and use the writing process to develop their own essays.