If you want the : a French philosopher, Bernard-Henri Lévy , once wrote a 1,200-page essay on philosophy and war ( L’Esprit du judaïsme ), but again, publishers call it a book.
The does not officially list “longest essay,” but in academic circles, the longest known undergraduate essay is one by a University of Bristol history student in 2012 who submitted a 112,000-word dissertation (roughly the length of a 350-page book). The tutor reportedly read it over a summer. worlds longest essay
: There is no universally accepted “longest essay” because once an essay exceeds ~50,000 words, publishers rebrand it as a book. The longest famous essay likely remains John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689) — 360,000 words, spanning four books. Locke called it one essay, and by that definition, he probably holds the crown. If you want the : a French philosopher,
: The longest essay ever attempted as a single sitting writing stunt is another matter. In 2021, a performance artist in Berlin typed for 120 hours straight, producing a 540,000-word stream-of-consciousness “essay” on loneliness. It was never published or verified. : There is no universally accepted “longest essay”