电子书或电子书是以数字形式提供的书籍出版物(book publication)，可以在计算机、平板电脑、智能手机或电子书阅读器上阅读。电子书始终(Always)可供购买，永远不会缺货，您只需要连接互联网即可从您最喜欢的作者那里下载最新的畅销书并立即开始阅读。您的整个图书馆都可以在便携式设备上随身携带，从而节省物理存储空间(storage space)并确保您随时拥有每一本书。消除纸张打印过程(paper printing process)以及运输和处理(shipping and handling)的书籍显着降低了对环境的影响，使电子书对环境友好，同时更实惠。但是，电子书的可访问性仍然会给一个人的财务带来压力，因此，如果您是狂热的读者，您可能正在寻找可以免费下载的电子书。如果您正在寻找下一本好书或想要开发自己的虚拟图书馆，请继续阅读以了解哪些是合法免费下载电子书的最佳网站：
1. 互联网档案
使命：“提供对所有知识的普遍访问。”("to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge.")
互联网档案馆(Internet Archive)是美国的一个非营利性数字图书馆，它为公众提供对大量数字化资料的免费访问，包括网站（Wayback Machine）、录音、视频、软件和图像。该档案馆(Archive)负责监督世界上最大的图书数字化(book digitization)项目之一，每天在其 33 个扫描中心扫描 1000 本书，收藏了来自全球众多图书馆和文化遗产机构的超过 2000 万册可免费下载的电子书和文本。(eBooks and texts)最重要的是，您可以在“借书”部分获得免费帐户(Books to Borrow)并访问(account and gain access)超过 100 万本现代电子书。
作为自由开放互联网的倡导者，该网站以您能想到的任何语言提供多种文本选择。您可以在线阅读电子书，并且大多数电子书还提供多种格式的下载：PDF、EPUB、WORD、MOBI、DAISY（适用于无法打印的用户）等等。存档(Archive)不需要您创建帐户来浏览喜欢的旧杂志或下载克林贡词典(Klingon dictionary)。无论您的喜好如何，我们相信您可以在本网站上找到一些很棒的读物。
2. 古腾堡计划
使命：“鼓励电子书的创作和发行。”("To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks.")
Project Gutenberg由电子书的发明者Michael S. Hart创立，是电子书网站的祖父，是第一个提供免费访问公共领域(public domain)书籍和出版物的数字图书馆。该网站是一项志愿者活动(volunteer effort)，目前提供超过 60,000 种免费电子书，可供在线阅读、下载到您的计算机或设备(computer or device)，或直接上传到您首选的云服务，以EPUB 或 MOBI 格式(EPUB or MOBI format)。
虽然您无法找到最近出版的书籍，但您可以享受阅读古典作家的全集，例如Edgar Allan Poe、William Shakespeare或Mark Twain。如果你有时间，你甚至可以自愿校对书籍并为古腾堡计划做出贡献，这个网站恰如其分地以推动(Project Gutenberg)印刷革命(Printing Revolution)的 15 世纪德国发明家的名字命名。
3. 多书
使命：“为我们的读者提供有价值的服务。”("to provide a valuable service to our readers.")
ManyBooks是一个拥有 50,000 多本免费电子书的数字图书馆，您可以选择在线阅读或(online or download)通过创建帐户下载。注册过程(signup process)快速而轻松，并且具有记住您最喜欢的流派和首选下载格式的附加价值。虽然许多最初在ManyBooks上出现的电子书都来自前面提到的古腾堡计划(Project Gutenberg)档案，它已经发展成为一个平台，允许作者上传他们的书籍并将其提供给社区，无论是免费还是以合理的价格。还值得一提的是，该网站正在容纳潜在的作者，提供有关您想要出版书籍的步骤的详细信息。ManyBooks的界面是用户友好的，可帮助您快速发现好书来欣赏，并且有多种格式可供您下载和购买：EPUB、MOBI、PDF、HTML、TXT、RTF等。
4. Scribd（免费试用的付费计划，除非您上传内容）
使命：“改变世界的阅读方式。”("To change the way the world reads.")
Scribd是美国的电子书和有声读物订阅服务(subscription service)。尽管其每月 8.99 美元（第一次免费 30 天之后）会员资格，但它非常受欢迎，在 100 多个国家/地区拥有 8000 万每月读者。虽然您不能使用预付卡，但会员资格可以无限制地访问超过一百万个标题、来自主要杂志和报纸的文章、文档和乐谱(sheet music)，使Scribd成为您可以访问的最大数字图书馆。使该网站与众不同的是Scribd的全球出版合作伙伴，确保您找到最新的畅销书和屡获殊荣的电子书。
您可以通过浏览器或使用Scribd(Scribd)的可下载应用程序随时在任何平台上以您可以想到的任何格式访问此内容，并且您可以保存、添加书签或使用您喜欢的标题创建收藏集。我们将Scribd(Scribd)列入此列表的第二个原因是，它确实允许您免费下载一些书籍和文档，但仅限于用户生成的内容。您只需上传某些内容（公共领域或原始内容）即可获得所需的文档，但不需要帐户。借助这个受欢迎的平台，希望发表作品的作者现在有机会将其提供给全球数百万读者。
5.国际儿童(International Children)数字图书馆(Digital Library)
使命： “通过免费在线提供最好的儿童文学作品(s literature available online free of charge)，支持世界儿童成为全球社区的有效成员——他们表现出对不同文化、语言和思想的宽容和尊重("to support the world's children in becoming effective members of the global community - who exhibit tolerance and respect for diverse cultures, languages and ideas -- by making the best in children)。”
虽然不允许下载电子书，但国际儿童数字图书馆(International Children's Digital Library)是一个值得一提的免费在线图书馆，因为它的目标是“与全球儿童文盲作斗争”，并收藏了 59 种语言的 4600 多本书，专为使用而设计适合3-13岁儿童阅读。您可以找到来自不同文化的屡获殊荣的儿童读物，并为成人或儿童开设帐户（在网站上注册的过程对于儿童来说是不同的，他们必须选择一个怪物来守护他们的密码）。虽然注册是可选的，并且您可以在没有帐户的情况下在线阅读任何可用的书籍，但它有助于为页面添加书签以及保存年龄和语言偏好(age and language preferences). 界面开发得很好，我们喜欢简单搜索(Simple Search)中的选项，它允许任何人检索失传已久的儿童书籍，在一些非常基本但可爱的选项的帮助下，比如封面的颜色，类型字符、年龄组(age group)或您要查找的书的长度。
您知道应该在此列表中的任何其他网站吗？
为了给您带来这篇文章，我们浏览了数百个网站。我们想避免浪费您的时间，因此我们决定不在此列表中包含任何仅提供大约两三千本书并且通常从古腾堡项目获取大部分内容的小型网站(Gutenberg Project)反正。仅提供指向其他提供免费书籍的网站的链接的门户也未包含在文章中，因为我们无法验证下载的安全性。相反，我们选择提供更详细的视图，以更详细地了解我们真正认为最好的网站，重点关注是什么让每个网站都很棒。最后，我们相信这份名单上的网站应该为即使是最热情的读者提供大量的未来阅读材料。如果您遇到任何您认为属于此列表的网站，请发表评论，包括您认为该网站的特别之处，我们承诺会对其进行调查。
The 5 best places to download free eBooks
An electrоnіс book or an eΒook is a book publіcatiоn available in dіgital form that can be read on a computer, tablet, smartphone, or an eBook reader. Alwayѕ available for purсhase, eΒooks are never out of stock, and all you nеed is an internet connection to download the latest bestseller from your favorite author and start reading it immediately. Your entire library can be carried around on a portable device, thus sаving physicаl storage space аnd ensuring yoυ have every book at your fingertips at all times. Eliminating both the paper printing process and thе shipping and handling of books lowers the environmental impact significantly, making eBooks eco-friendly and, at the same time, more affordable. Howeνer, the accessibіlity of eBooks can still put a strain on one's finances, so, if you're an avid readеr, you might be on the lookout for electrоnic books that can be downloaded for frеe. If you are searching for your next great read or want to develoр your оwn virtuаl library, keep reading to find out which are the five best websites to legally download eΒoоks for free:
1. Internet Archive
MISSION: "to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge."
The Internet Archive is an American non-profit digital library that provides free public access to a huge number of digitized materials, including websites (the Wayback Machine), audio recordings, videos, software, and images. Overseeing one of the world's largest book digitization projects, with 1000 books being scanned daily in its 33 scanning centers, the Archive hosts a collection of over 20 million freely downloadable eBooks and texts from a multitude of libraries and cultural heritage institutions from around the globe. On top of that, you can get a free account and gain access to over 1 million modern eBooks in its Books to Borrow section.
An advocate for a free and open internet, this website offers a wide selection of texts in any language you can think of. You can read eBooks online, and most are also available for download in a variety of formats: PDF, EPUB, WORD, MOBI, DAISY (for print-disabled users), and more. The Archive does not require you to create an account to browse favorite issues of old magazines or to download a Klingon dictionary. Whatever your preferences, we are sure that you can find some great reads on this website.
2. Project Gutenberg
MISSION: "To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
Founded by the inventor of eBooks - Michael S. Hart, Project Gutenberg is the grandfather of eBook sites, as the first digital library to provide free access to books and publications from the public domain. This website is a volunteer effort and currently offers over 60,000 free eBooks available to read online, download to your computer or device, or upload directly to your preferred cloud service, in EPUB or MOBI format.
While you won't be able to find recently released books, you can enjoy reading the complete works of classical authors, like Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare, or Mark Twain. If you can find the time, you can even volunteer to proofread books and contribute to Project Gutenberg, a website fittingly named after the fifteenth-century German inventor who propelled the Printing Revolution.
3. ManyBooks
MISSION: "to provide a valuable service to our readers."
ManyBooks is a digital library with over 50,000 free eBooks, that you can choose to read online or download by creating an account. The signup process is quick and painless, and it comes with the added value of remembering your favorite genres and preferred format for download. While many of the eBooks initially featured on ManyBooks came from the aforementioned Project Gutenberg archives, it has since grown into a platform that allows authors to upload their books and make them available to the community, either for free or for a reasonable price. It is also worth mentioning that the website is accommodating potential authors, offering detailed info on the steps to take if you are looking to publish your book. The interface of ManyBooks is user-friendly, helping you quickly discover good books to enjoy, and a wide variety of formats are available for your downloads and purchases: EPUB, MOBI, PDF, HTML, TXT, RTF and more.
4. Scribd (paid plan with free trial, unless you upload content)
MISSION: "To change the way the world reads."
Scribd is an American subscription service for both eBooks and audiobooks. In spite of its $8.99 per month (after the first free 30 days) membership, it is wildly popular, with 80 million monthly readers in over 100 countries. Although you can't use a prepaid card for it, the membership offers unlimited access to over one million titles, articles from leading magazines and newspapers, documents, and sheet music, making Scribd the biggest digital library you can access. What makes this website different are Scribd's global publishing partners, ensuring you find the latest bestselling and award-winning eBooks.
You can access this content at any time, on any platform, and in any format you can think of, either through a browser, or using Scribd's downloadable app, and you can save, bookmark, or create collections with your favorite titles. The second reason we included Scribd on this list is that it does allow you to download some books and documents for free, but only when it comes to user-generated content. You just have to upload something (either public domain or original content) in order to get the document you want, but no account is required for this. Authors wanting to publish their work now have the opportunity to make it available to millions of readers around the world thanks to this popular platform.
5. International Children's Digital Library
MISSION: "to support the world's children in becoming effective members of the global community - who exhibit tolerance and respect for diverse cultures, languages and ideas -- by making the best in children's literature available online free of charge."
While it does not allow the download of eBooks, the International Children's Digital Library is a free online library worth mentioning due to its goal of "fighting worldwide illiteracy among children" and its collection of over 4600 books, in 59 languages, designed specifically for use by children ages 3 to 13. You can find award-winning children's books from diverse cultures and open an account for either an adult or a child (the process to register on the website is different for children, who have to choose a monster to guard their password). While registration is optional, and you can read any of the available books online without an account, it helps when it comes to bookmarking pages and saving age and language preferences. The interface is well developed, and we loved the options in Simple Search, that allow anyone to retrieve long-lost children books, with the help of a few very basic, but adorable, options, like the color of the covers, the type of characters, the age group, or the length of the book you are looking for.
Do you know of any other websites that should be on this list?
To bring you this article, we browsed what felt like hundreds of websites. We wanted to avoid wasting your time, so we decided not to include on this list any small sites, that only offer around two or three thousand books and usually get most of their content from the Gutenberg Project anyway. Portals that only provide links to other websites offering free books were also not included in the article, as we could not verify the safety of the downloads. Instead, we chose to offer a more detailed view of what we truly consider the best sites out there, focusing on what makes each of them great. In the end, we feel confident that the websites on this list should provide even the most passionate readers with plenty of reading material for the future. If you come across any websites that you think belong on this list, please leave a comment, including what you think makes that website special, and we promise to look into it.
