Google Book Search has been launched. It’s possible to download full copies of out-of-copyright books to read at your own pace.

According to the Google Blog you’re free to choose from a diverse collection of public domain titles, from well-known classics to obscure gems.

“To find out-of-copyright books that you can download, simply select the Full view radio button when you search on books.google.com.

“Of course, this is just the beginning. As we digitize more of the world’s books — whether rare, common, popular or obscure — people everywhere will be able to discover them on Google Book Search.”

I like this. I searched for Chaucer and it quickly delivered The Canterbury Tales with an option to download the whole book as a PDF (18MB).