About this list

Counterpunch, 135 Books

In response to the proliferation of "best of the century" lists from major publications at the turn of the millennium, Jeffrey St. Clair and his colleague Alex decided to compile their own lists of the best books written and later translated into English during the 20th century. Their selections, aimed at the CounterPunch audience, diverged from mainstream choices, focusing instead on works that resonated deeply with their unique reader base. These lists became highly popular on the CounterPunch website, attracting over two million unique visitors and influencing librarians to reconsider the collections they maintained. However, a technical mishap during a website upgrade resulted in the loss of these carefully curated lists, likened humorously by Alex to the burning of the Library of Alexandria. Despite initial disheartenment, renewed interest and requests from the community prompted St. Clair to revisit and update these lists, reintroducing them with both cherished and new selections of non-fiction literature from the 20th century.

This list was originally published in 2014 and was added to this site about 2 years ago.