The Greatest Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 743 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
1801 Kallocain Karin Boye 1940 Swedish Swedish
1802 The Problems of Philosophy Bertrand Russell 1912 British English
1803 Cartucho And My Mother's Hands Nellie Campobello 1931 Mexican Spanish
1804 A Hero Born Jin Yong 1957 Chinese Chinese
1805 Moominland Midwinter Tove Jansson 1957 Finnish Swedish
1807 Martin Chuzzlewit Charles Dickens 1843 British English
1806 Beware Of Pity Stefan Zweig 1939 Austrian German
1808 The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon 2001 Spanish Spanish
1809 The Weary Blues Langston Hughes 1926 American English
1810 A Time Of Gifts Patrick Leigh Fermor 1977 British English
1811 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark Haddon 2003 British English
1812 Swan Song Robert R. McCammon 1987 American English
1813 Christ Recrucified Nikos Kazantzakis 1948 Greek Greek
1814 The Collected Poems of A. E. Housman A. E. Housman 1939 British English
1814 The Ring And The Book Robert Browning 1868 British English
1816 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot 2010 American English
1817 Barbarian Days William Finnegan 2015 American English
1818 Carry On, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1925 British English
1819 Fontamara Ignazio Silone 1933 Italian Italian
1820 The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle 1969 American English
1821 Small Lives Pierre Michon 1984 French French
1822 Stuart Little E. B. White 1945 American English
1823 The Engineer of Human Souls Josef Škvorecký 1977 Czech Czech
1824 Studies In The History Of The Renaissance Walter Pater 1873 British English
1825 The Other Thomas Tryon 1971 American English
1826 Experience Martin Amis 2000 British English
1827 The Mysterious Stranger Mark Twain 1916 American English
1828 To The Friend Who Did Not Save My Life Hervé Guibert 1990 French French
1829 Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Anne Tyler 1982 American English
1830 The Swords Of Lankhmar Fritz Leiber 1968 American English
1831 Paradiso José Lezama Lima 1966 Cuban Spanish
1832 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader C. S. Lewis 1952 British English
1833 Histories Cornelius Tacitus 100 Roman Latin
1834 Sophie's World Jostein Gaarder 1991 Norwegian Norwegian
1835 Grendel John Gardner 1971 American English
1836 Jaws Peter Benchley 1974 American English
1837 Just William Richmal Crompton 1922 British English
1838 The Child Of Pleasure Gabriele D'Annunzio 1889 Italian Italian
1839 Mysteries Knut Hamsun 1892 Norwegian Norwegian
1840 Kafka's Other Trial Elias Canetti 1969 Bulgarian German
1841 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J. K. Rowling 2000 British English
1842 Euclid's Elements Euclid -300 Greek Ancient greek
1843 The Sixth Extinction Elizabeth Kolbert 2014 American English
1844 Drifting Cities Stratis Tsirkas 1960 Greek Greek
1845 Swiss Family Robinson Johann David Wyss 1812 Swiss German
1846 The Little Sister Raymond Chandler 1949 American English
1847 Darker Than You Think Jack Williamson 1948 American English
1848 Z Vassilis Vassilikos 1967 Greek Greek
1849 On Germany Germaine de Staël 1810 French French
1849 The Jew's Beech Annette von Droste-Hülshoff 1842 German German
1851 July's People Nadine Gordimer 1981 South African English
1852 The Velveteen Rabbit Margery Williams 1922 British English
1853 The Courage to Be Paul Tillich 1952 German English
1854 The Order of Things Michel Foucault 1966 French French
1855 Under Western Eyes Joseph Conrad 1911 British English
1856 A Lost Lady Willa Cather 1923 American English
1857 Terug naar Oegstgeest Jan Wolkers 1965 Dutch Dutch
1858 Angel Elizabeth Taylor 1957 British English
1859 Notebook Of A Return To The Native Land Aimé Césaire 1939 French French
1860 Citizen Claudia Rankine 2014 American English
1861 On Aggression Konrad Lorenz 1963 Austrian German
1862 Katherine Anya Seton 1954 American English
1863 The Jewish War Flavius Josephus 75 Jewish Greek
1864 Elmer Gantry Sinclair Lewis 1927 American English
1865 The Lion of Flanders Hendrik Conscience 1838 Belgian Dutch
1866 The Woodlanders Thomas Hardy 1887 British English
1867 Junky William S. Burroughs 1953 American English
1868 The Recognition of Sakuntala Kālidāsa -400 Indian Sanskrit
1869 The George Sand-Gustave Flaubert Letters Gustave Flaubert 1921 French French
1870 Brief Lives John Aubrey 1898 British English
1871 To the Finland Station Edmund Wilson 1940 American English
1872 And the Band Played On Randy Shilts 1987 American English
1873 The Proud Tower Barbara Wertheim Tuchman 1966 American English
1874 Last Seen Wearing ... Hillary Waugh 1952 American English
1875 Home Marilynne Robinson 2008 American English
1876 Cold Mountain Charles Frazier 1997 American English
1877 East Goes West Younghill Kang 1937 American English
1878 Tuck Everlasting Natalie Babbitt 1975 American English
1879 The Complete John Silence Stories Algernon Blackwood 1908 British English
1880 The Machiavellians James Burnham 1943 American English
1881 Pereira Maintains Antonio Tabucchi 1994 Italian Italian
1882 Chariots Of The Gods Erich Von Däniken 1968 German German
1883 The Looming Tower Lawrence Wright 2006 American English
1884 Little Disturbances Grace Paley 1959 American English
1885 Poems, New And Collected, 1957 1997 Wislawa Szymborska 1998 Polish Polish
1886 The Uses of Enchantment Bruno Bettelheim 1976 Austrian English
1887 A Dark Adapted Eye Barbara Vine 1986 British English
1888 Annie John Jamaica Kincaid 1985 Antiguan English
1889 Obasan Joy Kogawa 1981 Canadian English
1890 The Journal of Jules Renard Jules Renard 1887 French French
1891 A Sand County Almanac Aldo Leopold 1949 American English
1892 The Soul of a New Machine Tracy Kidder 1981 American English
1893 Me Talk Pretty One Day David Sedaris 2000 American English
1894 Smoking and Health Surgeon General 1964 American English
1895 The Ice People René Barjavel 1968 French French
1896 Tenth of December George Saunders 2013 American English
1897 The Zebra Striped Hearse Ross Macdonald 1962 American English
1898 Collected Stories Of O. Henry O. Henry 1908 American English
1899 The Power Broker Robert Caro 1974 American English
1900 The Physician Noah Gordon 1986 American English
1901 Handley Cross R. S. Surtees 1843 British English
1902 The Diviners Margaret Laurence 1974 Canadian English
1903 The Road to Klockrike Harry Martinson 1948 Swedish Swedish
1904 Red Sorghum Yan Mo 1986 Chinese Chinese
1905 Consider The Lobster David Foster Wallace 2005 American English
1906 Smallbone Deceased Michael Gilbert 1950 British English
1907 The Collected Stories Of Lydia Davis Lydia Davis 2009 American English
1908 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J. K. Rowling 2003 British English
1909 Under Fire Henri Barbusse 1916 French French
1910 World's End T. C. Boyle 1987 American English
1911 Mencius Mencius -300 Chinese Classical chinese
1913 A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works Jonathan Swift 1729 Irish English
1912 Grand Hotel Vicki Baum 1929 German German
1914 Group Portrait with Lady Heinrich Böll 1971 German German
1915 In the Time of the Butterflies Julia Alvarez 1994 Dominican English
1916 The Lady Of The Camellias Alexandre Dumas 1848 French French
1917 The Dying Earth Jack Vance 1950 American English
1918 Mary Of Nijmegen Unknown 1475 Dutch Middle dutch
1919 Anglo Saxon Attitudes Angus Wilson 1956 British English
1920 Tropisms Nathalie Sarraute 1939 French French