The Greatest Books of All Time

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 '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.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
17152 Born Victim Hillary Waugh 1962 American English
17152 The Cheese And The Worms Carlo Ginzburg 1976 Italian Italian
17152 Chinese Shadows Simon Leys 1974 Belgian French
17152 Colossus Niall Ferguson 2004 British English
17152 The Crusades Through Arab Eyes Amin Maalouf 1983 French French
17152 Dead Man's Chest Nicholas Rankin 1987 Unknown English
17152 Destinations Jan Morris 1980 British English
17152 The Diary Of Alice James Alice James 1982 American English
17152 Dover One Joyce Porter 1964 British English
17152 The File On H. Ismail Kadare 1981 Albanian Albanian
17152 Flesh In The Age Of Reason Roy Porter 2003 British English
17152 Frozen Desire James Buchan 1997 British English
17152 God's First Love Friedrich Heer 1970 Austrian German
17152 God's Grace Bernard Malamud 1982 American English
17152 The Golem Isaac Bashevis Singer 1969 Unknown English
17152 The Holocaust Martin Gilbert 1978 British English
17152 How Like An Angel Margaret Millar 1962 Canadian English
17152 Islam In History Bernard Lewis 1973 British English
17152 Jacob Two Two Meets The Hooded Fang Mordecai Richler 1975 Canadian English
17152 The Laxian Key Robert Sheckley 1966 American English
17152 Memoirs Pablo Neruda 1974 Chilean Spanish
17152 The Naked Heart Peter Gay 1995 American English
17152 The Nephew James Purdy 1960 American English
17152 On Fiji Islands Ronald Wright 1986 Canadian English
17152 On The Narrow Road Lesley Downer 2013 Unknown English
17152 The Ornament Of The World María Rosa Menocal 2002 American English
17152 Pagans And Christians Robin Lane Fox 1986 British English
17152 The People Trap Robert Sheckley 1968 American English
17152 Quiet As A Nun Antonia Fraser 1977 British English
17152 A Red Death Walter Mosley 1991 American English
17152 Roads To Santiago Cees Nooteboom 1992 Dutch Dutch
17152 The Rose At Ten Marco Denevi Unknown Unknown
17152 The Seasick Whale Ephraim Kishon 1965 Israeli Hebrew
17152 Take A Girl Like You Kingsley Amis 1960 British English
17152 Víctimas En Fals Sebastien Japrisot French French
17152 Video Night In Kathmandu And Other Reports From The Not So Far East Pico Iyer 1988 British English
17152 Ways Of Escape Graham Greene 1971 British English
17152 Where The Jackals Howl And Other Stories Amos Oz 1965 Israeli Hebrew
17152 Wildlife Richard Ford 1990 American English
17152 The Women's History Of The World Rosalind Miles 1988 British English
17152 Missionaries Phil Klay 2020 American English
17152 Grasping Evil I’m Ink Unknown Unknown
17152 Voyage Of The Damned Frances White 2024 Unknown English
17152 Amy And Isabelle Elizabeth Strout 1998 American English
17152 Room Full Of Mirrors Charles R. Cross 2005 American English
16897 O Meu Pé De Laranja Lima José Mauro de Vasconcelos 1968 Brazilian Portuguese
17152 O Monge Que Vendeu O Seu Ferrari Kriti Sharma 1997 Unknown English
17152 Zero Zero Zero Roberto Saviano 2013 Italian Italian
17152 The False Prince Leslie Nielsen Unknown Unknown
17152 The Inheritance Cycle Christopher Paolini 2002 American English
16899 Barn Burning William Faulkner 1939 American English
16923 The Grasshopper Anton Chekhov 1892 Russian Russian
17152 Lincoln In The Bardo By George Saunders Instaread Summaries 2017 American English
17152 The Yiddish Policeman's Union Michael Chabon 2007 American English
17152 The Handmaid's Tale Renée Nault 1985 Unknown English
17152 恶意 Keigo Higashino 1996 Japanese Japanese
16873 The Theban Plays Sophocles -442 Greek Ancient greek
17152 Superfudge Judy Blume 1980 American English
17152 A World Without Princes Soman Chainani 2014 American English
16964 Moon Rising Tui T. Sutherland 2014 American English
17152 The Dragonet Prophecy Tui T. Sutherland 2012 American English
17152 Source Code Bill Gates 2025 Unknown Unknown
17152 The Climate Crisis And The Global Green New Deal Noam Chomsky 2020 American English
17152 The Outrun Amy Liptrot 2016 British English
17152 Die, My Love Ariana Harwicz 2012 Argentinian Spanish
16885 1001 Arabian Nights Anonymous -800 Multiple Arabic
17152 Voyage Of Slaves Brian Jacques 2006 British English
17152 The Bitcoin Standard Saifedean Ammous 2018 Unknown English
17152 Blended Sharon M. Draper 2018 American English
17152 No Easy Day Mark Owen 2012 American English
17152 Competitive Strategy Michael E. Porter 1980 American English
17152 Decisive Roy Heath Unknown Unknown
17060 The Saga Of The Volsungs Anonymous 1270 Unknown Old norse
17152 Doing Time Jodi Taylor 2019 British English
17152 How To Stay Married Harrison Scott Key 2023 American English
17152 Rocket Men Robert Kurson 2018 American English
17152 Man In The Empty Suit Sean Ferrell 2013 American English
16961 De Uitvreter / Titaantjes / Dichtertje / Mene Tekel Nescio 1918 Dutch Dutch
17152 Everything We Had: An Oral History Of The Vietnam War Al Santoli 1981 American English
17152 November Road Lou Berney 2018 American English
17152 Running With Sherman Chris McDougall 2019 American English
17152 The Art Of Possibility Rosamund Stone Zander 2000 American English
17152 Townie Andre Dubus 2011 American English
17152 A Simplified Life Emily Ley 2017 American English
17152 Paul Takes The Form Of A Mortal Girl Andrea Lawlor 2017 American English
17152 Montpelier Parade Karl Geary 2017 Irish English
17152 The Witches Of New York Ami McKay 2016 Canadian English
17152 Girl In Translation Jean Kwok 2010 American English
17152 The Great Gilly Hopkins Katherine Paterson 1978 American English
17152 The Last Runaway Tracy Chevalier 2013 American English
17152 The Price Of Peace Zachary D. Carter 2020 American English
17152 American Spy Lauren Wilkinson 2019 Unknown English
17152 Concealed Christina Diaz Gonzalez 2021 Unknown English
17152 The Djinn Waits A Hundred Years Shubnum Khan 2023 Unknown English
17152 The Blood Gospel James Rollins 2013 American English
17152 Deep Freeze Lisa Jackson 2005 American English
17152 Left To Die Lisa Jackson 2008 American English
17152 Big Sky Kate Atkinson 2019 British English
17152 The Wife, The Maid, And The Mistress Ariel Lawhon 2014 American English
17152 All That I Am Anna Funder 2011 Australian English
17152 The Undefeated Kwame Alexander 2019 American English
17152 The Expanse James S. A. Corey 2011 American English
17152 The Innkeeper's Song Peter S. Beagle 1993 American English
17152 Nothing But The Rain Salman, Naomi 2023 Unknown English
17152 The Ohlone Way Phillip Margolin 1978 Unknown English
17152 A Drop Of Corruption Robert Jackson Bennett Unknown Unknown
17152 Emily Wilde's Compendium Of Lost Tales Heather Fawcett 2023 Unknown English
17152 The Stranger Times Caimh McDonnell 2021 British English
17152 Never Finished David Goggins 2022 American English
17152 ‎22 Bahnen Caroline Wahl 2022 German German
17152 Beware Of Chicken 4 CasualFarmer Unknown Unknown
17152 Beware Of Chicken 3 CasualFarmer 2023 Unknown English
17152 A History Of The World In Twelve Shipwrecks David Gibbins Unknown Unknown
17152 Beware Of Chicken 2 CasualFarmer 2023 Unknown English
17152 Borderland Anna Reid 1997 British English
17152 The Russia House John le Carré 1989 British English
17152 Alive At The End Of The World Saeed Jones 2022 American English
17152 The Hero Code William H. McRaven 2021 American English
16797 Sun And Steel Yukio Mishima 1968 Japanese Japanese
17113 Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass Frederick Douglass 1845 American English