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 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.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
2641 The Power Naomi Alderman 2016 British English
2642 Perpetual Peace Immanuel Kant 1795 German German
2643 The Complete Poems And Plays T. S. Eliot 1952 British English
2644 The Hardy Boys Franklin W. Dixon 1927 American English
2645 The Nero Wolfe Series Rex Stout 1934 American English
2646 Hurricane Season Fernanda Melchor 2017 Mexican Spanish
2647 The ABC of Reading Ezra Pound 1934 American English
2648 Gemini Michel Tournier 1975 French French
2649 The House of Scorta Laurent Gaudé 2004 French French
2650 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Sherman Alexie 2007 American English
2651 Circe Madeline Miller 2018 American English
2652 Sleepless Nights Elizabeth Hardwick 1979 American English
2653 The Skeleton Amrita Pritam 1950 Indian Punjabi
2653 Suicide Emile Durkheim 1897 French French
2653 Iceland’s Bell Halldor Laxness 1943 Icelandic Icelandic
2656 Ariel Sylvia Plath 1965 American English
2657 The Daughter Pavlos Matesis 1990 Greek Greek
2658 Boys on the Bus Timothy Crouse 1973 American English
2659 The Women's Room Marilyn French 1977 American English
2660 The Years with Laura Diaz Carlos Fuentes 1999 Mexican Spanish
2661 Daughters of Fire Gerard de Nerval 1854 French French
2662 Early Autumn Robert B. Parker 1980 American English
2663 Debit And Credit Gustav Freytag 1855 German German
2664 The Lost World Arthur Conan Doyle 1912 British English
2665 The Mismeasure of Man Stephen Jay Gould 1981 American English
2666 The Songlines Bruce Chatwin 1987 British English
2667 The Chrysalids John Wyndham 1955 Canadian English
2668 Sailing Alone Around the World Joshua Slocum 1900 Canadian English
2669 This Boy's Life Tobias Wolff 1989 American English
2670 Webster's Dictionary Noah Webster 1828 American English
2671 The Mysteries Of Paris Eugène Sue 1842 French French
2672 Autobiographies William Butler Yeats 1926 Irish English
2673 Microbe Hunters Paul de Kruif 1926 American English
2674 The Mountain Lion Jean Stafford 1947 American English
2675 Deep Water Patricia Highsmith 1957 American English
2676 Anne Of The Island L. M. Montgomery 1915 Canadian English
2678 H Is For Hawk Helen MacDonald 2014 British English
2677 The Vampyre John William Polidori 1819 British English
2679 Generation X Douglas Coupland 1991 Canadian English
2680 El Día Del Watusi Francisco Casavella 2002 Spanish Spanish
2681 The Czar's Madman Jaan Kross 1978 Estonian Estonian
2682 Twilight Stephenie Meyer 2005 American English
2683 Calamity Town Ellery Queen 1942 American English
2684 Selected Plays of Henrick Ibsen Henrik Ibsen 1900 Norwegian Norwegian
2685 The Managerial Revolution James Burnham 1941 American English
2686 Prince Caspian C. S. Lewis 1951 British English
2687 Blinding Mircea Cărtărescu 1996 Romanian Romanian
2688 The Ceremonies T. E. D. Klein 1984 American English
2689 Dependency Tove Ditlevsen 1971 Danish Danish
2690 Childhood Tove Ditlevsen 1967 Danish Danish
2691 The Book Of Margery Kempe Margery Kempe 1436 British Middle english
2692 Near To The Wild Heart Clarice Lispector 1943 Brazilian Portuguese
2693 Waiting to Exhale Terry McMillan 1992 American English
2694 Pet Sematary Stephen King 1983 American English
2695 Dalva Jim Harrison 1988 American English
2696 Wise Children Angela Carter 1991 British English
2697 All Over But The Shoutin' Rick Bragg 1997 American English
2698 Cod Mark Kurlansky 1997 American English
2699 Existentialism And Humanism Jean Paul Sartre 1946 French French
2700 Witch World Andre Norton 1963 American English
2701 Close Range Annie Proulx 1999 American English
2702 The Nightingale Kristin Hannah 2015 American English
2703 Natural History Pliny the Elder 77 Roman Latin
2704 My Brilliant Career Miles Franklin 1901 Australian English
2705 Lost Children Archive Valeria Luiselli 2019 Mexican English
2706 The Works Of Thomas Lovell Beddoes Thomas Lovell Beddoes 1851 British English
2707 A Lover's Discourse Roland Barthes 1977 French French
2708 The Help Kathryn Stockett 2009 American English
2709 Les Caractères Jean de La Bruyère 1688 French French
2713 The Narrow Road to the Deep North Matsuo Bashō 1684 Japanese Japanese
2712 Mission Of Gravity Hal Clement 1954 American English
2710 Alan Turing Andrew Hodges 1983 British English
2711 Reasons And Persons Derek Parfit 1984 British English
2714 Coriolanus William Shakespeare 1608 British English
2715 Something Happened Joseph Heller 1974 American English
2716 The Great War and Modern Memory Paul Fussell 1975 American English
2717 Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Unknown 1400 British Middle english
2719 Richard Ii William Shakespeare 1595 British English
2718 The Sagas Of Icelanders Örnólfur Thorsson 1000 Icelandic Old norse
2720 The Life Of Saint Teresa Of Avila By Herself Teresa of Avila 1588 Spanish Spanish
2721 Revelations Of Divine Love Julian of Norwich 1395 English Middle english
2722 Perelandra C. S. Lewis 1943 British English
2723 A Man For All Seasons Robert Bolt 1960 American English
2724 The Book Of Questions Edmond Jabès 1963 French French
2725 The Discovery Of Slowness Sten Nadolny 1983 German German
2726 Last Poems A. E. Housman 1922 British English
2727 They Return At Evening H. Russell Wakefield 1928 British English
2728 La légende des siècles Victor Hugo 1859 French French
2729 Overcoat Nikolai Gogol 1842 Russian Russian
2730 The Executioner's Song Norman Mailer 1979 American English
2731 Lost Souls Poppy Z. Brite 1992 American English
2732 Seize The Day Saul Bellow 1956 American English
2733 A Violent Life Pier Paolo Pasolini 1959 Italian Italian
2734 The Circular Staircase Mary Roberts Rinehart 1908 American English
2735 Severance Ling Ma 2018 American English
2736 Philosophical Writings Novalis 1798 German German
2737 Look Back In Anger John Osborne 1956 British English
2739 Dark Night of the Soul St. John of the Cross 1578 Spanish Spanish
2738 My Friend Flicka Mary O'Hara 1941 American English
2740 The Martian Andy Weir 2011 American English
2741 Jerusalem Selma Lagerlöf 1901 Swedish Swedish
2742 The Little White Horse Elizabeth Goudge 1946 British English
2743 Ved Vejen Herman Bang 1886 Danish Danish
2744 Dialogues of the Courtesans Lucian of Samosata 150 Unknown Ancient greek
2745 Erec And Enide Chrétien de Troyes 1160 French Old french
2750 Satyagraha in South Africa Gandhi 1928 Indian Gujarati
2750 The Montessori Method Maria Montessori 1909 Italian Italian
2750 Psychological Types Carl Jung 1921 Swiss German
2750 Dust Tracks on a Road Zora Neale Hurston 1942 American English
2750 Struwwelpeter, Or, Merry Rhymes and Funny Pictures... Heinrich Hoffmann 1845 German German
2746 The Romance of the Rose Guillaume (de Lorris) 1230 French Old french
2750 Castle Gripsholm Kurt Tucholsky 1931 German German
2750 The Wild Swans at Coole William Butler Yeats 1917 Irish English
2750 My Fight for Birth Control Margaret Sanger 1931 American English
2748 The Broken Jug Heinrich von Kleist 1808 German German
2750 The Worm Forgives The Plough John Stewart Collis 1947 British English
2750 Gods And Heroes Gustav Schwab 1838 German German
2750 Threepenny Novel Bertolt Brecht 1934 German German
2750 Mephisto Klaus Mann 1936 German German
2750 Young Henry Of Navarre Heinrich Mann 1935 German German