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
2746 Fabian Erich Kästner 1931 German German
2764 The Dancing Girl of Izu and Other Stories Yasunari Kawabata 1926 Japanese Japanese
2765 Amsterdam Stories Nescio 1918 Dutch Dutch
2763 Decisive Moments in History Stefan Zweig 1927 Austrian German
2762 Physica Hildegard of Bingen 1150 German Latin
2769 Man-Eaters of Kumaon Jim Corbett 1944 British English
2768 The Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist Friedrich Nietzsche 1888 German German
2767 The Book Of Divine Consolation Meister Eckhart 1308 German Middle high german
2766 Unkempt Thoughts Stanislaw Jerzy Lec 1950 Polish Polish
2771 Travels in Arabia Deserta Charles M. Doughty 1888 British English
2770 Max And Moritz Wilhelm Busch 1865 German German
2774 The Art Of Worldly Wisdom Baltasar Gracián 1647 Spanish Spanish
2773 Helmbrecht Wernher der Gartenaere 1250 German Middle high german
2772 Gedichte Walther von der Vogelweide 1200 German Middle high german
2779 Mountain Interval Robert Frost 1916 American English
2776 Carmina Burana Unknown 1230 Multiple Latin
2778 The Legend Of Thyl Ulenspiegel And Lamme Goedzak Charles de Coster 1867 Belgian French
2775 Lay Down Your Arms! Bertha von Suttner 1889 Austrian German
2777 Mist Miguel de Unamuno 1914 Spanish English
2780 North Of Boston Robert Frost 1914 American English
2785 The Weavers Gerhart Hauptmann 1892 German German
2786 How To Stop Worrying And Start Living Dale Carnegie 1948 American English
2782 The Philosophy Of Symbolic Forms Ernst Cassirer 1929 German German
2784 A Cultural History Of The Modern Age Egon Friedell 1927 Austrian English
2781 Märchenalmanach Auf Das Jahr 1828 Wilhelm Hauff 1827 German German
2783 By Night Under The Stone Bridge Leo Perutz 1953 Austrian German
2787 The Island Of Second Sight Albert Vigoleis Thelen 1953 German English
2788 Dog Years Günter Grass 1963 German German
2789 Soft Soap Willem Elsschot 1931 Belgian Dutch
2790 The Eagle Has Landed Jack Higgins 1975 British English
2791 Small Souls Louis Couperus 1901 Dutch Dutch
2792 The Silver Chair C. S. Lewis 1953 British English
2793 The Theory Of Communicative Action Jürgen Habermas 1981 German German
2794 The Anatomy of Melancholy Robert Burton 1621 British English
2795 Delta Wedding Eudora Welty 1946 American English
2796 Collected Plays Of Euripides Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
2797 The Old Devils Kingsley Amis 1986 British English
2798 Stormbringer Michael Moorcock 1965 British English
2799 Mastering the Art of French Cooking Julia Child, Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle 1961 American English
2800 Fates and Furies Lauren Groff 2015 American English
2801 James Percival Everett 2024 American English
2802 The Art of Memory Frances A. Yates 1966 British English
2803 Summertime J. M. Coetzee 2009 South African English
2804 Jacob Have I Loved Katherine Paterson 1980 American English
2805 The Haunted Omnibus Alexander Laing 1937 American English
2806 Matigari Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o 1987 Kenyan Gikuyu
2807 This Boy's Life Tobias Wolff 1989 American English
2808 La Débâcle Émile Zola 1892 French French
2809 The Golden Apples Eudora Welty 1949 American English
2810 The Belkin Tales Alexander Pushkin 1831 Russian Russian
2811 The Gnostic Gospels Elaine Pagels 1979 American English
2812 The Empty House And Other Ghost Stories Algernon Blackwood 1906 British English
2812 The Riddle Walter de la Mare 1923 British English
2812 On The Edge Walter de la Mare 1930 British English
2815 The Damnation Game Clive Barker 1985 British English
2816 The Horse and His Boy C. S. Lewis 1954 British English
2817 Roadside Picnic Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky 1972 Russian Russian
2818 The Leg Willem Elsschot 1946 Belgian Dutch
2819 Bint F. Bordewijk 1934 Dutch Dutch
2820 Lottie And Lisa Erich Kästner 1949 German German
2821 A Manual For Cleaning Women Lucia Berlin 2015 American English
2822 A Swiftly Tilting Planet Madeleine L'Engle 1978 American English
2823 Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin 2022 American English
2824 A Contract With God Will Eisner 1978 American English
2825 Alraune Hanns Heinz Ewers 1911 German German
2825 The Room In The Tower E. F. Benson 1912 British English
2825 The Listener And Other Stories Algernon Blackwood 1907 British English
2828 The Luzhin Defense Vladimir Nabokov 1930 Russian Russian
2829 The Unpleasant Profession Of Jonathan Hoag Robert A. Heinlein 1942 American English
2830 How to Cook a Wolf M. F. K. Fisher 1942 American English
2831 Facing Mount Kenya Jomo Kenyatta 1938 Kenyan English
2832 Kassandra And The Wolf Margarita Karapanou 1974 Greek Greek
2833 The Stone Angel Margaret Laurence 1964 Canadian English
2834 Ashenden, Or, The British Agent W. Somerset Maugham 1928 British English
2836 Children of Crisis Robert Coles 1967 American English
2835 The Magician's Nephew C. S. Lewis 1955 British English
2837 10:04 Ben Lerner 2014 American English
2838 The Book Of Ptath A. E. van Vogt 1943 American English
2839 Sisterhood Is Powerful Robin Morgan 1970 American English
2840 Things Georges Perec 1965 French French
2841 The Museum of Unconditional Surrender Dubravka Ugrešić 1997 Croatian Croatian
2842 What Is the What Dave Eggers 2006 American English
2843 The Ghost Stories Of Edith Wharton Edith Wharton 1937 American English
2844 Bad News Edward St Aubyn 1992 British English
2845 A Bullet In The Ballet Caryl Brahms &S. J. Simon 1937 British English
2846 The Counterlife Philip Roth 1986 American English
2847 Swami and Friends R. K. Narayan 1935 Indian English
2848 Goodbye, Columbus Philip Roth 1959 American English
2849 The Bottle Factory Outing Beryl Bainbridge 1974 British English
2850 The Dharma Bums Jack Kerouac 1958 American English
2851 A Mercy Toni Morrison 2008 American English
2852 The Dog Of The South Charles Portis 1979 American English
2853 Jamila Chinghiz Aitmatov 1958 Kyrgyz Kyrgyz
2854 A Ballad for Georg Henig Viktor Paskov 1987 Bulgarian Bulgarian
2855 The Ghost Pirates William Hope Hodgson 1909 British English
2855 The Haunters And The Haunted Edward Bulwer-Lytton 1859 British English
2855 The Sorcerer's Apprentice Hanns Heinz Ewers 1910 German German
2855 Tales Of Wonder Matthew Lewis 1801 British English
2859 Endgame Samuel Beckett 1957 Irish French
2860 Gimpel the Fool Isaac Bashevis Singer 1953 Polish Yiddish
2861 The Story Of The Lost Child Elena Ferrante 2014 Italian Italian
2862 House Made of Dawn N. Scott Momaday 1968 American English
2863 Dead Zone Stephen King 1979 American English
2865 The Information Martin Amis 1995 British English
2864 Strophic Poems Hadewijch 1250 Dutch Middle dutch
2866 Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! Richard P. Feynman 1985 American English
2867 Boyhood J. M. Coetzee 1997 South African English
2868 The Moral Essays Giacomo Leopardi 1832 Italian Italian
2869 The Horseman on the Roof Jean Giono 1951 French French
2870 River of Fire Qurratulain Hyder 1959 Indian Urdu
2871 Palace of the Peacock Wilson Harris 1960 Guyanese English
2872 The Patriot Antonio Fogazzaro 1906 Italian Italian
2873 Scouting For Boys Robert Baden-Powell 1908 British English
2874 The Diary of Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys 1825 British English
2875 Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One Rick Riordan 2005 American English
2876 Septology Jon Fosse 2019 Norwegian Norwegian
2878 The Busconductor Hines James Kelman 1984 British English
2877 Physics And Beyond Werner Heisenberg 1971 German German
2879 The Tragedy Of Y Ellery Queen 1932 American English
2880 Everything Is Illuminated Jonathan Safran Foer 2002 American English