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
2881 Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One Rick Riordan 2005 American English
2882 Septology Jon Fosse 2019 Norwegian Norwegian
2884 The Busconductor Hines James Kelman 1984 British English
2883 Physics And Beyond Werner Heisenberg 1971 German German
2885 The Tragedy Of Y Ellery Queen 1932 American English
2886 Everything Is Illuminated Jonathan Safran Foer 2002 American English
2887 John Keats Walter Jackson Bate 1963 American English
2888 Hadji Murat Leo Tolstoy 1912 Russian Russian
2889 Olvidado Rey Gudú Ana María Matute 1996 Spanish Spanish
2890 The Traveller Oliver Goldsmith 1764 Irish English
2891 Distant Star Roberto Bolaño 1996 Chilean Spanish
2892 The Caretaker Harold Pinter 1960 British English
2893 Seven Days In New Crete Robert Graves 1949 British English
2893 Silverlock John Myers Myers 1949 American English
2895 Teahouse Lao She 1957 Chinese Chinese
2896 Speculations About Jakob Uwe Johnson 1959 German German
2897 Indigo Beverly Jenkins 1996 American English
2898 Moneyball Michael M. Lewis 2003 American English
2899 A Private Affair Beppe Fenoglio 1963 Italian Italian
2900 City Clifford D. Simak 1952 American English
2901 Cremation Rafael Chirbes 2007 Spanish Spanish
2902 Waverley Sir Walter Scott 1814 British English
2903 What I Loved Siri Hustvedt 2003 American English
2904 Longsword, Earl Of Salisbury Thomas Leland 1762 Irish English
2904 Zofloya Charlotte Dacre 1806 British English
2904 The Return Walter de la Mare 1910 British English
2907 Love Life Zeruya Shalev 2000 Israeli Hebrew
2908 A Taste For Death P. D. James 1986 British English
2909 Villa Des Roses Willem Elsschot 1913 Belgian Dutch
2910 Ruth Elizabeth Gaskell 1853 British English
2911 Tu Patricia Grace 2004 New Zealand English
2912 Délie Maurice Scève 1544 French French
2912 A Simple Soul Gustave Flaubert 1877 French French
2912 The Odyssey Nikos Kazantzakis 1938 Greek Greek
2915 The Broken Sword Poul Anderson 1954 American English
2916 The Woman In Black Susan Hill 1983 British English
2917 Legend David Gemmell 1984 British English
2918 Bring Up the Bodies Hilary Mantel 2012 British English
2919 Barometer Rising Hugh MacLennan 1941 Canadian English
2920 Maigret And The Headless Corpse Georges Simenon 1955 Belgian French
2921 Discourses Of Epictetus Epictetus -108 Greek Greek
2922 The Progress of Love Alice Munro 1986 Canadian English
2923 The African Queen C. S. Forester 1935 British English
2924 The Poems of Walt Whitman Walt Whitman 1855 American English
2925 The Castle Of Iron L. Sprague de Camp 1950 American English
2926 The Return Hisham Matar 2016 Libyan English
2927 The Great Shark Hunt Hunter S. Thompson 1979 American English
2928 Unless Carol Shields 2002 Canadian English
2929 The Waiting Years Fumiko Enchi 1957 Japanese Japanese
2930 Tourist Season Carl Hiaasen 1986 American English
2931 Martian Time Slip Philip K. Dick 1964 American English
2932 The Compleat Werewolf And Other Stories Of Fantasy And Science Fiction Anthony Boucher 1969 American English
2933 On Overgrown Paths Knut Hamsun 1949 Norwegian Norwegian
2934 Dolly City Orly Castel-Bloom 1992 Israeli Hebrew
2935 The Better Angels Of Our Nature Steven Pinker 2011 American English
2936 The Two Cultures And The Scientific Revolution C. P. Snow 1959 British English
2937 Jauche Und Levkojen Christine Brückner 1975 German German
2938 Best Ghost Stories Sheridan Le Fanu 1923 Irish English
2938 The Demon Lover Elizabeth Bowen 1927 British English
2938 Beyond The Wall Of Sleep H. P. Lovecraft 1919 American English
2938 The Ghost Book Cynthia Asquith 1926 British English
2938 Dracula's Guest Bram Stoker 1914 British English
2938 The Supernatural Omnibus Montague Summers 1931 British English
2938 Wandering Ghosts F. Marion Crawford 1911 American English
2938 Tales Of A Traveller Washington Irving 1824 American English
2938 Visible And Invisible E. F. Benson 1923 British English
2947 Sighs And Smiles François Haverschmidt 1867 Dutch Dutch
2948 Eva Trout Elizabeth Bowen 1968 Irish English
2949 Redwall Brian Jacques 1986 British English
2950 Some Hope Edward St Aubyn 1994 British English
2951 Nevsky Prospekt Nikolai Gogol 1835 Russian Russian
2952 Exit, Voice, And Loyalty Albert Hirschman 1970 American English
2953 Dog Soldiers Robert Stone 1974 American English
2954 The Dark Country Dennis Etchison 1981 American English
2955 Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hourglass Bruno Schulz 1937 Polish Polish
2956 Fugitive Pieces Anne Michaels 1996 Canadian English
2957 The Inheritance of Loss Kiran Desai 2006 Indian English
2958 The Lower Depths Maxim Gorky 1902 Russian Russian
2959 A Poem Without A Hero Anna Akhmatova 1960 Russian Russian
2960 Jefferson and His Time Dumas Malone 1948 American English
2961 Prison Notebooks Antonio Gramsci 1948 Italian Italian
2962 Au Bonheur Des Dames Émile Zola 1883 French French
2963 The History Man Malcolm Bradbury 1975 British English
2966 The Sea John Banville 2005 Irish English
2964 The Erasers Alain Robbe-Grillet 1953 French French
2965 In A Dark Wood Wandering Hella S. Haasse 1949 Dutch Dutch
2967 Kane and Abel Jeffrey Archer 1979 British English
2968 A Dream Play August Strindberg 1902 Swedish Swedish
2969 The Amber Spyglass Philip Pullman 2000 British English
2970 The Steppe Anton Chekhov 1888 Russian Russian
2971 Collected Ghost Stories G. Oliver Onions 1935 British English
2972 The White Tiger Aravind Adiga 2008 Indian English
2973 Tuesdays With Morrie Mitch Albom 1997 American English
2974 The Female Man Joanna Russ 1975 American English
2975 Penrod Booth Tarkington 1914 American English
2976 Johnny Tremain Esther Forbes 1943 American English
2978 The Demon Mikhail Lermontov 1829 Russian Russian
2977 My Friends Emmanuel Bove 1924 French French
2979 Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer 2013 American English
2980 The Man of Property John Galsworthy 1906 British English
2981 The Life And Loves Of A She Devil Fay Weldon 1983 British English
2983 Blind Man with a Pistol Chester Himes 1969 American English
2982 Tent of Miracles Jorge Amado 1969 Brazilian Portuguese
2984 The Vampire Lestat Anne Rice 1985 American English
2985 Friday Michel Tournier 1967 French French
2986 Tipping The Velvet Sarah Waters 1998 British English
2987 Two Solitudes Hugh MacLennan 1945 Canadian English
2988 Eragon Christopher Paolini 2002 American English
2989 The Robber Hotzenplotz Otfried Preußler 1962 German German
2990 The Tale Of Igor's Campaign Unknown 1187 Russian Old east slavic
2991 Frederick Douglass David W. Blight 2018 American English
2992 A Book Of Memories Péter Nádas 1986 Hungarian Hungarian
2993 Clayhanger Arnold Bennett 1910 British English
2994 The Doors Of Perception Aldous Huxley 1954 British English
2995 A Child's Christmas In Wales Dylan Thomas 1955 Welsh English
2996 Childhood Leo Tolstoy 1852 Russian Russian
2997 Staying On Paul Scott 1977 British English
2998 A Cloud In Trousers Vladimir Mayakovsky 1915 Russian Russian
2999 Poor Folk Fyodor Dostoevsky 1846 Russian Russian
3000 The Rise of the West William H. McNeill 1963 American English