The Greatest Reference 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
406 The Elements of Style E. B. White, William Strunk Jr. 1918 American English
693 The Joy of Cooking Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker 1931 American English
869 Quotations from Chairman Mao Mao 1964 Chinese Chinese
1110 Encyclopedia Britannica Encyclopedia Britannica 1768 British English
1275 A Dictionary of the English Language Samuel Johnson 1755 British English
1539 The Story of Art Ernest H. Gombrich 1950 British English
1558 Encyclopédie Denis Diderot 1751 French French
1790 Our Bodies, Ourselves Unknown 1970 American English
1899 The Principia Mathematica Alfred North Whitehead, Bertrand Russell 1910 British English
2002 The American Language H. L. Mencken 1919 American English
2029 Smoking and Health Surgeon General 1964 American English
2305 Oxford English Dictionary Oxford University Press 1884 British English
2372 The Rest is Noise Alex Ross 2007 American English
2388 I Ching China -1000 Chinese Chinese
2424 A History of Western Philosophy Bertrand Russell 1945 British English
2579 Eats, Shoots and Leaves Lynne Truss 2003 British English
2608 On the Fabric of the Human Body Andreas Vesalius 1543 Belgian Latin
3137 On Food and Cooking Harold McGee 1984 American English
3137 The House Book Terence Conran 1974 British English
3140 Grid Systems In Graphic Design Josef Müller-Brockmann 1981 Swiss German
3226 The Ants E. O. Wilson, Bert Hölldobler 1990 American English
3267 The Oxford Book Of Letters Frank Kermode, Anita Kermode 1995 British English
3267 The New Oxford Book Of English Verse Helen Gardner 1972 British English
3456 Euclid's Elements Euclid -300 Greek Ancient greek
3456 The Code Book Simon Singh 1999 British English
3456 Scouting For Boys Robert Baden-Powell 1908 British English
3582 The Interpretation Of Cultures Clifford Geertz 1973 American English
3582 The World Of Economics John Eatwell, Murray Milgate, Peter Newman 1991 British English
3842 A Field Guide to the Birds Roger Tory Peterson 1934 American English
3842 Charter of the United Nations United Nations 1945 Multiple English
3842 The Whole Internet Ed Krol 1992 American English
3842 Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home Emily Post 1922 American English
4341 Revolution in the Head Ian MacDonald 1994 British English
4439 Kiswahili, Past, Present And Future Horizons Rocha Chimera 1998 Kenyan English
4880 Basic Documents in American History Richard Brandon Morris 1958 American English
5460 Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Peter Mark Roget 1852 British English
5460 Webster's Dictionary Noah Webster 1828 American English
5460 Book of Common Prayer Thomas Cranmer 1549 British English
5775 The New Guide To Modern World Literature Martin Seymour-Smith 1973 British English
6069 African American Music Mellonee V. Burnim, Portia K. Maultsby 2006 American English
6203 Natural History Pliny the Elder 77 Roman Latin
6496 The Prose Edda Snorri Sturluson 1220 Icelandic Old norse
7753 Micrographia Robert Hooke 1665 British English
8972 A Pattern Language Christopher Alexander 1977 American English
9067 Understanding Poetry Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks 1938 American English
9067 A History of Philosophy Frederick Charles Copleston 1946 British English