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
331 The Elements of Style E. B. White, William Strunk Jr. 1918 American English
603 The Joy of Cooking Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker 1931 American English
880 Quotations from Chairman Mao Mao 1964 Chinese Chinese
884 Encyclopedia Britannica Encyclopedia Britannica 1768 British English
1021 The Story of Art Ernest H. Gombrich 1950 British English
1474 A Dictionary of the English Language Samuel Johnson 1755 British English
1604 Our Bodies, Ourselves Unknown 1970 American English
1699 The Principia Mathematica Alfred North Whitehead, Bertrand Russell 1910 British English
1738 Encyclopédie Denis Diderot 1751 French French
1831 Smoking and Health Surgeon General 1964 American English
1831 A History of Western Philosophy Bertrand Russell 1945 British English
1958 The American Language H. L. Mencken 1919 American English
2064 The New Oxford Book Of English Verse Helen Gardner 1972 British English
2153 Oxford English Dictionary Oxford University Press 1884 British English
2361 I Ching China -1000 Chinese Chinese
2690 On the Fabric of the Human Body Andreas Vesalius 1543 Belgian Latin
2753 The House Book Terence Conran 1974 British English
2976 Natural History Pliny the Elder 77 Roman Latin
3103 Grid Systems In Graphic Design Josef Müller-Brockmann 1981 Swiss German
3201 Book of Common Prayer Thomas Cranmer 1549 British English
3201 The Interpretation Of Cultures Clifford Geertz 1973 American English
3201 Scouting For Boys Robert Baden-Powell 1908 British English
3284 On Food and Cooking Harold McGee 1984 American English
3316 Micrographia Robert Hooke 1665 British English
3387 A Field Guide to the Birds Roger Tory Peterson 1934 American English
3387 Charter of the United Nations United Nations 1945 Multiple English
3387 Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home Emily Post 1922 American English
4014 Basic Documents in American History Richard Brandon Morris 1958 American English
4084 The Ants E. O. Wilson, Bert Hölldobler 1990 American English
4271 Revolution in the Head Ian MacDonald 1994 British English
4565 The New Guide To Modern World Literature Martin Seymour-Smith 1973 British English
4593 Euclid's Elements Euclid -300 Greek Ancient greek
4593 Summulae De Dialectica John Buridan, Gyula Klima 1350 French Latin
4922 The World Of Economics John Eatwell, Murray Milgate, Peter Newman 1991 British English
5049 A Pattern Language Christopher Alexander 1977 American English
5057 The Oxford Book Of Letters Frank Kermode, Anita Kermode 1995 British English
5244 The Whole Internet Ed Krol 1992 American English
5335 The Rest is Noise Alex Ross 2007 American English
5349 Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Peter Mark Roget 1852 British English
5349 Webster's Dictionary Noah Webster 1828 American English
5349 How To Lie With Statistics Darrell Huff 1954 American English
5349 The Feynman Lectures On Physics, Vol. Iii Richard P. Feynman 1965 American English
5515 The Code Book Simon Singh 1999 British English
5652 Understanding Poetry Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks 1938 American English
5652 A History of Philosophy Frederick Charles Copleston 1946 British English
5727 Eats, Shoots and Leaves Lynne Truss 2003 British English
5981 Kiswahili, Past, Present And Future Horizons Rocha Chimera 1998 Kenyan English
6075 Birds Of America John James Audubon 1827 British-American English
6075 The Stars H. A. Rey 1952 German English
6514 365 Starry Nights Chet Raymo 1982 American English
6568 The Prose Edda Snorri Sturluson 1220 Icelandic Old norse
7481 Turn Left At Orion Guy Consolmagno, Dan M. Davis 1989 American English
7661 The Backyard Astronomer's Guide Terence Dickinson 1991 Canadian English
7661 Mistakes That Worked Charlotte Jones 1991 Unknown English
7713 Frank Stewart's Bridge Club Frank Stewart 2001 American English
7842 African American Music Mellonee V. Burnim, Portia K. Maultsby 2006 American English
7853 What Is The World Made Of? Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld 1994 American English
7958 A Dictionary Of Modern English Usage H. W. Fowler 1926 British English
8123 Basic Physics Karl F. Kuhn 1996 American English
8251 Global Health Ann Lindstrand 2006 Unknown English
8426 Bathtub Science Shar Levine 2001 British English
8516 Black Inventors For Children Charles Jones 2002 American Unknown
8724 Microlife That Helps Us Steve Parker 2005 British English
8875 The Periodic Table Adrian Dingle, Simon Basher 2007 British English
9515 Book Lust Nancy Pearl 2003 American English