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
316 The Elements of Style E. B. White, William Strunk Jr. 1918 American English
400 The Joy of Cooking Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker 1931 American English
530 Encyclopedia Britannica Encyclopedia Britannica 1768 British English
674 The Story of Art Ernest H. Gombrich 1950 British English
800 Quotations from Chairman Mao Mao 1964 Chinese Chinese
1235 The Principia Mathematica Alfred North Whitehead, Bertrand Russell 1910 British English
1260 Smoking and Health Surgeon General 1964 American English
1410 Oxford English Dictionary Oxford University Press 1884 British English
1873 A Field Guide to the Birds Roger Tory Peterson 1934 American English
1999 I Ching China -1000 Chinese Chinese
2076 The American Language H. L. Mencken 1919 American English
2210 Charter of the United Nations United Nations 1945 Multiple English
2210 Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home Emily Post 1922 American English
2223 A History of Western Philosophy Bertrand Russell 1945 British English
2487 The House Book Terence Conran 1974 British English
2534 Scouting For Boys Robert Baden-Powell 1908 British English
2579 Encyclopédie Denis Diderot 1751 French French
2737 Grid Systems In Graphic Design Josef Müller-Brockmann 1981 Swiss German
2887 On Food and Cooking Harold McGee 1984 American English
3428 Eats, Shoots and Leaves Lynne Truss 2003 British English
3564 Natural History Pliny the Elder 77 Roman Latin
3594 Birds Of America John James Audubon 1827 British-American English
3594 The Stars H. A. Rey 1952 German English
3656 The New Oxford Book Of English Verse Helen Gardner 1972 British English
3758 Our Bodies, Ourselves Unknown 1970 American English
3801 On the Fabric of the Human Body Andreas Vesalius 1543 Belgian Latin
3884 The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights United Nations 1948 Multiple English
3925 Micrographia Robert Hooke 1665 British English
4624 Home Comforts Cheryl Mendelson 1999 American English
4647 365 Starry Nights Chet Raymo 1982 American English
5054 Diccionario De Autores Latinoamericanos César Aira 2001 Argentinian Spanish
5146 The Ants E. O. Wilson, Bert Hölldobler 1990 American English
5219 The Rest is Noise Alex Ross 2007 American English
5275 The Interpretation Of Cultures Clifford Geertz 1973 American English
5312 Turn Left At Orion Guy Consolmagno, Dan M. Davis 1989 American English
5504 The Backyard Astronomer's Guide Terence Dickinson 1991 Canadian English
5504 Mistakes That Worked Charlotte Jones 1991 Unknown English
5575 Petit Robert Paul Robert 1967 French French
5747 What Is The World Made Of? Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld 1994 American English
5864 Basic Documents in American History Richard Brandon Morris 1958 American English
5886 Kiswahili, Past, Present And Future Horizons Rocha Chimera 1998 Kenyan English
5904 Basic Physics Karl F. Kuhn 1996 American English
6024 Summulae De Dialectica John Buridan, Gyula Klima 1350 French Latin
6046 Commentary On The Bibliography Of Edgar A. Poe John W. Robertson 1923 American English
6195 Der Naturen Bloeme Jacob van Maerlant 1270 Dutch Middle dutch
6252 The Whole Internet Ed Krol 1992 American English
6289 Diccionario Sánscrito Español Oscar Pujol 2011 Spanish Spanish
6322 A Pattern Language Christopher Alexander 1977 American English
6327 Bibliography Of The Writings Of Edgar A. Poe John W. Robertson 1934 American English
6343 Revolution in the Head Ian MacDonald 1994 British English
6393 The Code Book Simon Singh 1999 British English
6515 The Gothic Quest Montague Summers 1938 British English
6555 Bathtub Science Shar Levine 2001 British English
6604 A Gothic Bibliography Montague Summers 1940 British English
6664 Black Inventors For Children Charles Jones 2002 American Unknown
6744 The Oxford Book Of Letters Frank Kermode, Anita Kermode 1995 British English
6799 Index To Science Fiction Anthologies And Collections And Supplement William G. Contento 1978 American English
6888 Science Fiction And Fantasy Literature & Supplement R. Reginald 1979 American English
7067 A Bibliography Of The Works Of Sir Henry Rider Haggard J. E. Scott 1947 British English
7124 Microlife That Helps Us Steve Parker 2005 British English
7160 The Checklist Of Science Fiction And Supernatural Fiction Everett F. Bleiler 1948 American English
7213 The Guide To Supernatural Fiction Everett F. Bleiler 1983 American English
7213 Supernatural Fiction Writers Everett F. Bleiler 1983 American English
7399 The Periodic Table Adrian Dingle, Simon Basher 2007 British English
7469 The Penguin Encyclopedia Of Horror And The Supernatural Jack Sullivan 1986 American English
7488 African American Music Mellonee V. Burnim, Portia K. Maultsby 2006 American English
7499 The World Of Economics John Eatwell, Murray Milgate, Peter Newman 1991 British English
7730 The First Gothics Frederick S. Frank 1987 American English
7730 Science Fiction And Fantasy Reference Index, 1878 1985 And Supplements H. W. Hall 1987 American English
7746 A Dictionary of the English Language Samuel Johnson 1755 British English
7953 Fantasy Literature For Children And Young Adults Ruth Nadelman Lynn 1989 American English
8002 Book of Common Prayer Thomas Cranmer 1549 British English
8128 The New Guide To Modern World Literature Martin Seymour-Smith 1973 British English
8168 Index To The Weird Fiction Magazines T. G. L. Cockcroft 1962 Unknown English
8204 Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Peter Mark Roget 1852 British English
8204 Webster's Dictionary Noah Webster 1828 American English
8181 How To Lie With Statistics Darrell Huff 1954 American English
8181 The Feynman Lectures On Physics, Vol. Iii Richard P. Feynman 1965 American English
8262 Chinook Texts Franz Boas 1894 American English
8262 Psychopathia Sexualis Richard von Krafft-Ebing 1886 German German
8262 A History Of Russian Literature Dmitry Svyatopolk Mirsky 1926 Russian English
8262 Morphology Of The Folktale Vladimir Aioakovlevich Propp 1928 Russian Russian
8443 Understanding Poetry Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks 1938 American English
8443 A History of Philosophy Frederick Charles Copleston 1946 British English
8545 The Sound Of The City Charlie Gillett 1970 British English
8547 The American Cinema Andrew Sarris 1968 American English
8839 Dictionary Of Subjects And Symbols In Art James Hall 1974 British English
8915 An Illustrated History Of The Horror Film Carlos Clarens 1967 American English
8921 A Biographical Dictionary Of Film David Thomson 1975 British English
9052 The Supernatural Index Mike Ashley 1995 British English
9151 Magill's Guide To Science Fiction And Fantasy Literature Magill 1996 Unknown English
9290 A Bibliography Of Arthur Machen Adrian Goldstone, Wesley Sweetser 1973 Unknown English
9344 Reference Guide To Fantastic Films Walt Lee 1974 American English
9344 The Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction And Fantasy, Vol. I Donald H. Tuck 1974 Australian English
9424 The Ray Bradbury Companion William F. Nolan 1975 American English
9481 Frank Stewart's Bridge Club Frank Stewart 2001 American English
9601 The Fabulous Fantasy Films Jeff Rovin 1977 American English
9881 Global Health Ann Lindstrand 2006 Unknown English
10966 Euclid's Elements Euclid -300 Greek Ancient greek
10964 A Dictionary Of Modern English Usage H. W. Fowler 1926 British English
11329 The Prose Edda Snorri Sturluson 1220 Icelandic Old norse
12300 Book Lust Nancy Pearl 2003 American English