The Greatest Russian 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
10 Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy 1877 Russian Russian
11 Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky 1866 Russian Russian
12 War and Peace Leo Tolstoy 1869 Russian Russian
18 The Brothers Karamazov Fyodor Dostoevsky 1880 Russian Russian
34 The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov 1967 Russian Russian
57 The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky 1869 Russian Russian
94 Demons Fyodor Dostoevsky 1872 Russian Russian
104 Dead Souls Nikolai Gogol 1842 Russian Russian
111 Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak 1957 Russian Russian
128 The Stories of Anton Chekhov Anton Chekhov 1900 Russian Russian
148 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 1962 Russian Russian
179 Fathers and Sons Ivan Turgenev 1862 Russian Russian
194 Oblomov Ivan Goncharov 1859 Russian Russian
206 The Gulag Archipelago Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 1973 Russian Russian
214 Life and Fate Vasily Grossman 1980 Russian Russian
249 A Hero of Our Time Mikhail Lermontov 1840 Russian Russian
321 We Yevgeny Zamyatin 1924 Russian Russian
342 Notes from the Underground Fyodor Dostoevsky 1864 Russian Russian
349 The Death of Ivan Ilyich Leo Tolstoy 1886 Russian Russian
365 Eugene Onegin Alexander Pushkin 1833 Russian Russian
375 Kolyma Stories Varlam Shalamov 1954 Russian Russian
535 Red Cavalry Isaac Babel 1926 Russian Russian
555 The Lady with the Dog Anton Chekhov 1899 Russian Russian
571 And Quiet Flows The Don Mikhail Sholokhov 1928 Russian Russian
572 Three Sisters Anton Chekhov 1901 Russian Russian
610 Requiem Anna Akhmatova 1963 Russian Russian
617 Pnin Vladimir Nabokov 1957 Russian English
730 Petersburg Andrei Bely 1913 Russian Russian
744 Moscow to the End of the Line Venedikt Yerofeev 1970 Russian Russian
764 Mother Maxim Gorky 1906 Russian Russian
798 The Life Of Arseniev Ivan Bunin 1930 Russian Russian
877 The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekhov 1904 Russian Russian
960 The Gift Vladimir Nabokov 1938 Russian Russian
999 Chevengur Andrey Platonov 1928 Russian Russian
1035 Uncle Vanya Anton Chekhov 1897 Russian Russian
1061 First Love Ivan Turgenev 1860 Russian Russian
1090 The Kreutzer Sonata Leo Tolstoy 1889 Russian Russian
1138 The Unwomanly Face Of War Svetlana Alexievich 1985 Russian Russian
1149 A Sportsman's Notebook Ivan Turgenev 1852 Russian Russian
1162 The Twelve Chairs Ilya Ilf, Evgeniy Petrov 1928 Russian Russian
1164 The Nose Nikolai Gogol 1836 Russian Russian
1205 The Enchanted Wanderer Nikolai Leskov 1873 Russian Russian
1227 What Is To Be Done? Vladimir Il’ich Lenin 1902 Russian Russian
1402 The Seagull Anton Chekhov 1896 Russian Russian
1407 The Golovlyov Family Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin 1880 Russian Russian
1454 Pushkin House Andrey Bitov 1978 Russian Russian
1481 The Little Golden Calf Ilya Ilf, Evgeniy Petrov 1931 Russian Russian
1492 The Real Life of Sebastian Knight Vladimir Nabokov 1941 Russian English
1522 Cancer Ward Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 1967 Russian Russian
1579 The Collected Stories of Isaac Babel Isaac Babel 1934 Russian Russian
1605 The Foundation Pit Andrey Platonov 1930 Russian Russian
1667 The Poetry of Alexander Pushkin Alexander Pushkin 1836 Russian Russian
1683 The Life Written By Himself the Archpriest Avvakum 1666 Russian Russian
1689 Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk Nikolai Leskov 1865 Russian Russian
1696 Evenings On A Farm Near Dikanka Nikolai Gogol 1831 Russian Russian
1716 The Clay Machine-gun Victor Pelevin 1996 Russian Russian
1731 The Government Inspector Nikolai Gogol 1836 Russian Russian
1732 My Childhood Maxim Gorky 1913 Russian Russian
1738 The Bedbug And Selected Poetry Vladimir Mayakovsky 1920 Russian Russian
1749 First Circle Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 1968 Russian Russian
1794 My Past And Thoughts Alexander Herzen 1861 Russian Russian
1927 Stories of Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol 1831 Russian Russian
1993 The Queen Of Spades Alexander Pushkin 1834 Russian Russian
2005 A School For Fools Sasha Sokolov 1976 Russian Russian
2079 The Major Plays Anton Chekhov 1964 Russian Russian
2113 House On The Embankment Yuri Trifonov 1976 Russian Russian
2135 Farewell To Matyora Valentin Rasputin 1976 Russian Russian
2160 Soul and Other Stories Andrey Platonov 1999 Russian Russian
2182 The Little Demon Fedor Sologub 1907 Russian Russian
2194 Envy Yury Olesha 1927 Russian Russian
2231 The Cathedral Folk Nikolai Leskov 1872 Russian Russian
2234 Resurrection Leo Tolstoy 1899 Russian Russian
2278 The Twelve Alexander Blok 1918 Russian Russian
2282 Boris Godunov Alexander Pushkin 1831 Russian Russian
2290 The White Guard Mikhail Bulgakov 1925 Russian Russian
2360 August 1914 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 1971 Russian Russian
2441 Poems Of Anna Akhmatova Anna Akhmatova 1912 Russian Russian
2537 The Way of a Pilgrim Unknown 1884 Russian Russian
2543 The Artamonov Business Maxim Gorky 1925 Russian Russian
2609 The Gambler Fyodor Dostoevsky 1866 Russian Russian
2626 The Captain's Daughter Alexander Pushkin 1836 Russian Russian
2730 Overcoat Nikolai Gogol 1842 Russian Russian
2811 Roadside Picnic Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky 1972 Russian Russian
2817 The Belkin Tales Alexander Pushkin 1831 Russian Russian
2835 The Luzhin Defense Vladimir Nabokov 1930 Russian Russian
2889 Hadji Murat Leo Tolstoy 1912 Russian Russian
2952 Nevsky Prospekt Nikolai Gogol 1835 Russian Russian
2959 The Lower Depths Maxim Gorky 1902 Russian Russian
2960 A Poem Without A Hero Anna Akhmatova 1960 Russian Russian
2971 The Steppe Anton Chekhov 1888 Russian Russian
2979 The Demon Mikhail Lermontov 1829 Russian Russian
2991 The Tale Of Igor's Campaign Unknown 1187 Russian Old east slavic
2997 Childhood Leo Tolstoy 1852 Russian Russian
2999 A Cloud In Trousers Vladimir Mayakovsky 1915 Russian Russian
3000 Poor Folk Fyodor Dostoevsky 1846 Russian Russian
3087 Summer in Baden-Baden Leonid Tsypkin 1980 Russian Russian
3202 The Pillar And Ground Of The Truth Pavel Florensky 1914 Russian Russian
3224 Forever Flowing Vasily Grossman 1970 Russian Russian
3324 King Lear of the Steppes Ivan Turgenev 1870 Russian Russian
3324 Torrents of Spring Ivan Turgenev 1872 Russian Russian
3500 Reflections of a Russian Statesman Konstantin P. Pobedonostsev 1898 Russian Russian
3637 Goat Song Konstantin Vaginov 1927 Russian Russian
3638 The Return and Other Stories Andrey Platonov 1946 Russian Russian
3638 Memoirs Of A Revolutionist Vera Figner 1920 Russian Russian
3638 Oh, These Times Catherine the Great 1790 Russian Unknown
3638 Notes From The Blockade Lydia Ginzburg 1960 Russian Russian
3638 The Memoirs Of Princess Dashkova Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova 1840 Russian Russian
3638 The Thaw Ilya Ehrenburg 1954 Russian Russian
3833 Повесть о жизни Konstantin Paustovsky 1956 Russian Russian
3882 Woe From Wit Alexander Griboyedov 1825 Russian Russian
3913 The History Of A Town Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin 1870 Russian Russian
4075 The Bronze Horseman Alexander Pushkin 1837 Russian Russian
4082 Diary Of A Madman Nikolai Gogol 1835 Russian Russian
4091 The Little Tragedies Alexander Pushkin 1832 Russian Russian
4100 Четвёртая проза Osip Mandelstam 1930 Russian Russian
4105 Poor Liza Nikolay Karamzin 1792 Russian Russian
4114 The Old Woman Daniil Kharms 1939 Russian Russian
4133 Dark Avenues Ivan Bunin 1943 Russian Russian
4150 The Tale Of Cross Eyed Lefty From Tula And The Steel Flea Nikolai Leskov 1881 Russian Russian
4167 Vasili Tyorkin Alexander Tvardovsky 1943 Russian Russian