The Greatest Books of All Time Set in Africa

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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
23 The Stranger Albert Camus 1942 French French
60 Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe 1958 Nigerian English
255 Disgrace J. M. Coetzee 1999 South African English
265 Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948 South African English
379 The Second World War Winston Churchill 1948 British English
416 Out of Africa Isak Dinesen 1937 Danish Danish
471 Waiting for the Barbarians J. M. Coetzee 1980 South African English
619 The Sheltering Sky Paul Bowles 1949 American English
640 Black Boy Richard Wright 1945 American English
696 King Solomon's Mines H. Rider Haggard 1885 British English
732 A Bend in the River V. S. Naipaul 1979 Trinidadian English
733 Arrow of God Chinua Achebe 1964 Nigerian English
746 Nervous Conditions Tsitsi Dangarembga 1988 Zimbabwean English
753 Henderson The Rain King Saul Bellow 1959 American English
788 Roots Alex Haley 1976 American English
818 The African Child Camara Laye 1953 Guinean French
859 The Palm-Wine Drinkard Amos Tutola 1952 Nigerian English
878 The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver 1998 American English
938 Burger's Daughter Nadine Gordimer 1979 South African English
979 The Worst Journey in the World Apsley Cherry-Garrard 1922 British English
989 The Grass Is Singing Doris May Lessing 1950 British English
1003 A Dry White Season Andre Brink 1979 South African Afrikaans
1107 The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene 1948 British English
1108 Chaka Thomas Mofolo 1925 South African Sesotho
1158 Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2006 Nigerian English
1200 Mating Norman Rush 1991 American English
1278 So Long a Letter Mariama Bâ 1980 Senegalese French
1319 The Story Of An African Farm Olive Schreiner 1883 South African English
1321 A Question of Power Bessie Head 1973 Botswanan English
1384 Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond 1997 American English
1505 The Famished Road Ben Okri 1991 Nigerian English
1570 The Young Lions Irwin Shaw 1948 American English
1573 The Story Of My Experiments With Truth Mahatma Gandhi 1927 Indian Gujarati
1632 The Roots of Heaven Romain Gary 1956 French French
1648 Wizard of the Crow Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o 2006 Kenyan English
1662 Down Second Avenue Es'kia Mphahlele 1959 South African English
1743 Life & Times of Michael K J. M. Coetzee 1983 South African English
1818 Barbarian Days William Finnegan 2015 American English
1852 July's People Nadine Gordimer 1981 South African English
1981 West With the Night Beryl Markham 1942 British English
2023 Elizabeth Costello J. M. Coetzee 2003 South African English
2031 Cosmos Alexander von Humboldt 1845 German German
2184 In a Free State V. S. Naipaul 1971 Trinidadian English
2272 The Wretched of the Earth Frantz Fanon 1961 Algerian French
2369 The Power of One Bryce Courtenay 1989 Australian English
2502 Homegoing Yaa Gyasi 2016 Ghanaian English
2561 Segu Maryse Condé 1984 French French
2596 Possessing the Secret of Joy Alice Walker 1992 American English
2604 The Conservationist Nadine Gordimer 1974 South African English
2668 Sailing Alone Around the World Joshua Slocum 1900 Canadian English
2751 Satyagraha in South Africa Gandhi 1928 Indian Gujarati
2751 Out Of Africa Karen Blixen 1937 Danish Danish
2807 Summertime J. M. Coetzee 2009 South African English
2836 Facing Mount Kenya Jomo Kenyatta 1938 Kenyan English
2872 Boyhood J. M. Coetzee 1997 South African English
2923 The African Queen C. S. Forester 1935 British English
3000 The Rise of the West William H. McNeill 1963 American English
3041 The Great Impersonation E. Phillips Oppenheim 1920 British English
3135 Ake Wole Soyinka 1981 Nigerian English
3175 My Early Life Winston Churchill 1930 British English
3297 Maps Nuruddin Farah 1986 Somali English
3324 Tirant Lo Blanc Joanot Martorell 1490 Spanish Catalan
3468 The Story Of English Robert McCrum 1986 British English
3637 Out Of My Life And Thought Albert Schweitzer 1931 German German
3637 How I Found Livingstone Henry M. Stanley 1871 British English
3860 Tales of Amadou Koumba Birago Diop 1947 Togolese French
3860 The Wrath of the Ancestors Archibald Campbell Jordan 1940 South African English
3860 Amal'eZulu B. W. Vilakazi 1945 South African Zulu
3860 The History Of The Yorubas Reverend Samuel Johnson 1921 Nigerian English
3860 The Soul of the White Ant Eugène N. Marais 1925 South African Afrikaans
3860 Native Life In South Africa Sol Plaatje 1916 South African English
3880 The River Between Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o 1965 Kenyan English
3946 Antériorité Des Civilisations Nègres Cheikh Anta Diop 1954 Senegalese French
4060 Serengeti Shall Not Die Bernhard Grzimek 1959 German German
4077 Children Of Blood And Bone Tomi Adeyemi 2018 Nigerian English
4097 Le Mauvais Sang Feu De Brousse à Trisse Coeur Tchicaya U. Tam'si 1955 Tchadian French
4139 Climbié Bernard Dadié 1956 French French
4139 Le Vieux Nègre Et La Médaille Ferdinand Oyono 1956 French French
4157 We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families Philip Gourevitch 1998 American English
4204 Ghana Kwame Nkrumah 1957 Ghanaian English
4259 Petals of blood Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o 1977 Kenyan English
4264 Ancestral Voices Etienne van Heerden 1986 South African Afrikaans
4308 Moon Over Africa Pamela Kent 1955 British English
4308 Count Belisarius Robert Graves 1938 British English
4391 The Winds Of War Herman Wouk 1971 American English
4474 Soundjata Ou L'épopée Mandingue Djibril Tamsir Niane 1960 French French
4509 Out Of The Fire Ales Adamovich, Yanka Bryl, Vladimir Kolesnik 1981 Belarusian Russian
4522 The True Confessions Of An Albino Terrorist Breyten Breytenbach 1983 South African English
4555 The Blood Knot Athol Fugard 1961 South African English
4555 Inkinnsela Yase Mgungundlovu Sibusiso Nyembezi 1961 South African Zulu
4555 Os Nacionalismos Africanos Mario de Andrade 1961 Brazilian Portuguese
4662 Dusklands J. M. Coetzee 1974 South African English
4720 The Bride Price Buchi Emecheta 1976 Nigerian English
4744 Nos Matamos O Cão Tinhoso Bernardo Honwana 1964 Mozambican Portuguese
4744 Indaba, My Children Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa 1964 South African English
4854 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Alexander McCall Smith 1998 Scottish English
4933 Who Fears Death Nnedi Okorafor 2010 Nigerian English
4939 In the Heart of the Country J. M. Coetzee 1977 South African English
4947 Fata Morgana William Kotzwinkle 1977 American English
4992 Utenzi Wa Vita Vya Uhuru Robert Bin Shabaan 1967 Tanzanian Swahili
5006 Against the Day Thomas Pynchon 2006 American English
5083 Nowhere In Africa Stefanie Zweig 1995 German German
5114 Le Lion Joseph Kessel 1958 French French
5184 The Struggle For Mozambique Eduardo Mondlane 1969 Mozambican English
5238 Travels With Myself And Another Martha Gellhorn 1978 American English
5267 A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah 2007 Sierra Leonean English
5286 Gandhi's Truth Erik H. Erikson 1969 American English
5314 Abu Telfan, Return from the Mountains of the Moon Wilhelm Karl Raabe 1867 German German
5383 Histoire De L'afrique Noire Joseph Ki-Zerbo 1972 French French
5404 Our Sister Killjoy Ama Ata Aidoo 1977 Ghanaian English
5426 At Night All Blood Is Black David Diop 2018 French French
5519 Nós Os Do Makulusu José Luandino Vieira 1974 Angolan Portuguese
5530 Africa Jiří Hanzelka, Miroslav Zikmund 1952 Czech Czech
5594 World War Z Max Brooks 2006 American English
5690 Sur La Philosophie Africaine Paulin Hountondji 1976 French French
5782 A Time To Kill Ennio Flaiano 1947 Italian English
5862 The Big Sea Langston Hughes 1940 American English
5917 A Guest Of Honour Nadine Gordimer 1970 South African English
5925 In Search Of Our Mother’s Gardens Alice Walker 1983 American English
5954 A Good Man In Africa William Boyd 1981 British English