The Greatest Books of All Time on Alternate History

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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
314 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Michael Chabon 2000 American English
361 Foundation Isaac Asimov 1951 American English
406 Ragtime E. L. Doctorow 1975 American English
712 A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court Mark Twain 1889 American English
770 The Underground Railroad Colson Whitehead 2016 American English
808 Watchmen Alan Moore 1986 American, British English
918 The Plot Against America Philip Roth 2004 American English
980 News from Nowhere William Morris 1890 British English
1435 Life After Life Kate Atkinson 2013 British English
1443 Mason & Dixon Thomas Pynchon 1997 American English
1535 The Sound Of His Horn Sarban 1952 British English
1676 Time and Again Jack Finney 1970 American English
1897 The Ice People René Barjavel 1968 French French
2132 The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick 1962 American English
2145 Cryptonomicon Neal Stephenson 1999 American English
2228 The Anubis Gates Tim Powers 1983 American English
2234 Last And First Men Olaf Stapledon 1930 British English
2287 The History of the Siege of Lisbon José Saramago 1989 Portuguese Portuguese
2477 Quatermass And The Pit Nigel Kneale 1959 British English
2558 Alamut Vladimir Bartol 1938 Slovenian Slovene
2639 Fatherland Robert Harris 1992 British English
2844 The Book Of Ptath A. E. van Vogt 1943 American English
2894 Seven Days In New Crete Robert Graves 1949 British English
2926 The Castle Of Iron L. Sprague de Camp 1950 American English
3014 The Game Of Kings Dorothy Dunnett 1961 British English
3048 Three Hearts And Three Lions Poul Anderson 1953 American English
3054 National Episodes Benito Pérez Galdós 1873 Spanish Spanish
3294 Looking Backward, 2000 1887 Edward Bellamy 1888 American English
3615 11 22 63 Stephen King 2011 American English
3816 City of Bohane Kevin Barry 2011 Irish English
4604 Babel R. F. Kuang 2022 American English
4767 The Yiddish Policemen's Union Michael Chabon 2007 American English
4819 The Malacia Tapestry Brian Aldiss 1976 British English
5007 Against the Day Thomas Pynchon 2006 American English
5281 Declare Tim Powers 2000 American English
5378 A Midsummer Tempest Poul Anderson 1974 American English
5632 Queens' Play Dorothy Dunnett 1964 British English
5637 The Alteration Kingsley Amis 1976 British English
5959 The Time Ships Stephen Baxter 1995 British English
5984 Ecotopia Ernest Callenbach 1975 American English
6820 The Calculating Stars Mary Robinette Kowal 2018 American English
6907 The Years of Rice and Salt Kim Stanley Robinson 2002 American English
7007 Tyll Daniel Kehlmann 2017 German German
7685 A Master of Djinn P. Djèlí Clark 2021 American English
7804 Anno Dracula Kim Newman 1992 British English
7878 Blackout/All Clear Connie Willis 2010 American English
8144 Jerusalem Commands Michael Moorcock 1992 British English
8382 American War Omar El Akkad 2017 Canadian English
8473 Selected Writings Salvatore Quasimodo 1960 Italian Italian
8766 The Island Of Crimea Vasily Aksenov 1979 Russian Russian
8939 Queen Of The Conquered Kacen Callender 2019 American English
10865 City Of Stairs Robert Jackson Bennett 2014 American English
11546 Lest Darkness Fall L. Sprague de Camp 1939 American English
12140 Yellow Blue Tibia Adam Roberts 2009 British English
12310 Pavane Keith Roberts 1968 British English
13318 The Lions Of Al Rassan Guy Gavriel Kay 1995 Canadian English
13731 Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick Philip K. Dick 2002 American English
13739 The Difference Engine William Gibson, Bruce Sterling 1990 American English
13886 Underground Airlines Ben H. Winters 2016 American English
13971 The Fated Sky Mary Robinette Kowal 2018 American English
14075 The Eyre Affair Jasper Fforde 2001 British English
14078 The Relentless Moon Mary Robinette Kowal 2020 American English
14088 La Part De L'autre Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt 2001 French French
14232 The Separation Christopher Priest 2002 British English
14984 The Baroque Cycle Neal Stephenson 2003 American English
14984 Iron Council China Miéville 2004 British English
14984 Cahokia Jazz Francis Spufford 2024 British English
15908 Islandia Austin Tappan Wright 1942 American English
17150 Tours of the Black Clock Steve Erickson 1989 American English
17150 The Dragon Waiting John M. Ford 1983 American English
17150 Osama Lavie Tidhar 2011 British English
17150 Bring The Jubilee Ward Moore 1953 American English
17150 The Last Day Of Creation Wolfgang Jeschke 1981 German German
17150 Arabella Of Mars David D. Levine 2016 American English
17150 Europe In Winter Dave Hutchinson 2016 British English
17150 Felaheen Jon Courtenay Grimwood 2003 British English
17150 Ash Mary Gentle 2000 British English
17150 Aztec Century Christopher Evans 1993 British English
17150 Abraham Lincoln Seth Grahame-Smith 2010 American English
17150 Gretel And The Great War Adam Erlich Sachs 2024 Unknown English
17150 To Paradise Hanya Yanagihara 2022 American English
17150 Red Menace Joe Thomas 2024 Unknown English
17150 Ring Shout P. Djèlí Clark 2020 American English
17150 Mary Toft; Or, The Rabbit Queen Dexter Palmer 2019 American English
17150 Red Army Amanda Peters 1989 Unknown Unknown
17150 Waiting For The Galactic Bus Parke Godwin 1988 American English
17150 The Strange Nathan Ballingrud 2023 American English