The Greatest Books of All Time on Ambition

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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
28 Middlemarch George Eliot 1871 British English
38 Great Expectations Charles Dickens 1860 British English
39 Frankenstein Mary Shelley 1818 British English
42 The Red and the Black Stendhal 1830 French French
47 David Copperfield Charles Dickens 1849 British English
96 Faust Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1808 German German
105 Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray 1847 British English
116 A Sentimental Education Gustave Flaubert 1869 French French
129 First Folio William Shakespeare 1623 British English
138 The Charterhouse of Parma Stendhal 1839 French French
143 The Talented Mr. Ripley Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
149 All the King's Men Robert Penn Warren 1946 American English
155 Macbeth William Shakespeare 1606 British English
195 An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser 1925 American English
203 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole 1980 American English
217 The House of Mirth Edith Wharton 1905 American English
223 A House for Mr. Biswas V. S. Naipaul 1961 Trinidadian English
253 Look Homeward, Angel Thomas Wolfe 1929 American English
263 The Tartar Steppe Dino Buzzati 1940 Italian Italian
280 The Adventures of Augie March Saul Bellow 1953 American English
287 Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy 1895 British English
292 Of Human Bondage W. Somerset Maugham 1915 British English
310 Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe 1987 American English
336 Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser 1900 American English
341 The Human Comedy Honoré de Balzac 1830 French French
358 The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy 1886 British English
397 Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel 2009 British English
409 My Brilliant Friend Elena Ferrante 2012 American Italian
432 Lost Illusions Honoré de Balzac 1837 French French
525 Gormenghast Mervyn Peake 1950 British English
561 The Recognitions William Gaddis 1955 American English
564 Main Street Sinclair Lewis 1920 American English
566 I Served The King Of England Bohumil Hrabal 1983 Czech Czech
588 The Pillars Of The Earth Ken Follett 1989 British English
589 Bel Ami Guy de Maupassant 1885 French French
606 New Grub Street George Gissing 1891 British English
626 Promise at Dawn Romain Gary 1960 French French
627 The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus Christopher Marlowe 1604 British English
651 Manhattan Transfer John Dos Passos 1925 American English
678 Barchester Towers Anthony Trollope 1857 British English
702 Vathek William Beckford 1786 British French
703 The Way We Live Now Anthony Trollope 1875 British English
737 The Custom of the Country Edith Wharton 1913 American English
762 Ballet Shoes Noel Streatfeild 1936 British English
765 The Thorn Birds Colleen McCullough 1977 Australian English
766 Adolphe Benjamin Constant 1816 Swiss French
775 Cheese Willem Elsschot 1933 Belgian Dutch
780 Maxims François duc de La Rochefoucauld 1665 French French
802 Romance of the Three Kingdoms Guanzhong Luo 1400 Chinese Chinese
857 Midaq Alley Naguib Mahfouz 1947 Egyptian Arabic
935 Martin Eden Jack London 1909 American English
950 Richard III William Shakespeare 1592 British English
956 The Girls of Slender Means Muriel Spark 1963 British English
1036 The Fortunes Of Richard Mahony Henry Handel Richardson 1917 Australian English
1096 The Transit of Venus Shirley Hazzard 1980 Australian English
1108 Chaka Thomas Mofolo 1925 South African Sesotho
1116 Hadrian the Seventh Frederick Rolfe 1904 British English
1162 Essays Francis Bacon 1597 British English
1226 The History Of Gil Blas Of Santillana Alain-René Lesage 1715 French French
1227 The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle Tobias Smollett 1751 British English
1249 The White Devil John Webster 1612 British English
1257 Lives of the Caesars Suetonius 121 Roman Latin
1289 A Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin 1996 American English
1343 The Hamlet William Faulkner 1940 American English
1356 Towards The End Of The Morning Michael Frayn 1967 British English
1383 The Birds Aristophanes -414 Greek Ancient greek
1402 The Seagull Anton Chekhov 1896 Russian Russian
1483 Tono Bungay H. G. Wells 1909 British English
1604 Phineas Finn Anthony Trollope 1869 British English
1656 Arrowsmith Sinclair Lewis 1925 American English
1678 A Time To Be Born Dawn Powell 1942 American English
1685 Burr Gore Vidal 1973 American English
1732 A Harlot High And Low Honoré de Balzac 1839 French French
1751 NW Zadie Smith 2012 British English
1782 The Wild Ass's Skin Honoré de Balzac 1831 French French
1791 Confessions Of Felix Krull, Confidence Man Thomas Mann 1954 German German
1865 Elmer Gantry Sinclair Lewis 1927 American English
1936 Autobiography Benvenuto Cellini 1728 Italian Italian
2007 King Ubu Alfred Jarry 1896 French French
2122 Julius Caesar William Shakespeare 1623 British English
2156 The Flame Of Life Gabriele D'Annunzio 1900 Italian Italian
2179 The Love Of The Last Tycoon F. Scott Fitzgerald 1941 American English
2282 Boris Godunov Alexander Pushkin 1831 Russian Russian
2313 Room At The Top John Braine 1957 British English
2343 Mastro Don Gesualdo Giovanni Verga 1889 Italian Italian
2397 Maurice Guest Henry Handel Richardson 1908 Australian English
2405 The City Of Marvels Eduardo Mendoza 1986 Spanish Spanish
2414 Loitering With Intent Muriel Spark 1981 British English
2425 Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer 1997 American English
2524 The Passage Of Power Robert Caro 2012 American English
2543 The Artamonov Business Maxim Gorky 1925 Russian Russian
2559 Pharaoh Bolesław Prus 1895 Polish Polish
2557 Keep the Aspidistra Flying George Orwell 1936 British English
2616 The Rise Of Silas Lapham William Dean Howells 1885 American English
2618 The Neapolitan Novels Elena Ferrante 2011 Italian Italian
2629 Valley of the Dolls Jacqueline Susann 1966 American English
2631 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Bertolt Brecht 1941 German German
2705 My Brilliant Career Miles Franklin 1901 Australian English
2710 Les Caractères Jean de La Bruyère 1688 French French
2806 Fates and Furies Lauren Groff 2015 American English
2830 Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin 2022 American English
2868 The Story Of The Lost Child Elena Ferrante 2014 Italian Italian
2891 The Traveller Oliver Goldsmith 1764 Irish English
2919 Bring Up the Bodies Hilary Mantel 2012 British English
2963 Au Bonheur Des Dames Émile Zola 1883 French French
2968 Kane and Abel Jeffrey Archer 1979 British English
2973 The White Tiger Aravind Adiga 2008 Indian English
2994 Clayhanger Arnold Bennett 1910 British English
3022 The Memoirs Of Barry Lyndon William Makepeace Thackeray 1844 British English
3082 Flappers And Philosophers F. Scott Fitzgerald 1920 American English
3314 Satires Juvenal 100 Roman Latin
3391 Napoleon Emil Ludwig 1926 German German
3401 Brothers Yu Hua 2005 Chinese Chinese
3470 Little Caesar W. R. Burnett 1929 American English
3572 Youth Tove Ditlevsen 1967 Danish Danish
3584 The Would-Be Gentleman Molière 1670 French French
3617 The Right Stuff Tom Wolfe 1979 American English
3630 The Happy Island Dawn Powell 1938 American English
3637 The Assistant Robert Walser 1908 Swiss German
3637 Les Rougon Macquart Émile Zola 1871 French French