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
3820 The Commitments Roddy Doyle 1987 Irish English
3860 This Side of Paradise F. Scott Fitzgerald 1920 American English
3873 The Beautiful and Damned F. Scott Fitzgerald 1922 American English
3883 Woe From Wit Alexander Griboyedov 1825 Russian Russian
3896 The Planetarium Nathalie Sarraute 1959 French French
3949 Top Girls Caryl Churchill 1982 British English
3953 Γιούγκερμαν M. Karagatsis 1938 Greek Greek
4175 Peer Gynt Henrik Ibsen 1867 Norwegian Norwegian
4188 Age of Ambition Evan Osnos 2014 American English
4198 The Mysterious Portrait Nikolai Gogol 1835 Ukrainian Russian
4309 Mister Johnson Joyce Cary 1939 British English
4309 The Unbearable Bassington Saki 1912 British English
4309 The History Of Pompey The Little Francis Coventry 1751 British English
4369 More Die Of Heartbreak Saul Bellow 1987 American English
4403 This Sporting Life David Storey 1960 British English
4482 The Duchess Of Malfi John Webster 1623 British English
4548 Forever Amber Kathleen Winsor 1944 American English
4593 Ten North Frederick John O'Hara 1955 American English
4645 Alms For Oblivion Simon Raven 1964 British English
4716 Office Politics Wilfrid Sheed 1965 British English
4723 Of Time and the River Thomas Wolfe 1935 American English
4741 The Man With The Golden Touch Mór Jókai 1872 Hungarian Hungarian
4766 The Soldier's Art Anthony Powell 1966 British English
4789 The Master Builder Henrik Ibsen 1892 Norwegian Norwegian
4802 Brand Henrik Ibsen 1866 Norwegian Norwegian
4946 Les Regrets Joachim Du Bellay 1558 French French
5223 Riders Jilly Cooper 1985 British English
5249 The Art of Fielding Chad Harbach 2011 American English
5309 The Emperor's Children Claire Messud 2006 American English
5310 The Town House Norah Lofts 1959 British English
5391 Complete Plays And Poems Christopher Marlowe 1587 British English
5577 The Puttermesser Papers Cynthia Ozick 1997 American English
5664 Rich Man, Poor Man Irwin Shaw 1969 American English
5665 La Famille Boussardel Philippe Heriat 1944 French French
5698 Fear And Trembling Amélie Nothomb 1999 Belgian French
5732 Anne Of The Thousand Days Maxwell Anderson 1950 American English
5812 The Malcontent John Marston 1604 British English
5816 The Russian Debutante’s Handbook Gary Shteyngart 2002 American English
5833 Six Tragedies Seneca 54 Roman Latin
5827 The Easter Parade Richard Yates 1976 American English
5860 A Modern Instance William Dean Howells 1882 American English
5886 House With The Green Shutters George Douglas Brown 1901 Scottish English
6181 The Accursed Kings Series Maurice Druon 1955 French French
6245 Claudius The God Robert Graves 1935 British English
6262 The Other Boleyn Girl Philippa Gregory 2001 British English
6306 Hatter's Castle A. J. Cronin 1931 British English
6478 The Stoic Theodore Dreiser 1947 American English
6491 The Story Of Avis Elizabeth Stuart Phelps 1877 American English
6578 Zuckerman Bound Philip Roth 1985 American English
6716 The Son of a Servant August Strindberg 1886 Swedish Swedish
6736 My Misspent Youth Meghan Daum 2001 American English
6761 The World's Illusion Jakob Wassermann 1920 German German
6820 The Calculating Stars Mary Robinette Kowal 2018 American English
6821 The Pat Hobby Stories F. Scott Fitzgerald 1962 American English
6837 Yellowface R. F. Kuang 2023 American English
6868 The Cruel Prince Holly Black 2018 American English
6921 São Bernardo Graciliano Ramos 1934 Brazilian Portuguese
7048 Personality Andrew O'Hagan 2003 Scottish English
7073 Augustus John Williams 1972 American English
7082 The Scholars Wu Ching-tzu 1750 Chinese Chinese
7086 The Virtuoso Margriet de Moor 1993 Dutch Dutch
7147 Captains And The Kings Taylor Caldwell 1972 American English
7205 Het Meesterstuk Anna Enquist 1994 Dutch Dutch
7215 Plays Francis Beaumont 1607 British English
7215 Comedies, Tragedies, Poems George Chapman 1600 British English
7215 Nicomède Pierre Corneille 1651 French French
7215 Rodogune Pierre Corneille 1644 French French
7215 Britannicus Jean Racine 1669 French French
7215 Verse Plays Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1800 German German
7215 Wallenstein Friedrich Schiller 1799 German German
7215 The Entail John Galt 1823 Scottish English
7215 The Poems And Plays Of Thomas Wade Thomas Wade 1800 British English
7215 The Small House At Allington Anthony Trollope 1864 British English
7215 The Prime Minister Anthony Trollope 1876 British English
7215 The Rise Of David Levinsky Abraham Cahan 1917 American English
7715 The Southpaw Mark Harris 1953 American English
7736 Becoming Madame Mao Anchee Min 2000 American English
7770 Napoleon Vincent Cronin 1971 British English
7857 Jennie Gerhardt Theodore Dreiser 1911 American English
7910 The Town William Faulkner 1957 American English
7985 The History Of Pendennis William Makepeace Thackeray 1849 British English
8003 Play Their Hearts Out George Dohrmann 2010 American English
8008 The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz Mordecai Richler 1959 Canadian English
8319 The Living Is Easy Dorothy West 1948 American English
8344 Swing Time Zadie Smith 2016 British English
8399 About The Author John Colapinto 2001 American English
8423 Un Campeón Desparejo Adolfo Bioy Casares 1993 Argentinian Spanish
8492 Margaret The First Danielle Dutton 2016 American English
8856 The Navigator Of New York Wayne Johnston 2002 Canadian English
8886 Cendrillon Éric Reinhardt 2007 French French
9112 Collected Short Stories Edith Wharton 1968 American English
9518 Astonish Me Maggie Shipstead 2014 American English
9570 Jenny Treibel Theodor Fontane 1892 German German
9585 The Newcomes William Makepeace Thackeray 1855 British English
9624 Queenpin Megan Abbott 2007 American English
9925 The Eagle's Throne Carlos Fuentes 2002 Mexican Spanish
9960 The Wife Meg Wolitzer 2003 American English
10130 Advances Anita Burgh 1998 British English
10135 Sir Thomas Wyatt Thomas Wyatt 1978 British English
10153 So Big Edna Ferber 1924 American English
10185 The Woman Upstairs Claire Messud 2013 American English
10215 What's Bred In The Bone Robertson Davies 1985 Canadian English
10278 Birth Of A Bridge Maylis de Kerangal 2010 French French
10301 Anywhere But Here Mona Simpson 1986 American English
10606 The Alchemist Ben Jonson 1610 British English
10796 A Woman Of Substance Barbara Taylor Bradford 1979 British English
10807 Laurinda Alice Pung 2014 Australian English
10851 The Albany Cycle William Kennedy 1983 American English
10919 Pope Joan Donna Cross 1996 American English
10944 Collected Stories John O'Hara 1984 American English
11183 Die Puppenspieler Tanja Kinkel 1995 German German
11189 Rules Of Civility Amor Towles 2011 American English
11203 Slaves Of New York Tama Janowitz 1986 American English
11232 The Illustrious House of Ramires Eça de Queirós 1900 Portuguese Portuguese
11312 Bad Art Mother Edwina Preston 2022 Unknown English
11322 The Prince R. M. Koster 1972 Unknown English
11349 The Interestings Meg Wolitzer 2013 American English
11451 Alice Adams Booth Tarkington 1921 American English
11451 Journey in the Dark Martin Flavin 1943 American English
11451 Martin Dressler Steven Millhauser 1996 American English