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
3819 The Commitments Roddy Doyle 1987 Irish English
3858 This Side of Paradise F. Scott Fitzgerald 1920 American English
3872 The Beautiful and Damned F. Scott Fitzgerald 1922 American English
3882 Woe From Wit Alexander Griboyedov 1825 Russian Russian
3895 The Planetarium Nathalie Sarraute 1959 French French
3950 Top Girls Caryl Churchill 1982 British English
3954 Γιούγκερμαν M. Karagatsis 1938 Greek Greek
4176 Peer Gynt Henrik Ibsen 1867 Norwegian Norwegian
4189 Age of Ambition Evan Osnos 2014 American English
4199 The Mysterious Portrait Nikolai Gogol 1835 Ukrainian Russian
4310 Mister Johnson Joyce Cary 1939 British English
4310 The Unbearable Bassington Saki 1912 British English
4310 The History Of Pompey The Little Francis Coventry 1751 British English
4370 More Die Of Heartbreak Saul Bellow 1987 American English
4404 This Sporting Life David Storey 1960 British English
4483 The Duchess Of Malfi John Webster 1623 British English
4549 Forever Amber Kathleen Winsor 1944 American English
4594 Ten North Frederick John O'Hara 1955 American English
4646 Alms For Oblivion Simon Raven 1964 British English
4717 Office Politics Wilfrid Sheed 1965 British English
4724 Of Time and the River Thomas Wolfe 1935 American English
4742 The Man With The Golden Touch Mór Jókai 1872 Hungarian Hungarian
4767 The Soldier's Art Anthony Powell 1966 British English
4790 The Master Builder Henrik Ibsen 1892 Norwegian Norwegian
4803 Brand Henrik Ibsen 1866 Norwegian Norwegian
4948 Les Regrets Joachim Du Bellay 1558 French French
5225 Riders Jilly Cooper 1985 British English
5250 The Art of Fielding Chad Harbach 2011 American English
5310 The Emperor's Children Claire Messud 2006 American English
5311 The Town House Norah Lofts 1959 British English
5393 Complete Plays And Poems Christopher Marlowe 1587 British English
5579 The Puttermesser Papers Cynthia Ozick 1997 American English
5667 Rich Man, Poor Man Irwin Shaw 1969 American English
5668 La Famille Boussardel Philippe Heriat 1944 French French
5701 Fear And Trembling Amélie Nothomb 1999 Belgian French
5735 Anne Of The Thousand Days Maxwell Anderson 1950 American English
5815 The Malcontent John Marston 1604 British English
5821 The Russian Debutante’s Handbook Gary Shteyngart 2002 American English
5836 Six Tragedies Seneca 54 Roman Latin
5830 The Easter Parade Richard Yates 1976 American English
5863 A Modern Instance William Dean Howells 1882 American English
5889 House With The Green Shutters George Douglas Brown 1901 Scottish English
6184 The Accursed Kings Series Maurice Druon 1955 French French
6188 Claudius The God Robert Graves 1935 British English
6265 The Other Boleyn Girl Philippa Gregory 2001 British English
6309 Hatter's Castle A. J. Cronin 1931 British English
6480 The Stoic Theodore Dreiser 1947 American English
6493 The Story Of Avis Elizabeth Stuart Phelps 1877 American English
6580 Zuckerman Bound Philip Roth 1985 American English
6717 The Son of a Servant August Strindberg 1886 Swedish Swedish
6737 My Misspent Youth Meghan Daum 2001 American English
6762 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
7206 Het Meesterstuk Anna Enquist 1994 Dutch Dutch
7216 Plays Francis Beaumont 1607 British English
7216 Comedies, Tragedies, Poems George Chapman 1600 British English
7216 Nicomède Pierre Corneille 1651 French French
7216 Rodogune Pierre Corneille 1644 French French
7216 Britannicus Jean Racine 1669 French French
7216 Verse Plays Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1800 German German
7216 Wallenstein Friedrich Schiller 1799 German German
7216 The Entail John Galt 1823 Scottish English
7216 The Poems And Plays Of Thomas Wade Thomas Wade 1800 British English
7216 The Small House At Allington Anthony Trollope 1864 British English
7216 The Prime Minister Anthony Trollope 1876 British English
7216 The Rise Of David Levinsky Abraham Cahan 1917 American English
7717 The Southpaw Mark Harris 1953 American English
7738 Becoming Madame Mao Anchee Min 2000 American English
7772 Napoleon Vincent Cronin 1971 British English
7858 Jennie Gerhardt Theodore Dreiser 1911 American English
7911 The Town William Faulkner 1957 American English
7986 The History Of Pendennis William Makepeace Thackeray 1849 British English
8004 Play Their Hearts Out George Dohrmann 2010 American English
8009 The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz Mordecai Richler 1959 Canadian English
8321 The Living Is Easy Dorothy West 1948 American English
8346 Swing Time Zadie Smith 2016 British English
8402 About The Author John Colapinto 2001 American English
8426 Un Campeón Desparejo Adolfo Bioy Casares 1993 Argentinian Spanish
8496 Margaret The First Danielle Dutton 2016 American English
8859 The Navigator Of New York Wayne Johnston 2002 Canadian English
8889 Cendrillon Éric Reinhardt 2007 French French
9116 Collected Short Stories Edith Wharton 1968 American English
9522 Astonish Me Maggie Shipstead 2014 American English
9574 Jenny Treibel Theodor Fontane 1892 German German
9589 The Newcomes William Makepeace Thackeray 1855 British English
9628 Queenpin Megan Abbott 2007 American English
9930 The Eagle's Throne Carlos Fuentes 2002 Mexican Spanish
9965 The Wife Meg Wolitzer 2003 American English
10135 Advances Anita Burgh 1998 British English
10140 Sir Thomas Wyatt Thomas Wyatt 1978 British English
10158 So Big Edna Ferber 1924 American English
10191 The Woman Upstairs Claire Messud 2013 American English
10221 What's Bred In The Bone Robertson Davies 1985 Canadian English
10283 Birth Of A Bridge Maylis de Kerangal 2010 French French
10306 Anywhere But Here Mona Simpson 1986 American English
10611 The Alchemist Ben Jonson 1610 British English
10801 A Woman Of Substance Barbara Taylor Bradford 1979 British English
10812 Laurinda Alice Pung 2014 Australian English
10856 The Albany Cycle William Kennedy 1983 American English
10924 Pope Joan Donna Cross 1996 American English
10949 Collected Stories John O'Hara 1984 American English
11188 Die Puppenspieler Tanja Kinkel 1995 German German
11194 Rules Of Civility Amor Towles 2011 American English
11208 Slaves Of New York Tama Janowitz 1986 American English
11237 The Illustrious House of Ramires Eça de Queirós 1900 Portuguese Portuguese
11317 Bad Art Mother Edwina Preston 2022 Unknown English
11327 The Prince R. M. Koster 1972 Unknown English
11354 The Interestings Meg Wolitzer 2013 American English
11455 Alice Adams Booth Tarkington 1921 American English
11455 Journey in the Dark Martin Flavin 1943 American English
11455 Martin Dressler Steven Millhauser 1996 American English