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
11466 The Real Charlotte Edith Somerville, Violet Florence Martin 1894 Irish English
11509 Bowlaway Elizabeth McCracken 2019 American English
11544 Enemies of Promise Cyril Connolly 1938 British English
11544 Ten Thousand A Year Samuel Warren 1839 British English
11572 The Citadel A. J. Cronin 1937 British English
11660 Loon Lake E. L. Doctorow 1980 American English
12013 John Halifax, Gentleman Dinah Maria Mulock Craik 1856 British English
12382 The Dazzling Paget Sisters Ariane Bankes 2025 Unknown English
12399 The History Boys Alan Bennett 2004 British English
12406 Slammerkin Emma Donoghue 2000 Irish English
12513 Typical American Gish Jen 1991 American English
12682 Children Of The Rich Lu Ling 1940 Chinese Unknown
13071 Can't Get Enough Kennedy Ryan 2025 American English
13072 The Dark Maestro Brendan Slocumb 2025 American English
13246 You Should See Me In A Crown Leah Johnson 2020 American English
13359 Tales from Shakespeare Charles Lamb, Mary Lamb 1807 British English
13542 Morte D'Urban J. F. Powers 1962 American English
13554 Almayer's Folly Joseph Conrad 1895 British English
13559 The Path to Power Robert Caro 1982 American English
13574 The Young Duke Benjamin Disraeli 1831 British English
13581 The Spire William Golding 1964 British English
13596 Strangers And Brothers C. P. Snow 1940 British English
13599 Jerome Maurice Bedel French French
13599 The Soul Of Malaya H. Fauconnier 1930 French French
13599 The Wolves Guy Mazeline 1932 French English
13599 The Rise Of Simon Lachaume Maurice Druon 1948 French English
13599 Les Bêtises Jacques Laurent 1971 French French
13795 Turnaround Don Carpenter 1981 American English
13817 Inseparabili Alessandro Piperno 2012 Italian Italian
13878 Self Help Samuel Smiles 1859 British English
13986 I'm Dying Laughing Christina Stead 1986 Australian English
14025 Miss New India Bharati Mukherjee 2011 American English
14077 Kavanagh Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1849 American English
14113 The Tragic Muse Henry James 1890 British English
14138 The Wisdom Of Crowds Joe Abercrombie 2021 British English
14209 Awake And Sing! Clifford Odets 1935 American English
14232 The Middleman and Other Stories Bharati Mukherjee 1988 Indian English
14232 The Damned Utd David Peace 2006 British English
14232 Glengarry Glen Ross David Mamet 1984 American English
14232 The Imperfectionists Tom Rachman 2010 British English
14232 She Who Became The Sun Shelley Parker-Chan 2021 Australian English
14232 Means Of Ascent Robert Caro 1990 American English
14347 The News from Paraguay Lily Tuck 2004 American English
14389 The Lockwood Concern John O'Hara 1965 American English
14398 Writers & Lovers Lily King 2020 American English
14403 The Titan Theodore Dreiser 1914 American English
14434 Foma Gordeyev Maxim Gorky 1899 Russian Russian
14456 A Chair On The Boulevard Leonard Merrick 1907 British English
14488 A Certain Rich Man William Allen White 1909 American English
14553 The Better Sort Henry James 1903 British English
14586 A Bed Of Roses Walter Lionel George 1911 British English
14666 Saville David Storey 1976 British English
14673 The Genius Theodore Dreiser 1915 American English
14716 El Supremo Edward Lucas White 1916 American English
14724 Catiline's War, The Jugurthine War, Histories Sallust -40 Roman Latin
14756 Nocturne Frank Swinnerton 1917 British English
14896 Power Without Glory Frank Hardy 1950 Australian English
14922 Johann Holtrop Rainald Goetz 2012 German German
14957 Lucky Per Henrik Pontoppidan 1898 Danish Danish
14983 Imperial Caesar Rex Warner 1960 British English
14983 Rubicon Tom Holland 2003 British English
14983 A Clash Of Kings George R. R. Martin 1998 American English
14983 A Feast For Crows George R. R. Martin 2005 American English
14983 A Dance With Dragons George R. R. Martin 2011 American English
14983 The World Is Not Enough Zoe Oldenbourg 1966 French French
14983 The Blade Itself Joe Abercrombie 2006 British English
14983 A Brightness Long Ago Guy Gavriel Kay 2019 Canadian English
14983 A False Spring Pat Jordan 1975 American English
14983 Mouth To Mouth Antoine Wilson 2022 American English
14983 The New Confessions William Boyd 1987 British English
15607 The Cathedral Hugh Walpole 1922 British English
15628 Brass Charles Gilman Norris 1921 American English
15633 Merton Of The Movies Harry Leon Wilson 1922 American English
15647 Hu Xueyan Gao Yang 2007 Chinese Chinese
15669 His Children's Children Arthur Cheney Train 1923 American English
15678 The Funnies J. Robert Lennon American English
15758 The Best Of Everything Rona Jaffe 1958 American English
15767 King's Row Henry Bellamann 1940 American English
15844 Fame Is The Spur Howard Spring 1940 Welsh English
15897 The Chronicles of Barsetshire Anthony Trollope 1855 British English
15897 There Is Confusion Jessie Fauset 1924 American English
15897 The Financial Expert R. K. Narayan 1952 Indian English
15897 From The Terrace John O'Hara 1958 American English
15897 Rienzi Edward Bulwer-Lytton 1835 British English
15897 The Caxtons Edward Bulwer-Lytton 1849 British English
15897 The Harsh Voice Rebecca West 1935 British English
15897 Act One Moss Hart 1959 American English
15897 The Wicked Pavilion Dawn Powell 1954 American English
15897 A Woman Of Genius Mary Austin 1912 American English
15897 Doctor Faustus And Other Plays Christopher Marlowe 1604 English English
15897 Conscience Of The King Alfred Duggan 1951 British English
15897 The Scarlet City Hella S. Haases 1952 Dutch Dutch
15897 The Florentine Carl Spinatelli 1953 Unknown English
15897 Cimarron Edna Ferber 1929 American English
15897 Taiko Eiji Yoshikawa 1941 Japanese Japanese
15897 A Pin To See The Peepshow F. Tennyson Jesse 1934 British English
15897 La Salle And The Discovery Of The Great West Francis Parkman 1869 American English
16489 William Shakespeare Complete Works William Shakespeare 1623 English English
15881 The Earth Is The Lord's Taylor Caldwell 1940 American English
16558 The Fall Of The King Johannes V. Jensen 1900 Danish Danish
16573 Zama Antonio di Benedetto 1956 Argentinian Spanish
16530 Spider King Lawrence Schoonover 1954 American English
16649 What Makes Sammy Run? Budd Schulberg 1941 American English
17119 The Plantagenet Saga Jean Plaidy 1976 British English
17119 The Chip Chip Gatherers Shiva Naipaul 1973 Trinidadian English
17119 Aria of the Sea Dia Calhoun 2000 American English
17040 The Man Who Sold The Moon Robert A. Heinlein 1950 American English
17119 Raavan & Eddie Kiran Nagarkar 1995 Indian English
17119 Without My Cloak Kate O'Brien 1931 Irish English
17119 The New Men C. P. Snow 1954 British English
17119 Linden Hills Gloria Naylor 1985 American English
17119 Ma Rainey's Black Bottom August Wilson 1984 American English
17119 Gloria Branden Jacob-Jenkins 2015 American English
17119 Amadeus Peter Shaffer 1979 British English
16817 Sweet Bird Of Youth Tennessee Williams 1959 American English
17119 Master Class Terrence McNally 1995 American English
17119 The Wolves Sarah DeLappe 2016 American English
17119 The Royale Marco Ramirez 2013 American English
17119 Absurd Person Singular Alan Ayckbourn 1972 British English
17119 Mister Monkey Francine Prose 2016 American English