The Greatest Books of All Time on Ambition

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

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.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
17120 I Am Charlotte Simmons Tom Wolfe 2004 American English
17120 The Golden Butterfly Walter Besant, James Rice 1876 British English
17120 At Freddie's Penelope Fitzgerald 1982 British English
17120 Prince Of Thorns Mark Lawrence 2011 British English
17120 In Other Rooms, Other Wonders Daniyal Mueenuddin 2009 Pakistani English
17120 The Cliff Dwellers Henry Blake Fuller 1893 American English
17120 Mildred Pierce James M. Cain 1941 American English
17120 The Cannibal Galaxy Cynthia Ozick 1983 American English
17120 The Bookshop Penelope Fitzgerald 1978 British English
17120 The Elephants Fathi Ghanem 1965 Egyptian Unknown
17120 Superior Women Alice Adams 1984 American English
17120 The Palace Thief Ethan Canin 1994 American English
17120 Only Time Will Tell Jeffrey Archer 2011 British English
17120 The Rum Diary Hunter S. Thompson 1998 American English
17120 The Story Of A New Name Elena Ferrante 2012 Italian Italian
17120 Darth Plagueis James Luceno 2012 American English
17120 King Henry Vi, Part 3 William Shakespeare 2001 British English
16761 King Henry Vi, Part 2 William Shakespeare 1594 British English
17120 Henry Vi, Part 1 William Shakespeare 2000 British English
17120 Ego Is The Enemy Ryan Holiday 2016 American English
17120 Check & Mate Ali Hazelwood 2023 Unknown English
17120 A Game Of Thrones / A Clash Of Kings George R. R. Martin 1996 American English
17120 The Favorites Layne Fargo Unknown Unknown
17120 Heartless Marissa Meyer 2016 American English
17120 This Thing Of Darkness Harry Thompson 2005 British English
17120 Fire From Heaven Mary Renault 1969 British English
17120 The Sculptor Scott McCloud 2015 American English
17076 Uncle’s Dream Fyodor Dostoevsky 1859 Russian Russian
17120 Sirens & Muses Antonia Angress 2022 Unknown English
17120 Reverend Insanity Gu Zhen Re 2015 Chinese Chinese
17120 Equal Of The Sun Anita Amirrezvani 2012 Unknown English
17120 Robert Penn Warren's All The King's Men Harold Bloom 2000 American English
16797 The Talented Mr. Ripley / Ripley Under Ground / Ripley's Game Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
17120 In The Shade Of Spring Leaves Ichiyō Higuchi 1981 Japanese Japanese
17120 A God Against The Gods Allen Drury 1976 American English
17120 The Twelfth Transforming Pauline Gedge 1984 Canadian English
17120 Besieger Of Cities Alfred Duggan 1963 British English
17120 Funeral Games Mary Renault 1981 British English
17120 Three's Company Alfred Duggan 1958 British English
17120 Family Favorites Alfred Duggan 1960 British English
17120 Sword Of Pleasure Peter Green 1957 British English
17120 Augustus Allan Massie 1986 British English
17120 Tiberius Allan Massie 1991 British English
17120 Caesar Allan Massie 1993 British English
17120 The Young Caesar Rex Warner 1958 British English
17120 Vows Of The Peacock Alice Walworth Graham 1961 Unknown English
17120 Antichrist Cecelia Holland 1970 Unknown English
17120 White Boar Marian Palmer 1988 Unknown English
17120 Duchess Of Milan Michael Ennis 1992 American English
17120 City Of God Cecelia Holland 1979 American English
17120 The Bride Of Sforza Miranda Seymour 1975 Unknown English
17120 The Agony And The Ecstacy Irving Stone 1961 American English
17120 Stage Of Fools Charles Brady Unknown English
16769 Immortal Queen Elizabeth Byrd 1956 American English
17120 Heart Of A Queen Josephine Delves-Broughton Unknown Unknown
17120 My Lord Essex Olive Eckerson Unknown Unknown
17120 Death Of The Fox George Garrett 1972 American English
17120 The Succession George Garrett 1983 American English
17120 Nicholas Cooke Stephanie Cowell 1993 Unknown English
17120 The Physician Of London Stephanie Cowell 1995 Unknown English
17120 Monmouth Charles Flood 1977 Unknown English
17120 The Court Of The Lion Eleanor Cooney, Daniel Altieri 1988 Unknown English
17120 Dynasty Robert S. Elegant 1977 American English
17120 The Chinese Emperor Jean Levi 1985 French French
17120 The Moghul Thomas Hoover 1983 American English
17120 The Signore Kunio Tsuji 1990 Japanese Japanese
17120 Our Hideous Progeny C. E. McGill 2023 Unknown English
17120 Hope Andrew Ridker 2023 American English
17120 The Late Americans Brandon Taylor 2023 American English
17120 The Best Minds Jonathan Rosen 2023 Unknown English
17120 Collected Works Lydia Sandgren 2023 Unknown Swedish
17120 Confidence Rafael Frumkin 2023 Unknown English
17120 The Sunset Crowd Karin Tanabe 2023 Unknown English
17120 Up With The Sun Thomas Mallon 2023 American English
17120 The Big Break Ben Terris 2023 Unknown English
17120 The 48 Laws Of Power robert green 1998 Unknown English
17120 One Fifth Avenue Candace Bushnell 2008 American English
17120 A Likely Story Leigh McMullan Abramson 2023 Unknown English
17120 The Men Can't Be Saved Ben Purkert 2023 Unknown English
17120 Very Nice Marcy Dermansky 2019 American English
17120 The Path To Paradise Sam Wasson 2023 Unknown English
17120 Lucky Dogs Helen Schulman 2023 Unknown English
17120 City On Fire Don Winslow 2022 American English
17120 Blackflame Will Wight 2017 American English
17120 A True Novel Minae Mizumura 2002 Japanese Japanese
17120 Six Early Stories Thomas Mann 1997 German German
17120 Apprentice To The Villain Hannah Nicole Maehrer 2023 Unknown English
17120 Accomplice To The Villain Hannah Nicole Maehrer 2023 Unknown English
17120 Porträt Eines Jungen Kochs Maylis de Kerangal 2014 French French
17084 Maria Stuart Stefan Zweig 1935 Austrian German
17120 Reach For The Stars Michael Cragg 2023 Unknown English
17120 I Kissed Shara Wheeler Casey McQuiston 2022 American English
17120 Benedict Arnold Randall, Willard Sterne 2012 American English
17120 What Napoleon Could Not Do DK Nnuro 2023 British English
17120 Harry Potter And The Prince Of Slytherin John Man 2015 British English
17120 A Burning Megha Majumdar 2020 American English
17120 Das Lächeln Der Fortuna Rebecca Gablé 1997 German German
17120 Banners Of Silk Rosalind Laker 1981 British English
17120 At The End Of The Orchard Tracy Chevalier British English
16971 My Theodosia Anya Seton 1941 American English