The Greatest Ancient Books Since 1900

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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
985 Mythology Edith Hamilton 1942 American English
1016 Poems Of C. P. Cavafy C. P. Cavafy 1935 Greek Greek
2502 Popol Vuh Dennis Tedlock 1985 Mayan K'iche'
3637 The Tomb Of Tutankhamun Howard Carter 1954 British English
3637 Gods, Graves, And Scholars C. W. Ceram 1949 German German
3637 Ich Suchte Adam Herbert Wendt 1954 German German
4732 The Making of Homeric Verse Milman Parry 1971 American English
6247 Claudius The God Robert Graves 1935 British English
6808 The Queen Of The Damned Anne Rice 1988 American English
7634 The Golden Road William Dalrymple 2024 Unknown English
7999 The Great Transformation Karen Armstrong 2006 British English
8027 The Class Struggle In The Ancient Greek World G. E. M. de Ste. Croix 1981 British English
8032 The Lycian Shore Freya Stark 1956 British English
9657 The Silk Road Sven Hedin 2012 Swedish Swedish
9657 De Architectura Vitruvius 2016 Roman Latin
9919 The Greek Commonwealth Alfred Eckhard Zimmern 1911 British English
13035 Those Who Are About To Die Harry Sidebottom 2025 British English
13096 Dinner With King Tut Sam Kean 2025 American English
13180 Proto Laura Spinney 2025 British English
13591 Papyrus Irene Vallejo 2019 Spanish Spanish
13703 Collapse Jared Diamond 2005 American English
13712 The Greek Way Edith Hamilton 1930 American English
14430 The Greatness And Decline Of Rome Guglielmo Ferrero 1907 Italian Italian
14676 Men Of The Old Stone Age Henry Fairfield Osborn 1915 American English
14787 The Wonder That Was India Arthur Llewellyn Basham 1954 British English
14984 Imperial Caesar Rex Warner 1960 British English
14984 Pandora's Jar Natalie Haynes 2020 British English
14984 Rubicon Tom Holland 2003 British English
15909 The Origins Of European Thought R. B. Onians 1951 British English
15909 The Greeks And The Irrational E. R. Dodds 1951 British English
15909 The Greek Myths Robert Graves 1955 British English
15909 Themis Jane E. Harrison 1912 British English
15909 An Introduction To The Study Of Indian History D. D. Kosambi 1956 Indian English
15909 A History Of India Romila Thapar 1966 Indian English
15909 An Anthology Of Sanskrit Court Poetry Vidyakara, Daniel Ingalls 1957 Unknown Sanskrit
15909 Age Of Nandas And Mauryas K.A. Nilakanta Sastri 1952 Unknown English
15909 Prehistoric India Panchanan Mitra 1923 Unknown English
15909 The Corn King And The Spring Queen Naomi Mitchison 1931 British English
15909 Daily Life In Ancient Rome Jérôme Carcopino 1936 French French
16602 Storia Dei Greci Indro Montanelli 1959 Italian Italian
17151 Spqr Mary Beard 2015 British English
17151 Gorgias/Gorgias Coleen P. Zoller, Jurgen R. Gatt, S. Montgomery Ewegen 2023 Unknown Unknown
17151 The Great Leveler Walter Scheidel 2017 American English
17151 The Oldest Dead White European Males Bernard Knox 1993 American English
17151 The Roots Of Civilization Alexander Marshack 1972 American English
17151 The Fall Of Rome Bryan Ward-Perkins 2005 British English
17151 Persian Fire Tom Holland 2005 British English
17151 Heroes Stephen Fry 2018 British English
17151 Pax Tom Holland 2024 Unknown English
16801 The Last Of The Wine Mary Renault 1956 British English
17151 Helen Of Troy Margaret George 2006 American English
17151 1177 B.C. Eric H. Cline 2014 American English
17151 The Silk Roads Peter Frankopan 2015 British English
17151 The Fall Of The Roman Empire Peter Heather 2005 British English
17151 India John Keay 2000 British English
17151 Prehistory And Protohistory Of India VK Jain 2006 Indian English
17151 In Search Of The Cradle Of Civilization David Frawley, Georg Feuerstein, Subhash Kak 1995 Multiple English
17151 Ancient Cities Of The Indus Valley Civilization Jonathan Mark Kenoyer 1998 Unknown English
17151 Mountain Of Fame John E. Wills Jr. 1992 Chinese English
17151 The Cleopatras Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones 2024 Unknown English
17151 The Storm Before The Storm Mike Duncan 2017 American English
17151 Who Wrote The Bible? Richard Elliott Friedman 1987 American English
17151 A God Against The Gods Allen Drury 1976 American English
17151 Return To Thebes Allen Drury 1977 American English
17151 The Twelfth Transforming Pauline Gedge 1984 Canadian English
17151 Lady Of The Reeds Pauline Gedge 1994 Canadian English
17151 King And Goddess Judith Tarr 1996 American English
17151 Funeral Games Mary Renault 1981 British English
16801 Winter Quarters Alfred Duggan 1956 British English
17151 Family Favorites Alfred Duggan 1960 British English
17151 Hannibal Ross Leckie 1995 British English
17151 Augustus Allan Massie 1986 British English
17151 Tiberius Allan Massie 1991 British English
17151 Caesar Allan Massie 1993 British English
17151 Emperor Of Rome Mary Beard 2023 British English
17151 Pagans And Christians Robin Lane Fox 1986 British English
17151 Of Consolation To Helvia Seneca 2042 Roman English
17082 Lord Of The Horizon Joan Grant 1969 British English
17151 Wonderful Ethiopians Of The Ancient Cushite Empire Drusilla Dunjee Houston 1985 American English
17151 Lettere A Lucilio Seneca 2064 Roman Italian