The Greatest Books of All Time Set in Athens

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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
220 The Republic Plato -379 Greek Ancient greek
285 Oresteia Aeschylus -458 Greek Ancient greek
388 The Complete Works of Plato Plato -387 Greek Ancient greek
402 The Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle -334 Greek Ancient greek
596 The History of the Peloponnesian War Thucydides -410 Greek Ancient greek
876 Lysistrata Aristophanes -411 Greek Ancient greek
932 The Clouds Aristophanes -423 Greek Ancient greek
1101 Outline Rachel Cusk 2014 British English
1123 The Symposium Plato -385 Greek Ancient greek
1156 Apology Plato -389 Greek Ancient greek
1192 The Politics Aristotle -350 Greek Ancient greek
1383 The Birds Aristophanes -414 Greek Ancient greek
1449 Corpus Aristotelicum Aristotle -322 Greek Greek
1647 Phaedo Plato -379 Greek Ancient greek
1845 Drifting Cities Stratis Tsirkas 1960 Greek Greek
1849 Z Vassilis Vassilikos 1967 Greek Greek
2031 The History Of Rome Theodor Mommsen 1854 German German
2421 Phaedrus Plato -370 Greek Ancient greek
2508 Metaphysics Aristotle -347 Greek Ancient greek
2787 A Cultural History Of The Modern Age Egon Friedell 1927 Austrian English
2800 Collected Plays Of Euripides Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
2837 Kassandra And The Wolf Margarita Karapanou 1974 Greek Greek
3192 The Aesthetics Of Resistance Peter Weiss 1975 German German
3609 The Knights Aristophanes -424 Greek Ancient greek
3638 Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Lord Byron 1812 British English
3638 Gods, Graves, And Scholars C. W. Ceram 1949 German German
3638 The Bible As History Werner Keller 1955 German German
3638 An Outline Of European Architecture Nikolaus Pevsner 1943 British English
3638 History Of The Art Of Antiquity Johann Joachim Winckelmann 1762 German German
3953 Το Τρίτο Στεφάνι Kostas Taktsis 1962 Greek Greek
3953 Η Χαμένη Άνοιξη Stratis Tsirkas 1946 Greek Greek
3953 Η Κερένια Κούκλα Konstantinos Christomanos 1899 Greek Greek
4157 The Assemblywomen Aristophanes -391 Greek Ancient greek
4226 The Frogs Aristophanes -405 Greek Ancient greek
4230 The Wasps Aristophanes -422 Greek Ancient greek
4227 The Light Of Day Eric Ambler 1962 British English
4252 Autumn Journal Louis MacNeice 1939 British English
4898 The Last Man Mary Shelley 1826 British English
5267 What I Talk About When I Talk About Running Haruki Murakami 2007 Japanese Japanese
5513 Journal Of A Soul Pope John XXIII 1964 Italian Italian
5605 A Man Oriana Fallaci 1979 Italian Italian
6186 The March Of Folly Barbara Wertheim Tuchman 1984 American English
6379 An Essay On Universal History, The Manners, And Spirit Of Nations Voltaire 1756 French French
6873 The Late-night News Petros Markaris 1995 Greek Greek
7022 Crito Plato -389 Greek Ancient greek
7585 After Sappho Selby Wynn Schwartz 2023 Unknown English
7998 The Great Transformation Karen Armstrong 2006 British English
8332 The Last Days Of Socrates Plato -399 Greek Ancient greek
8507 Euthyphro Plato -399 Greek Ancient greek
8641 Orality And Literacy Walter J. Ong 1982 American English
9274 The Balkan Trilogy Olivia Manning 1960 British English
10496 The Fragility Of Goodness Martha C. Nussbaum 1986 American English
11161 The Creators Daniel J. Boorstin 1992 American English
11266 Seiobo There Below László Krasznahorkai 2008 Hungarian Hungarian
11479 The Darkening Age Catherine Nixey 2017 British English
11523 Memorabilia Xenophon -371 Greek Ancient greek
11524 On The Crown Demosthenes -330 Greek Ancient greek
11526 Selected Speeches Demosthenes, Robin Waterfield -322 Greek Greek
11535 Timaeus Plato -360 Greek Ancient greek
11602 One Hundred Poems By Cavafy Cavafy Greek Greek
11634 The Means Of Reproduction Michelle Goldberg 2009 American English
11842 The Fate Of Rome Kyle Harper 2017 American English
11851 Chosen Peoples Anthony D. Smith 2003 British English
11856 Dominion Tom Holland 2019 British English
13359 Anastasius Thomas Hope 1819 British English
13532 Gardner's Art Through The Ages Helen Gardner 1926 American English
13711 The Greek Way Edith Hamilton 1930 American English
13715 Age Of Bronze Eric Shanower 2007 American English
13742 Dictionary Of Subjects And Symbols In Art James Hall 1974 British English
13771 Logicomix Apostolos Doxiadis 2008 Greek English
14113 Sexual Personae Camille Paglia 1990 American English
14122 The Mask Of Apollo Mary Renault 1966 British English
14212 Plato And Platonism Walter Pater 1893 British English
14410 Greek Tragedies 1 David Grene 1955 Unknown English
14498 The Trial Of Henry Kissinger Christopher Hitchens 2001 British English
14720 The History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire Volume Ii Edward Gibbon 1781 British English
14725 De Anima Aristotle -350 Greek Ancient greek
14757 The Dyskolos Menander -316 Greek Ancient greek
14769 The Symposium Xenophon 361 Greek Ancient greek
14983 Europe Norman Davies 1996 British English
15730 Gorgias Plato -380 Greek Ancient greek
15759 The Complete Writings Of Thucydides The Peloponnesian War Thucydides -431 Greek Ancient greek
15761 The Oedipus Plays Of Sophocles Sophocles -429 Greek Ancient greek
15863 John Berger And Me Nikos Papastergiadis 1975 Unknown English
15897 Female Biography Mary Hays 1803 British English
15897 The Colossus Of Maroussi Henry Miller 1941 American English
15897 Paradise Lost And Other Poems John Milton 1667 British English
16490 William Shakespeare Complete Works William Shakespeare 1623 English English
16562 Meno Plato -385 Greek Ancient greek
16576 Storia Dei Greci Indro Montanelli 1959 Italian Italian
16708 Protagoras Plato -390 Greek Ancient greek
16641 Kleine Weltgeschichte Der Philosophie Hans Joachim Störig 1950 German German
17117 A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall Will Chancellor 2014 American English
16848 A Little History Of The World E. H. Gombrich 1936 Austrian German
17117 Heroes Stephen Fry 2018 British English
17117 Art History Marilyn Stokstad 1995 American English
17117 The Third Reich Michael Burleigh 2000 British English
17117 Islam And The West Bernard Lewis 1993 British English
17117 Diplomacy Henry A. Kissinger 1994 American English
16764 The Last Of The Wine Mary Renault 1956 British English
17117 The Lexus And The Olive Tree Thomas L. Friedman 1999 American English
17117 Neither Here Nor There Bill Bryson 1992 American English
17117 1177 B.C. Eric H. Cline 2014 American English
17117 Going Solo Roald Dahl 1986 British English
17117 Gates Of Fire Steven Pressfield 1998 American English
17117 The Last Odyssey James Rollins 2020 American English
17117 The Silk Roads Peter Frankopan 2015 British English
17117 Big Game, Small World Alexander Wolff 2002 Unknown English
17117 The Cleopatras Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones 2024 Unknown English
17117 The Wages Of Destruction Adam Tooze 2006 British English
17117 The Closing Of The Western Mind Charles Freeman 2002 British English
17117 August Blue Deborah Levy 2023 British English
17117 The Silk Road Valerie Hansen 2012 Unknown English
17117 Atlas Obscura Joshua Foer 2016 American English
17117 Länsimaisen Filosofian Historia Huipulta Huipulle, Sokrateesta Marxiin Esa Saarinen 1985 Finnish Finnish
16870 A History Of Civilizations Fernand Braudel 1963 French French
16923 Paideia Werner Wilhelm Jaeger 1934 German German
17117 Besieger Of Cities Alfred Duggan 1963 British English
17117 Funeral Games Mary Renault 1981 British English
17117 The Praise Singer Mary Renault 1978 British English