The Greatest Books of All Time on Authority

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
81 The Castle Franz Kafka 1926 Czech German
154 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Ken Kesey 1962 American English
159 The Good Soldier Švejk Jaroslav Hašek 1921 Czech Czech
295 Franz Kafka Franz Kafka 1971 Czech Unknown
345 Leviathan Thomas Hobbes 1651 British English
384 Ferdydurke Witold Gombrowicz 1937 Polish Polish
399 His Dark Materials Philip Pullman 1995 British English
482 Jakob Von Gunten Robert Walser 1909 Swiss German
687 The Time of the Hero Mario Vargas Llosa 1963 Peruvian Spanish
688 From Here to Eternity James Jones 1951 American English
743 On Liberty John Stuart Mill 1859 British English
850 The Revolt of the Masses José Ortega y Gasset 1930 Spanish Spanish
870 Economy and Society Max Weber 1922 German German
1008 Professor Unrat Heinrich Mann 1905 German German
1040 The German Lesson Siegfried Lenz 1968 German German
1188 The Quest for Community Robert Nisbet 1953 American English
1267 Billy Budd Herman Melville 1924 American English
1296 The Works of Moliere Molière 1666 French French
1408 Amongst Women John McGahern 1990 Irish English
1608 The Loneliness of the Long-distance Runner Alan Sillitoe 1959 British English
1881 The Machiavellians James Burnham 1943 American English
1910 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J. K. Rowling 2003 British English
2148 Tractatus Theologico Politicus Baruch de Spinoza 1670 Dutch Latin
2270 The Nun Denis Diderot 1796 French French
2282 Crowds And Power Elias Canetti 1960 German German
2308 The Dead Father Donald Barthelme 1975 American English
2410 The Fear Of Freedom Erich Fromm 1941 German English
2422 Galileo Bertolt Brecht 1938 German German
2486 The Golden Compass Philip Pullman 1995 British English
2489 Murder In The Cathedral T. S. Eliot 1935 British English
2517 Rites of Passage William Golding 1980 British English
2852 Swami and Friends R. K. Narayan 1935 Indian English
2968 The Amber Spyglass Philip Pullman 2000 British English
3037 Manservant And Maidservant Ivy Compton-Burnett 1947 British English
3444 Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids Kenzaburō Ōe 1958 Japanese Japanese
3638 Areopagitica John Milton 1644 British English
3638 Der Großtyrann Und Das Gericht Werner Bergengruen 1935 German German
3638 Lausbubengeschichten Ludwig Thoma 1905 German German
3638 The Captain Of Köpenick Carl Zuckmayer 1931 German German
3891 The Concept Of Law H. L. A. Hart 1961 British English
3916 Zayni Barakat Jamal al- Ghitani 1974 Egyptian Arabic
4082 Death And The King's Horsemen Wole Soyinka 1975 Nigerian English
4105 Summerhill Alexander Sutherland Neill 1960 British English
4138 Three plays Paul Claudel 1912 French French
4258 The Father August Strindberg 1887 Swedish Swedish
4294 The Castle franz kafka 1926 German German
4309 Three Soldiers John Dos Passos 1921 American English
4741 The Commandant Jessica Anderson 1975 Australian English
4893 Influence Robert B. Cialdini 1984 American English
4928 The Poorhouse Fair John Updike 1959 American English
5124 Αντιποίησις Αρχής Alexandros Kotzias 1979 Greek Greek
5332 Starship Troopers Robert A. Heinlein 1959 American English
5445 Vor Den Vätern Sterben Die Söhne Thomas Brasch 1977 German German
5529 The Essential Kafka Franz Kafka 1913 Czech German
5529 Nikola The Outlaw Ivan Olbracht 1933 Czech Czech
5625 School At The Frontier Géza Ottlik 1959 Hungarian Hungarian
5665 The boys Henry de Montherlant 1969 French French
5665 For Your Own Good Alice Miller 1980 Swiss French
5777 Special Friendships Roger Peyrefitte 1943 French French
5803 The Child Manuela Christa Winsloe 1933 German German
5828 Fuente Ovejuna Lope de Vega 1619 Spanish Spanish
5860 Elders And Betters Ivy Compton-Burnett 1944 British English
6002 Collected Stories Franz Kafka 1931 Austrian German
6196 Tóték István Örkény 1967 Hungarian Hungarian
6215 The Origin Thomas Bernhard 1975 Austrian German
6360 The Restraint Of Beasts Magnus Mills 1998 British English
6504 The Origins Of Totalitarian Democracy J. L. Talmon 1952 British English
6669 The Balcony Jean Genet 1957 French French
7215 The Mayor Of Zalamea Pedro Calderón de la Barca 1636 Spanish Spanish
7215 Complete Plays Of Gilbert And Sullivan W. S. Gilbert 1938 British English
7215 Europe After The Rain Alan Burns 1965 British English
7910 The Lesson Eugène Ionesco 1951 French French
7930 Four Essays On Liberty Isaiah Berlin 1969 British English
7966 The Long March William Styron 1952 American English
8008 Victims Of Duty Eugène Ionesco 1953 French French
8441 The Diary Of A Gulag Prison Guard 1935 6 Ivan Chistyakov 2016 Russian Russian
8790 Viper In The Fist Hervé Bazin 1948 French French
9165 Oleanna David Mamet 1992 American English
9174 War Powers Peter Irons 1987 American English
9371 Stolen Spring Hans Scherfig 1940 Danish Danish
9705 Society And The Holy In Late Antiquity Peter Brown 1982 British English
9926 The Complete Plays Joe Orton 1976 British English
10154 A Bell for Adano John Hersey 1944 American English
10290 Girl Jamaica Kincaid 1978 Antiguan English
10397 The Triumph of the Therapeutic Philip Rieff 1966 American English
10745 Spanking The Maid Robert Coover 1982 American English
11271 The Playmaker Thomas Keneally 1987 Australian English
11320 The Prince R. M. Koster 1972 Unknown English
11360 Refusal To Obey Jean Giono French French
13359 Culture and Anarchy Matthew Arnold 1869 British English
13599 Raboliot Maurice Genevoix 1925 French French
13599 The Law Roger Vailland 1957 French French
13711 The Aerodrome Rex Warner 1941 British English
13715 The Headmaster Ritual Taylor Antrim 2007 American English
14197 What The Butler Saw Joe Orton 1969 British English
14212 The Mighty And Their Fall Ivy Compton-Burnett 1961 British English
14232 Jerusalem Jez Butterworth 2009 British English
14232 Doubt John Patrick Shanley 2004 American English
14482 A Race Of Generals Chen Yingzhen 1988 Chinese Chinese
14649 The Myth Of The Strong Leader Archie Brown 2014 British English
15608 The Greening Of America Charles A. Reich 1970 American English
15817 A History Of Political Theory George Holland Sabine 1937 American English
15897 The Prussian Officer D. H. Lawrence 1914 British English
15897 A Heritage And Its History Ivy Compton-Burnett 1959 British English
15897 Pioneers In Ingolstadt Marieluise Fleißer 1928 German German
16488 The Prince Of Homburg Heinrich von Kleist 1821 German German
15897 Mutiny On The Bounty Charles Nordhoff 1932 American English
15897 In Defence Of Politics Bernard Crick 1962 British English
15897 A House And Its Head Ivy Compton-Burnett 1935 British English
15897 The Twilight Of The Presidency George E. Reedy 1971 American English
16592 Casa De Campo José Donoso 1978 Chilean Spanish
16572 Typhoon Joseph Conrad 1902 British English
16743 Mutiny on the Bounty William Bligh 1932 British English
16649 Professor Bernhardi Arthur Schnitzler 1912 Austrian German
16677 Los Jefes, Los Cachorros Mario Vargas Llosa 1959 Peruvian Spanish
16691 Botchan Natsume Sōseki 1906 Japanese Japanese
16682 El Príncipe Nicolás Maquiavelo 1532 Italian Italian
16638 Personal Knowledge Michael Polanyi 1958 British English
17117 Essays in Sociology Max Weber 1946 German German
17117 Women & Power Mary Beard 2017 British English