The Greatest Books of All Time on Authority

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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
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
2149 Tractatus Theologico Politicus Baruch de Spinoza 1670 Dutch Latin
2271 The Nun Denis Diderot 1796 French French
2283 Crowds And Power Elias Canetti 1960 German German
2309 The Dead Father Donald Barthelme 1975 American English
2412 The Fear Of Freedom Erich Fromm 1941 German English
2424 Galileo Bertolt Brecht 1938 German German
2488 The Golden Compass Philip Pullman 1995 British English
2491 Murder In The Cathedral T. S. Eliot 1935 British English
2519 Rites of Passage William Golding 1980 British English
2856 Swami and Friends R. K. Narayan 1935 Indian English
2970 The Amber Spyglass Philip Pullman 2000 British English
3040 Manservant And Maidservant Ivy Compton-Burnett 1947 British English
3444 Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids Kenzaburō Ōe 1958 Japanese Japanese
3637 Areopagitica John Milton 1644 British English
3637 Der Großtyrann Und Das Gericht Werner Bergengruen 1935 German German
3637 Lausbubengeschichten Ludwig Thoma 1905 German German
3637 The Captain Of Köpenick Carl Zuckmayer 1931 German German
3889 The Concept Of Law H. L. A. Hart 1961 British English
3914 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
4742 The Commandant Jessica Anderson 1975 Australian English
4894 Influence Robert B. Cialdini 1984 American English
4930 The Poorhouse Fair John Updike 1959 American English
5127 Αντιποίησις Αρχής Alexandros Kotzias 1979 Greek Greek
5334 Starship Troopers Robert A. Heinlein 1959 American English
5448 Vor Den Vätern Sterben Die Söhne Thomas Brasch 1977 German German
5531 The Essential Kafka Franz Kafka 1913 Czech German
5531 Nikola The Outlaw Ivan Olbracht 1933 Czech Czech
5628 School At The Frontier Géza Ottlik 1959 Hungarian Hungarian
5668 The boys Henry de Montherlant 1969 French French
5668 For Your Own Good Alice Miller 1980 Swiss French
5780 Special Friendships Roger Peyrefitte 1943 French French
5806 The Child Manuela Christa Winsloe 1933 German German
5833 Fuente Ovejuna Lope de Vega 1619 Spanish Spanish
5863 Elders And Betters Ivy Compton-Burnett 1944 British English
6005 Collected Stories Franz Kafka 1931 Austrian German
6199 Tóték István Örkény 1967 Hungarian Hungarian
6218 The Origin Thomas Bernhard 1975 Austrian German
6363 The Restraint Of Beasts Magnus Mills 1998 British English
6506 The Origins Of Totalitarian Democracy J. L. Talmon 1952 British English
6670 The Balcony Jean Genet 1957 French French
7216 The Mayor Of Zalamea Pedro Calderón de la Barca 1636 Spanish Spanish
7216 Complete Plays Of Gilbert And Sullivan W. S. Gilbert 1938 British English
7216 Europe After The Rain Alan Burns 1965 British English
7911 The Lesson Eugène Ionesco 1951 French French
7931 Four Essays On Liberty Isaiah Berlin 1969 British English
7967 The Long March William Styron 1952 American English
8009 Victims Of Duty Eugène Ionesco 1953 French French
8445 The Diary Of A Gulag Prison Guard 1935 6 Ivan Chistyakov 2016 Russian Russian
8795 Viper In The Fist Hervé Bazin 1948 French French
9169 Oleanna David Mamet 1992 American English
9178 War Powers Peter Irons 1987 American English
9376 Stolen Spring Hans Scherfig 1940 Danish Danish
9709 Society And The Holy In Late Antiquity Peter Brown 1982 British English
9930 The Complete Plays Joe Orton 1976 British English
10158 A Bell for Adano John Hersey 1944 American English
10295 Girl Jamaica Kincaid 1978 Antiguan English
10402 The Triumph of the Therapeutic Philip Rieff 1966 American English
10751 Spanking The Maid Robert Coover 1982 American English
11277 The Playmaker Thomas Keneally 1987 Australian English
11326 The Prince R. M. Koster 1972 Unknown English
11365 Refusal To Obey Jean Giono French French
13362 Culture and Anarchy Matthew Arnold 1869 British English
13600 Raboliot Maurice Genevoix 1925 French French
13600 The Law Roger Vailland 1957 French French
13712 The Aerodrome Rex Warner 1941 British English
13716 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
14483 A Race Of Generals Chen Yingzhen 1988 Chinese Chinese
14650 The Myth Of The Strong Leader Archie Brown 2014 British English
15616 The Greening Of America Charles A. Reich 1970 American English
15829 A History Of Political Theory George Holland Sabine 1937 American English
15915 The Prussian Officer D. H. Lawrence 1914 British English
15915 A Heritage And Its History Ivy Compton-Burnett 1959 British English
15915 Pioneers In Ingolstadt Marieluise Fleißer 1928 German German
16504 The Prince Of Homburg Heinrich von Kleist 1821 German German
15915 Mutiny On The Bounty Charles Nordhoff 1932 American English
15915 In Defence Of Politics Bernard Crick 1962 British English
15915 A House And Its Head Ivy Compton-Burnett 1935 British English
15915 The Twilight Of The Presidency George E. Reedy 1971 American English
16622 Casa De Campo José Donoso 1978 Chilean Spanish
16602 Typhoon Joseph Conrad 1902 British English
16609 The Castle Franz Kafka 1926 German German
16782 Mutiny on the Bounty William Bligh 1932 British English
16686 Professor Bernhardi Arthur Schnitzler 1912 Austrian German
16706 Los Jefes, Los Cachorros Mario Vargas Llosa 1959 Peruvian Spanish
16723 Botchan Natsume Sōseki 1906 Japanese Japanese
16717 El Príncipe Nicolás Maquiavelo 1532 Italian Italian
16670 Personal Knowledge Michael Polanyi 1958 British English
17158 Essays in Sociology Max Weber 1946 German German