The Greatest Books of All Time Set in Cairo

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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
857 Midaq Alley Naguib Mahfouz 1947 Egyptian Arabic
1115 The Cairo Trilogy Naguib Mahfouz 1956 Egyptian Arabic
1232 Children of Gebelawi Naguib Mahfouz 1959 Egyptian Arabic
1845 Drifting Cities Stratis Tsirkas 1960 Greek Greek
2031 Cosmos Alexander von Humboldt 1845 German German
2051 Palace Walk Naguib Mahfouz 1956 Egyptian Arabic
3637 Gods, Graves, And Scholars C. W. Ceram 1949 German German
3637 The Bible As History Werner Keller 1955 German German
3915 Zayni Barakat Jamal al- Ghitani 1974 Egyptian Arabic
3953 Η Χαμένη Άνοιξη Stratis Tsirkas 1946 Greek Greek
4204 The Arabian Nightmare Robert Irwin 1983 British English
4392 The Winds Of War Herman Wouk 1971 American English
4493 The Letters Of Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert 1887 French French
4898 The River War Winston Churchill 1899 British English
5468 Meetings With Remarkable Men George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff 1963 Unknown Russian
5529 Africa Jiří Hanzelka, Miroslav Zikmund 1952 Czech Czech
5979 The Open Door Latifa Zayyat 1960 Egyptian Arabic
6340 Kriminalgeschichte Des Christentums Karlheinz Deschner 1986 German German
6363 Moon Tiger Penelope Lively 1987 British English
6379 An Essay On Universal History, The Manners, And Spirit Of Nations Voltaire 1756 French French
6441 Mystical Dimensions Of Islam Annemarie Schimmel 1975 Unknown English
6619 Zone Mathias Enard 2008 French French
7684 A Master of Djinn P. Djèlí Clark 2021 American English
7966 Mountolive Lawrence Durrell 1958 British English
8075 The Map Of Love Ahdaf Soueif 1999 Egyptian English
8075 The White Nile Alan Moorehead 1960 British English
8162 To Catch A Bride Anne Gracie 2009 Australian English
8591 The Adventures Of Tintin Hergé 1929 Belgian French
8742 The Key To Rebecca Ken Follett 1980 British English
9274 The Balkan Trilogy Olivia Manning 1960 British English
9347 That Smell Sonallah Ibrahim 1966 Egyptian Arabic
9832 Fountain And Tomb Naguib Mahfouz 1975 Egyptian Arabic
10012 The Zafarani Files Jamal al- Ghitani 1976 Egyptian Arabic
10118 Dogstar Rising Parker Bilal 2013 Egyptian English
10286 I Was Born There, I Was Born Here Mourid Barghouti 2011 Palestinian Arabic
10448 Churchill Andrew Roberts 2018 British English
11161 The Creators Daniel J. Boorstin 1992 American English
11330 Memoirs From The Women’s Prison Nawal El Saadawi 1983 Egyptian Arabic
11618 A Border Passage Leila Ahmed 1999 Unknown English
11634 The Means Of Reproduction Michelle Goldberg 2009 American English
11851 Chosen Peoples Anthony D. Smith 2003 British English
12482 The Sisters Of Sinai Janet Soskice 2009 Unknown English
13359 Anastasius Thomas Hope 1819 British English
13359 Memoirs Of A Woman Doctor Nawal El Saadawi 1958 Egyptian Arabic
13528 Palace of Desire Naguib Mahfouz 1957 Egyptian Arabic
13528 Sugar Street Naguib Mahfouz 1957 Egyptian Arabic
13532 Gardner's Art Through The Ages Helen Gardner 1926 American English
13742 Dictionary Of Subjects And Symbols In Art James Hall 1974 British English
14078 The Seven Necessary Sins For Women And Girls Mona Eltahawy 2019 American English
14730 The Looting Machine Tom Burgis 2015 British English
14945 Adrift On The Nile Naguib Mahfouz 1966 Egyptian Arabic
14983 The Night Manager John le Carré 1993 British English
14983 The Question Of Palestine Edward W. Said 1979 American English
15713 What The River Knows Isabel Ibañez 2023 Unknown English
15879 The Lamp Of Umm Hashim Yahya Hakki 1944 Egyptian Arabic
15897 The Story Of Anzac C E W Bean 1921 Australian English
15897 Neo Colonialism, The Last Stage Of Imperialism Kwame Nkrumah 1965 Ghanaian English
16701 Al Saghamat Yusuf al-Sibai 1955 Egyptian Arabic
17114 Felaheen Jon Courtenay Grimwood 2003 British English
17114 War In The Land Of Egypt Yusuf al-Qa’id 1978 Egyptian Arabic
17114 The Elephants Fathi Ghanem 1965 Egyptian Unknown
17114 Return To Exile Abu El Maati Abu El Naga 1972 Egyptian Unknown
17114 The Lodging House Khairy Shalaby 1999 Egyptian Arabic
17114 The Heron Ibrahim Aslan 1983 Egyptian Arabic
17114 Rubaiyyat Bahari Mohamed Gibreel Unknown Unknown
17114 The Emigration To The North Of The Children Of Hathoot Majid Tubia 1974 Egyptian Unknown
17114 After The Sunset Mohamed Abdel-Halim Abdulla Egyptian Unknown
17114 A Taste of Fear Tharwat Abaza 1968 Egyptian Unknown
16873 There Is A Man In Our House Ihsan Abdul Quddus 1957 Egyptian Arabic
16841 A Little History Of The World E. H. Gombrich 1936 Austrian German
17114 The Poetry Of Arab Women Nathalie Handal 2001 Multiple English
17114 The Imam And The Indian Amitav Ghosh 1992 Indian English
17114 Art History Marilyn Stokstad 1995 American English
17114 In An Antique Land Amitav Ghosh 1992 Indian English
17114 Churchill Roy Jenkins 2001 British English
17114 Islam And The West Bernard Lewis 1993 British English
17114 From The Ruins Of Empire Pankaj Mishra 2012 Indian English
17114 Bonk Mary Roach 2008 American English
17114 Diplomacy Henry A. Kissinger 1994 American English
17114 The Lexus And The Olive Tree Thomas L. Friedman 1999 American English
17114 The Revolt Of The Public And The Crisis Of Authority In The New Millennium Martin Gurri 2014 Unknown English
17114 There And Back: Diaries 1999 2009 Michael Palin 2024 British English
17114 1177 B.C. Eric H. Cline 2014 American English
17114 The Yacoubian Building علاء الأسواني 2002 Egyptian Arabic
17114 Map Of Bones James Rollins 2005 American English
17028 Tales From The Arabian Nights Andrew Lang 1898 Multiple English
17114 The Silk Roads Peter Frankopan 2015 British English
17114 The Mistress Of Nothing Kate Pullinger 2009 Canadian English
17114 The Cleopatras Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones 2024 Unknown English
17114 The Wages Of Destruction Adam Tooze 2006 British English
17114 The Confusion Neal Stephenson 2004 American English
17114 An Intimate History Of Humanity Theodore Zeldin 1994 British English
17114 The World Simon Sebag Montefiore 2022 British English
17095 O Livro Das 1001 Noites; Volume 2 Of 7 Unknown -800 Multiple Arabic
17114 The Wealth And Poverty Of Nations David S. Landes 1998 American English
17114 The Silk Road Valerie Hansen 2012 Unknown English
17114 Churchill Martin Gilbert 1991 British English
17114 The History Of The Medieval World Susan Wise Bauer 2010 American English
17114 Atlas Obscura Joshua Foer 2016 American English
17114 Percy Jackson 5 Books Collection And The Demigod Files / The Red Pyramid Rick Riordan 2005 American English
17114 The Black Circle Patrick Carman 2009 American English
17114 Beyond The Grave Jude Watson 2009 American English
16858 A History Of Civilizations Fernand Braudel 1963 French French
17114 Burton And Speke William Harrison 1982 Unknown English
17114 Emperor Of Rome Mary Beard 2023 British English
17114 Grand Delusion Steven Simon 2023 Unknown English
17114 The World Simon Sebag Montefiore 2023 British English
17114 The Earth Transformed Peter Frankopan 2023 British English
17114 Writers And Missionaries Adam Shatz 2023 Unknown English
17114 Magic Tree House Mary Pope Osborne 1992 American English
17114 The Crusades Through Arab Eyes Amin Maalouf 1983 French French
17114 Destinations Jan Morris 1980 British English
17114 Islam In History Bernard Lewis 1973 British English
17114 The Ornament Of The World María Rosa Menocal 2002 American English
17114 The Women's History Of The World Rosalind Miles 1988 British English
16850 1001 Arabian Nights Anonymous -800 Multiple Arabic
17114 Afrikalı Leo Amin Maalouf 1986 French French
17114 In The Deserts Of This Earth Uwe George 1983 German German
17114 Selected Writings Gerard de Nerval 1853 French French
17114 Icons And Saints Of The Eastern Orthodox Church Alfredo Tradigo 2006 Unknown Italian