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
1233 Children of Gebelawi Naguib Mahfouz 1959 Egyptian Arabic
1845 Drifting Cities Stratis Tsirkas 1960 Greek Greek
2032 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
3954 Η Χαμένη Άνοιξη Stratis Tsirkas 1946 Greek Greek
4205 The Arabian Nightmare Robert Irwin 1983 British English
4393 The Winds Of War Herman Wouk 1971 American English
4496 The Letters Of Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert 1887 French French
4901 The River War Winston Churchill 1899 British English
5472 Meetings With Remarkable Men George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff 1963 Unknown Russian
5532 Africa Jiří Hanzelka, Miroslav Zikmund 1952 Czech Czech
5985 The Open Door Latifa Zayyat 1960 Egyptian Arabic
6344 Kriminalgeschichte Des Christentums Karlheinz Deschner 1986 German German
6367 Moon Tiger Penelope Lively 1987 British English
6383 An Essay On Universal History, The Manners, And Spirit Of Nations Voltaire 1756 French French
6445 Mystical Dimensions Of Islam Annemarie Schimmel 1975 Unknown English
6622 Zone Mathias Enard 2008 French French
7685 A Master of Djinn P. Djèlí Clark 2021 American English
7967 Mountolive Lawrence Durrell 1958 British English
8076 The Map Of Love Ahdaf Soueif 1999 Egyptian English
8076 The White Nile Alan Moorehead 1960 British English
8164 To Catch A Bride Anne Gracie 2009 Australian English
8597 The Adventures Of Tintin Hergé 1929 Belgian French
8749 The Key To Rebecca Ken Follett 1980 British English
9281 The Balkan Trilogy Olivia Manning 1960 British English
9354 That Smell Sonallah Ibrahim 1966 Egyptian Arabic
9838 Fountain And Tomb Naguib Mahfouz 1975 Egyptian Arabic
10019 The Zafarani Files Jamal al- Ghitani 1976 Egyptian Arabic
10124 Dogstar Rising Parker Bilal 2013 Egyptian English
10293 I Was Born There, I Was Born Here Mourid Barghouti 2011 Palestinian Arabic
10455 Churchill Andrew Roberts 2018 British English
11168 The Creators Daniel J. Boorstin 1992 American English
11337 Memoirs From The Women’s Prison Nawal El Saadawi 1983 Egyptian Arabic
11621 A Border Passage Leila Ahmed 1999 Unknown English
11637 The Means Of Reproduction Michelle Goldberg 2009 American English
11853 Chosen Peoples Anthony D. Smith 2003 British English
12485 The Sisters Of Sinai Janet Soskice 2009 Unknown English
13363 Anastasius Thomas Hope 1819 British English
13363 Memoirs Of A Woman Doctor Nawal El Saadawi 1958 Egyptian Arabic
13530 Palace of Desire Naguib Mahfouz 1957 Egyptian Arabic
13530 Sugar Street Naguib Mahfouz 1957 Egyptian Arabic
13534 Gardner's Art Through The Ages Helen Gardner 1926 American English
13744 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
14732 The Looting Machine Tom Burgis 2015 British English
14879 Adrift On The Nile Naguib Mahfouz 1966 Egyptian Arabic
14986 The Night Manager John le Carré 1993 British English
14986 The Question Of Palestine Edward W. Said 1979 American English
15724 What The River Knows Isabel Ibañez 2023 Unknown English
15904 The Lamp Of Umm Hashim Yahya Hakki 1944 Egyptian Arabic
15922 The Story Of Anzac C E W Bean 1921 Australian English
15922 Neo Colonialism, The Last Stage Of Imperialism Kwame Nkrumah 1965 Ghanaian English
16749 Al Saghamat Yusuf al-Sibai 1955 Egyptian Arabic
17173 Felaheen Jon Courtenay Grimwood 2003 British English
17173 War In The Land Of Egypt Yusuf al-Qa’id 1978 Egyptian Arabic
17173 The Elephants Fathi Ghanem 1965 Egyptian Unknown
17173 Return To Exile Abu El Maati Abu El Naga 1972 Egyptian Unknown
17173 The Lodging House Khairy Shalaby 1999 Egyptian Arabic
17173 The Heron Ibrahim Aslan 1983 Egyptian Arabic
17173 Rubaiyyat Bahari Mohamed Gibreel Unknown Unknown
17173 The Emigration To The North Of The Children Of Hathoot Majid Tubia 1974 Egyptian Unknown
17173 After The Sunset Mohamed Abdel-Halim Abdulla Egyptian Unknown
17173 A Taste of Fear Tharwat Abaza 1968 Egyptian Unknown
16923 There Is A Man In Our House Ihsan Abdul Quddus 1957 Egyptian Arabic
16875 A Little History Of The World E. H. Gombrich 1936 Austrian German
17173 The Poetry Of Arab Women Nathalie Handal 2001 Multiple English
17173 The Imam And The Indian Amitav Ghosh 1992 Indian English
17173 Art History Marilyn Stokstad 1995 American English
17173 In An Antique Land Amitav Ghosh 1992 Indian English
17173 Churchill Roy Jenkins 2001 British English
17173 Islam And The West Bernard Lewis 1993 British English
17173 From The Ruins Of Empire Pankaj Mishra 2012 Indian English
17173 Bonk Mary Roach 2008 American English
17173 Diplomacy Henry A. Kissinger 1994 American English
17173 The Lexus And The Olive Tree Thomas L. Friedman 1999 American English
17173 The Revolt Of The Public And The Crisis Of Authority In The New Millennium Martin Gurri 2014 Unknown English
17173 There And Back: Diaries 1999 2009 Michael Palin 2024 British English
17173 1177 B.C. Eric H. Cline 2014 American English
17173 The Yacoubian Building علاء الأسواني 2002 Egyptian Arabic
17173 Map Of Bones James Rollins 2005 American English
17107 Tales From The Arabian Nights Andrew Lang 1898 Multiple English
17173 The Silk Roads Peter Frankopan 2015 British English
17173 The Mistress Of Nothing Kate Pullinger 2009 Canadian English
17173 The Cleopatras Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones 2024 Unknown English
17173 The Wages Of Destruction Adam Tooze 2006 British English
17173 The Confusion Neal Stephenson 2004 American English
17173 An Intimate History Of Humanity Theodore Zeldin 1994 British English
17173 The World Simon Sebag Montefiore 2022 British English
17131 O Livro Das 1001 Noites; Volume 2 Of 7 Unknown -800 Multiple Arabic
17173 The Wealth And Poverty Of Nations David S. Landes 1998 American English
17173 The Silk Road Valerie Hansen 2012 Unknown English
17173 Churchill Martin Gilbert 1991 British English
17173 The History Of The Medieval World Susan Wise Bauer 2010 American English
17173 Atlas Obscura Joshua Foer 2016 American English
17173 Percy Jackson 5 Books Collection And The Demigod Files / The Red Pyramid Rick Riordan 2005 American English
17173 The Black Circle Patrick Carman 2009 American English
17173 Beyond The Grave Jude Watson 2009 American English
16898 A History Of Civilizations Fernand Braudel 1963 French French
17173 Burton And Speke William Harrison 1982 Unknown English
17173 Emperor Of Rome Mary Beard 2023 British English
17173 Grand Delusion Steven Simon 2023 Unknown English
17173 The World Simon Sebag Montefiore 2023 British English
17173 The Earth Transformed Peter Frankopan 2023 British English
17173 Writers And Missionaries Adam Shatz 2023 Unknown English
17173 Magic Tree House Mary Pope Osborne 1992 American English
17173 The Crusades Through Arab Eyes Amin Maalouf 1983 French French
17173 Destinations Jan Morris 1980 British English
17173 Islam In History Bernard Lewis 1973 British English
17173 The Ornament Of The World María Rosa Menocal 2002 American English
17173 The Women's History Of The World Rosalind Miles 1988 British English
16918 1001 Arabian Nights Anonymous -800 Multiple Arabic
17173 Afrikalı Leo Amin Maalouf 1986 French French
17173 In The Deserts Of This Earth Uwe George 1983 German German
17173 Selected Writings Gerard de Nerval 1853 French French
17173 Icons And Saints Of The Eastern Orthodox Church Alfredo Tradigo 2006 Unknown Italian