The Greatest Books of All Time on Classics

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 743 '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
17 The Lord Of The Rings J. R. R. Tolkien 1959 English English
23 The Stranger Albert Camus 1942 French French
88 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Irish English
164 Winnie the Pooh A. A. Milne 1926 British English
277 A Wizard Of Earthsea Ursula K. Le Guin 1968 American English
278 The Secret History Donna Tartt 1992 American English
294 Franz Kafka Franz Kafka 1971 Czech Unknown
316 Pensées Blaise Pascal 1670 French French
462 Petrarch's Songbook Francesco Petrarca 1341 Italian Italian
581 The Innocence of Father Brown G. K. Chesterton 1911 British English
585 Tao Te Ching Lao Tsu -300 Chinese Classical chinese
664 The Family Moskat Isaac Bashevis Singer 1950 Polish Yiddish
675 Lud-in-the-Mist Hope Mirrlees 1926 British English
761 Ballet Shoes Noel Streatfeild 1936 British English
873 Call to Arms Lu Xun 1922 Chinese Chinese
982 A Study In Scarlet Arthur Conan Doyle 1887 British English
1105 The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene 1948 British English
1183 The Inimitable Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1923 British English
1310 Boredom Alberto Moravia 1960 Italian Italian
1486 Kokoro Natsume Sōseki 1914 Japanese Japanese
1527 The Consolation of Philosophy Boethius 524 Roman Latin
1818 Carry On, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1925 British English
1951 The Mill On The Po Riccardo Bacchelli 1938 Italian Italian
1964 Poppy And Memory Paul Celan 1950 German German
2219 Mafalda Quino 1978 Argentinian Spanish
2252 Appointment in Samarra John O'Hara 1934 American English
2506 Life With A Star Jiří Weil 1949 Czech Czech
2516 Waiting For God Simone Weil 1950 French French
2532 The Way of a Pilgrim Unknown 1884 Russian Russian
2565 Poesías Completas Antonio Machado 1940 Spanish Spanish
2742 Erec And Enide Chrétien de Troyes 1160 French Old french
2744 Poor Henry Hartmann von Aue 1190 German Middle high german
2747 Fabian Erich Kästner 1931 German German
2773 Helmbrecht Wernher der Gartenaere 1250 German Middle high german
2778 The Legend Of Thyl Ulenspiegel And Lamme Goedzak Charles de Coster 1867 Belgian French
2777 Mist Miguel de Unamuno 1914 Spanish English
2781 Märchenalmanach Auf Das Jahr 1828 Wilhelm Hauff 1827 German German
2783 By Night Under The Stone Bridge Leo Perutz 1953 Austrian German
2787 The Island Of Second Sight Albert Vigoleis Thelen 1953 German English
2801 James Percival Everett 2024 American English
2868 The Moral Essays Giacomo Leopardi 1832 Italian Italian
2889 Teahouse Lao She 1957 Chinese Chinese
2890 Speculations About Jakob Uwe Johnson 1959 German German
2914 Barometer Rising Hugh MacLennan 1941 Canadian English
2983 The Robber Hotzenplotz Otfried Preußler 1962 German German
3138 The Cask Freeman Wills Crofts 1920 British English
3167 A Simple Story S.Y. Agnon 1935 Israeli Hebrew
3194 Story Of A Soul Thérèse of Lisieux 1898 French French
3241 A Strange Manuscript Found In A Copper Cylinder James De Mille 1888 Canadian English
3258 The Selected Works of Cesare Pavese Cesare Pavese 1968 Italian Italian
3282 Stories of Washington Irving Washington Irving 1820 American English
3385 La Realidad Y El Deseo Luis Cernuda 1936 Spanish Spanish
3457 Captain Pantoja And The Special Service Mario Vargas Llosa 1973 Peruvian Spanish
3532 The Obscene Madame D Hilda Hilst 1982 Brazilian Portuguese
3542 Daphnis and Chloe Longus -200 Greek Ancient greek
3617 A Small, Good Thing Raymond Carver 1981 American English
3621 Bear Marian Engel 1976 Canadian English
3625 Party Going Henry Green 1939 British English
3633 The School Of Whoredom Pietro Aretino 1536 Italian English
3633 Des Knaben Wunderhorn Clemens Brentano, Achim von Arnim 1808 German German
3633 Till Eulenspiegel Hermann Bote 1510 German German
3633 The Ship Of Fools Sebastian Brant 1494 German English
3633 Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Lord Byron 1812 British English
3633 The Tomb Of Tutankhamun Howard Carter 1954 British English
3633 Krambambuli Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach 1901 Austrian German
3633 Who Once Eats Out Of The Tin Bowl Hans Fallada 1934 German German
3633 Jew Süss Lion Feuchtwanger 1925 German German
3633 Schach Von Wuthenow Theodor Fontane 1883 German German
3633 Theory Of Colours Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1810 German German
3633 The Poor Musician Franz Grillparzer 1848 Austrian German
3633 The Golden Pot E. T. A. Hoffmann 1814 German German
3633 On The Marble Cliffs Ernst Jünger 1939 German German
3633 The City Beyond The River Hermann Kasack 1947 German German
3633 The Marquise Of O Heinrich von Kleist 1808 German German
3633 The Second Wife E. Marlitt 1899 German German
3633 Scenes Of Bohemian Life Henri Murger 1845 French French
3633 The Prophecies Nostradamus 1555 French French
3633 The Four Books On Architecture Andrea Palladio 1570 Italian Italian
3633 The Seven Lamps Of Architecture John Ruskin 1849 British English
3633 The Papalagi Erich Scheurmann 1920 German German
3633 The Road Into The Open Arthur Schnitzler 1908 Austrian German
3633 Die Feuerzangenbowle Heinrich Spoerl 1933 German German
3633 How I Found Livingstone Henry M. Stanley 1871 British English
3633 Cavalleria Rusticana Giovanni Verga 1896 Italian Italian
3633 The Ringer Edgar Wallace 1925 British English
3633 The Captain Of Köpenick Carl Zuckmayer 1931 German German
3829 Повесть о жизни Konstantin Paustovsky 1956 Russian Russian
3896 Canne Al Vento Grazia Deledda 1913 Italian Italian
4065 The Mountain And The Valley Ernest Buckler 1954 Canadian English
4100 Leavetaking Peter Weiss 1960 German German
4156 Rockbound Frank Parker Day 1928 Canadian English
4173 Shira S.Y. Agnon 1989 Israeli Hebrew
4366 Frost Thomas Bernhard 1963 Austrian German
4366 Nobodaddy's Children Arno Schmidt 1963 German German
4380 Incubus Giuseppe Berto 1964 Italian Italian
4411 Diary Witold Gombrowicz 1986 Polish Polish
4483 The Bears' Famous Invasion Of Sicily Dino Buzzati 1945 Italian Italian
4679 Enthusiasm Ronald Knox 1950 British English
4715 My Book House Olive Beaupré Miller 1920 American English
4837 The Last Quarter Of The Moon Chi Zijian 2005 Chinese English
4848 Zettels Traum Arno Schmidt 1970 German German
5010 Hourglass Danilo Kiš 1972 Serbian Serbo-croatian
5107 The Boat Who Wouldn't Float Farley Mowat 1969 Canadian English
5154 House Of Hate Percy Janes 1970 Canadian English
5161 Anecdotes of Destiny Isak Dinesen 1958 Danish Danish
5232 Concierto Barroco Alejo Carpentier 1974 Cuban Spanish
5283 Padre Padrone Gavino Ledda 1975 Italian Italian
5283 Tante Jolesch Or The Decline Of The West In Anecdotes Friedrich Torberg 1975 Austrian German
5466 Zero Ignácio De Loyola Brandão 1974 Brazilian Portuguese
5492 The Trip To Panama Janosch 1978 German German
5506 Think On These Things Jiddu Krishnamurti 1964 Indian English
5522 Lovci Mamutů Eduard Štorch 1918 Czech Czech
5522 Summer Of Caprice Vladislav Vančura 1926 Czech Czech
5522 The Sufferings Of Prince Sternenhoch Ladislav Klíma 1928 Czech Czech
5522 Povídání O Pejskovi A Kočičce Josef Čapek 1936 Czech Czech
5522 Nikola The Outlaw Ivan Olbracht 1933 Czech Czech
5522 Balada Z Hadrů Jan Werich, Jiří Voskovec 1935 Czech Czech
5522 Cirkus Humberto Eduard Bass 1941 Czech Czech
5522 Saturnin Zdeněk Jirotka 1942 Czech Czech
5522 Petrolejové Lampy Jaroslav Havlíček 1944 Czech Czech