The Greatest Books of All Time on Classics

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
17 The Lord Of The Rings J. R. R. Tolkien 1959 English English
23 The Stranger Albert Camus 1942 French French
89 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Irish English
165 Winnie the Pooh A. A. Milne 1926 British English
278 A Wizard Of Earthsea Ursula K. Le Guin 1968 American English
279 The Secret History Donna Tartt 1992 American English
295 Franz Kafka Franz Kafka 1971 Czech Unknown
316 Pensées Blaise Pascal 1670 French French
464 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
665 The Family Moskat Isaac Bashevis Singer 1950 Polish Yiddish
677 Lud-in-the-Mist Hope Mirrlees 1926 British English
762 Ballet Shoes Noel Streatfeild 1936 British English
873 Call to Arms Lu Xun 1922 Chinese Chinese
983 A Study In Scarlet Arthur Conan Doyle 1887 British English
1106 The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene 1948 British English
1185 The Inimitable Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1923 British English
1312 Boredom Alberto Moravia 1960 Italian Italian
1487 Kokoro Natsume Sōseki 1914 Japanese Japanese
1528 The Consolation of Philosophy Boethius 524 Roman Latin
1819 Carry On, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1925 British English
1955 The Mill On The Po Riccardo Bacchelli 1938 Italian Italian
1969 Poppy And Memory Paul Celan 1950 German German
2232 Mafalda Quino 1978 Argentinian Spanish
2261 Appointment in Samarra John O'Hara 1934 American English
2512 Life With A Star Jiří Weil 1949 Czech Czech
2522 Waiting For God Simone Weil 1950 French French
2537 The Way of a Pilgrim Unknown 1884 Russian Russian
2568 Poesías Completas Antonio Machado 1940 Spanish Spanish
2746 Erec And Enide Chrétien de Troyes 1160 French Old french
2748 Poor Henry Hartmann von Aue 1190 German Middle high german
2752 Fabian Erich Kästner 1931 German German
2777 Helmbrecht Wernher der Gartenaere 1250 German Middle high german
2782 The Legend Of Thyl Ulenspiegel And Lamme Goedzak Charles de Coster 1867 Belgian French
2781 Mist Miguel de Unamuno 1914 Spanish English
2785 Märchenalmanach Auf Das Jahr 1828 Wilhelm Hauff 1827 German German
2787 By Night Under The Stone Bridge Leo Perutz 1953 Austrian German
2792 The Island Of Second Sight Albert Vigoleis Thelen 1953 German English
2807 James Percival Everett 2024 American English
2875 The Moral Essays Giacomo Leopardi 1832 Italian Italian
2897 Teahouse Lao She 1957 Chinese Chinese
2898 Speculations About Jakob Uwe Johnson 1959 German German
2921 Barometer Rising Hugh MacLennan 1941 Canadian English
2991 The Robber Hotzenplotz Otfried Preußler 1962 German German
3144 The Cask Freeman Wills Crofts 1920 British English
3174 A Simple Story S.Y. Agnon 1935 Israeli Hebrew
3201 Story Of A Soul Thérèse of Lisieux 1898 French French
3248 A Strange Manuscript Found In A Copper Cylinder James De Mille 1888 Canadian English
3264 The Selected Works of Cesare Pavese Cesare Pavese 1968 Italian Italian
3289 Stories of Washington Irving Washington Irving 1820 American English
3391 La Realidad Y El Deseo Luis Cernuda 1936 Spanish Spanish
3460 Captain Pantoja And The Special Service Mario Vargas Llosa 1973 Peruvian Spanish
3535 The Obscene Madame D Hilda Hilst 1982 Brazilian Portuguese
3546 Daphnis and Chloe Longus -200 Greek Ancient greek
3622 A Small, Good Thing Raymond Carver 1981 American English
3626 Bear Marian Engel 1976 Canadian English
3630 Party Going Henry Green 1939 British English
3638 The School Of Whoredom Pietro Aretino 1536 Italian English
3638 Des Knaben Wunderhorn Clemens Brentano, Achim von Arnim 1808 German German
3638 Till Eulenspiegel Hermann Bote 1510 German German
3638 The Ship Of Fools Sebastian Brant 1494 German English
3638 Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Lord Byron 1812 British English
3638 The Tomb Of Tutankhamun Howard Carter 1954 British English
3638 Krambambuli Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach 1901 Austrian German
3638 Who Once Eats Out Of The Tin Bowl Hans Fallada 1934 German German
3638 Jew Süss Lion Feuchtwanger 1925 German German
3638 Schach Von Wuthenow Theodor Fontane 1883 German German
3638 Theory Of Colours Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1810 German German
3638 The Poor Musician Franz Grillparzer 1848 Austrian German
3638 The Golden Pot E. T. A. Hoffmann 1814 German German
3638 On The Marble Cliffs Ernst Jünger 1939 German German
3638 The City Beyond The River Hermann Kasack 1947 German German
3638 The Marquise Of O Heinrich von Kleist 1808 German German
3638 The Second Wife E. Marlitt 1899 German German
3638 Scenes Of Bohemian Life Henri Murger 1845 French French
3638 The Prophecies Nostradamus 1555 French French
3638 The Four Books On Architecture Andrea Palladio 1570 Italian Italian
3638 The Seven Lamps Of Architecture John Ruskin 1849 British English
3638 The Papalagi Erich Scheurmann 1920 German German
3638 The Road Into The Open Arthur Schnitzler 1908 Austrian German
3638 Die Feuerzangenbowle Heinrich Spoerl 1933 German German
3638 How I Found Livingstone Henry M. Stanley 1871 British English
3638 Cavalleria Rusticana Giovanni Verga 1896 Italian Italian
3638 The Ringer Edgar Wallace 1925 British English
3638 The Captain Of Köpenick Carl Zuckmayer 1931 German German
3833 Повесть о жизни Konstantin Paustovsky 1956 Russian Russian
3901 Canne Al Vento Grazia Deledda 1913 Italian Italian
4070 The Mountain And The Valley Ernest Buckler 1954 Canadian English
4105 Leavetaking Peter Weiss 1960 German German
4160 Rockbound Frank Parker Day 1928 Canadian English
4177 Shira S.Y. Agnon 1989 Israeli Hebrew
4294 The Castle franz kafka 1926 German German
4371 Frost Thomas Bernhard 1963 Austrian German
4371 Nobodaddy's Children Arno Schmidt 1963 German German
4385 Incubus Giuseppe Berto 1964 Italian Italian
4415 Diary Witold Gombrowicz 1986 Polish Polish
4488 The Bears' Famous Invasion Of Sicily Dino Buzzati 1945 Italian Italian
4687 Enthusiasm Ronald Knox 1950 British English
4723 My Book House Olive Beaupré Miller 1920 American English
4845 The Last Quarter Of The Moon Chi Zijian 2005 Chinese English
4856 Zettels Traum Arno Schmidt 1970 German German
5021 Hourglass Danilo Kiš 1972 Serbian Serbo-croatian
5117 The Boat Who Wouldn't Float Farley Mowat 1969 Canadian English
5164 House Of Hate Percy Janes 1970 Canadian English
5171 Anecdotes of Destiny Isak Dinesen 1958 Danish Danish
5242 Concierto Barroco Alejo Carpentier 1974 Cuban Spanish
5293 Padre Padrone Gavino Ledda 1975 Italian Italian
5293 Tante Jolesch Or The Decline Of The West In Anecdotes Friedrich Torberg 1975 Austrian German
5476 Zero Ignácio De Loyola Brandão 1974 Brazilian Portuguese
5502 The Trip To Panama Janosch 1978 German German
5516 Think On These Things Jiddu Krishnamurti 1964 Indian English
5531 Lovci Mamutů Eduard Štorch 1918 Czech Czech
5531 Summer Of Caprice Vladislav Vančura 1926 Czech Czech
5531 The Sufferings Of Prince Sternenhoch Ladislav Klíma 1928 Czech Czech
5531 Povídání O Pejskovi A Kočičce Josef Čapek 1936 Czech Czech
5531 Nikola The Outlaw Ivan Olbracht 1933 Czech Czech
5531 Balada Z Hadrů Jan Werich, Jiří Voskovec 1935 Czech Czech
5531 Cirkus Humberto Eduard Bass 1941 Czech Czech
5531 Saturnin Zdeněk Jirotka 1942 Czech Czech