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 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
14122 The Mask Of Apollo Mary Renault 1966 British English
14197 The Mabinogion Unknown 1400 Multiple Middle welsh
14411 Auntie Mame Patrick Dennis 1955 American English
14764 Curious George H. A. Rey 1941 American English
14773 The Works of Archimedes Archimedes -287 Greek Ancient greek
14770 The Symposium Xenophon 361 Greek Ancient greek
14774 Oliver Wiswell Kenneth Roberts 1940 American English
14788 The Thinking Machine Jacques Futrelle 1905 American English
14788 Amelia Bedelia Peggy Parish 1963 American English
14831 Troubles J. G. Farrell 1970 British English
14832 The Complete Adventures Of Curious George H. A. Rey 1969 American English
14866 Donovan's Brain Curt Siodmak 1942 American English
14899 The Red House Mystery A. A. Milne 1922 British English
14899 More Work For The Undertaker Margery Allingham 1948 British English
14876 The Real Mother Goose Blanche Fisher Wright 1916 American English
14883 The Ghost And Mrs. Muir R. A. Dick 1945 British English
14899 Uncle Abner Melville Davisson Post 1918 American English
14899 The Documents In The Case Dorothy L. Sayers, Robert Eustace 1930 British English
14899 Before The Fact Francis Iles 1932 British English
14882 Dulcitius Hrotsvitha 990 German Latin
14937 Digenes Akritas Unknown 1050 Multiple Greek
14948 Freedom At Midnight Dominique Lapierre, Larry Collins 1975 Multiple English
14957 The High Window Raymond Chandler 1942 American English
14985 Wolf Willow Wallace Stegner 1962 American English
14985 The Horizontal Man Helen Eustis 1945 American English
14985 Maniac Magee Jerry Spinelli 1990 American English
14985 Olivia Ian Falconer 2000 American English
14985 The Paper Bag Princess Robert Munsch 1980 Canadian English
14985 Old Masters Thomas Bernhard 1985 Austrian German
14985 Strega Nona Tomie dePaola 1975 American English
15616 Going All The Way Dan Wakefield 1970 American English
15727 You Know Me Al Ring Lardner 1916 American English
15735 A Christmas Memory Truman Capote 1956 American English
15768 King's Row Henry Bellamann 1940 American English
15767 Kitty Foyle Christopher Morley 1939 American English
15766 Night In Bombay Louis Bromfield 1940 American English
15772 The Best Of Everything Rona Jaffe 1958 American English
15776 Deep Summer Gwen Bristow 1937 American English
15784 World's End Upton Sinclair 1940 American English
15790 The English Air D.E. Stevenson 1940 Scottish English
15803 30,000 On The Hoof Zane Grey 1940 American English
15810 The Stone Of Chastity Margery Sharp 1940 British English
15859 Who Has Seen The Wind W. O. Mitchell 1947 Canadian English
15856 Bang The Drum Slowly Mark Harris 1956 American English
15850 The Earth Is The Lord's Taylor Caldwell 1940 American English
15871 Random Harvest James Hilton 1941 British English
15915 The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber Ernest Hemingway 1936 American English
15915 He Who Whispers John Dickson Carr 1946 American English
15915 A Short Account Of The Destruction Of The Indies Bartolomé de las Casas 1552 Spanish Spanish
15915 The Chinese Orange Mystery Ellery Queen 1934 American English
15915 The Big Bow Mystery Israel Zangwill 1895 British English
15915 Mrs Beeton's Book Of Household Management Isabella Beeton 1861 British English
15915 Final Curtain Ngaio Marsh 1947 New Zealander English
15915 The Eagle Of The Ninth Rosemary Sutcliff 1954 British English
15915 My India Jim Corbett 1952 British English
15915 A Season In The Life Of Emmanuel Marie-Claire Blais, Derek Coltman 1965 Canadian French
15915 Sunshine Sketches Of A Little Town Stephen Leacock 1912 Canadian English
15915 Swamp Angel Ethel Wilson 1954 Canadian English
15915 The Double Hook Sheila Watson 1959 Canadian English
15915 Alberuni's India Al-Biruni, Edward C. Sachau 1030 Multiple Arabic
15915 By Reef And Palm Louis Becke 1900 Australian English
15915 Such Is Life Joseph Furphy 1903 Australian English
15915 Flynn Of The Inland Ion L Idriess 1932 Australian English
15915 Joe Wilson And His Mates Henry Lawson 1901 Australian English
15915 Dot And The Kangaroo Ethel Pedley 1899 Australian English
15915 An Egyptian Princess Georg Ebers 1864 German German
15915 Callista John Henry Newman 1855 British English
15915 Maid Marian Thomas Love Peacock 1821 British English
15915 A Chronicle Of The Reign Of Charles Ix Prosper Mérimée 1829 French French
15915 The Vicomte Of Bragelonne Alexandre Dumas 1847 French French
15915 Rhapsody Dorothy Edwards 1927 British English
15915 Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag Edgardo M. Reyes 1968 Filipino Filipino
15915 In A German Pension Katherine Mansfield 1911 British English
15915 Pastors And Masters Ivy Compton-Burnett 1925 British English
15915 The Colossus And Other Poems Sylvia Plath 1960 American English
15915 The Dead Letter Seeley Regester 1866 American English
15915 The Mystery Of Orcival Émile Gaboriau 1866 French English
15915 Martin Hewitt, Investigator Arthur Morrison 1894 British English
15915 Prince Zaleski M. P. Shiel 1895 British English
15915 Pat The Bunny Dorothy Kunhardt 1940 American English
15915 De Perfil José Agustín 1966 Mexican Spanish
15915 The Wheel Spins Ethel Lina White 1936 British English
15915 Peter Pan In Kensington Gardens J. M. Barrie 1906 British English
15915 Pierre Maurice Sendak 1962 American English
15915 Swimmy Leo Lionni 1963 American English
16510 An Apprenticeship Or The Book Of Pleasures Clarice Lispector 1969 Brazilian Portuguese
15915 On Her Majesty's Secret Service Ian Fleming 1963 British English
15915 Montage Of A Dream Deferred Langston Hughes 1951 American English
15915 The Corn King And The Spring Queen Naomi Mitchison 1931 British English
15915 Josephus Lion Feuchtwanger 1932 German German
15915 The Jew Of Rome Lion Feuchtwanger 1932 German German
15915 The Fifth Queen Ford Madox Ford 1908 British English
15915 Northwest Passage Kenneth Roberts 1937 American English
15915 Drums James Boyd 1928 American English
15915 The Crossing Winston Churchill 1904 American English
15915 Drums Along The Mohawk Walter D. Edmonds 1936 American English
15915 Citizen Tom Paine Howard Fast 1943 American English
15915 Janice Meredith Paul Leicester Ford 1899 American English
15915 Arundel Kenneth Roberts 1930 American English
15915 Rabble In Arms Kenneth Roberts 1933 American English
15915 Lydia Bailey Kenneth Roberts 1940 American English
15915 House Divided Ben Ames Williams 1947 American English
15915 So Red The Rose Stark Young 1934 American English
15915 Cimarron Edna Ferber 1929 American English
15915 Children Of God Vardis Fisher 1939 American English
15915 Taiko Eiji Yoshikawa 1941 Japanese Japanese
15915 Above The Dark Circus Hugh Walpole 1931 British English
15915 The Big Clock Kenneth Fearing 1946 American English
15915 Brain Wave Poul Anderson 1954 American English
15915 The Case Of The Abominable Snowman Nicholas Blake 1941 British English
15915 Daily Life In Ancient Rome Jérôme Carcopino 1936 French French
15915 Father And Son Edmund Gosse 1907 British English
15915 Islandia Austin Tappan Wright 1942 American English
15915 Journal Of Katherine Mansfield Katherine Mansfield 1927 New Zealand English
15915 A Journey To The Western Islands Of Scotland Samuel Johnson 1775 British English
15915 A Pin To See The Peepshow F. Tennyson Jesse 1934 British English
15915 The Red Box Rex Stout 1937 American English
15915 A Rose For Winter Laurie Lee 1955 British English
15915 A Tramp Abroad Mark Twain 1880 American English
15915 The Traveller's Tree Patrick Leigh Fermor 1950 British English