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
15897 The Letter For The King Tonke Dragt 1962 Dutch Dutch
15896 The Complete Stories Edgar Allan Poe 1832 American English
16504 The Chain Of Chance Stanislaw Lem 1976 Polish Polish
15881 The Earth Is The Lord's Taylor Caldwell 1940 American English
16490 Random Harvest James Hilton 1941 British English
16523 The Black Stallion Walter Farley 1941 American English
16564 Tous Les Hommes Sont Mortels Simone de Beauvoir 1946 French French
16530 Mga Ibong Mandaragit Amado V. Hernandez 1969 Filipino Filipino
16530 Lord Grizzly Frederick Manfred 1954 American English
16518 The Red Laugh Leonid Andreyev 1904 Russian English
16576 Catriona Robert Louis Stevenson 1893 Scottish English
16587 David Balfour Robert Louis Stevenson 1893 Scottish English
16554 Mountain Meadow John Buchan 1941 Scottish English
16743 The Singing Sands Josephine Tey 1952 British English
16726 To Love And Be Wise Josephine Tey 1950 British English
16662 De Witte Ernest Claes 1920 Belgian Dutch
16608 Le Journal D'une Femme De Chambre Octave Mirbeau 1900 French French
16636 Lettres Portugaises Gabriel de Guilleragues 1668 French French
16599 La Femme Rompue / L'âge De Discrétion / Monologue Simone de Beauvoir 1967 French French
16612 The Red Thumb Mark R Austin Freeman 1907 British English
16610 Junket Is Nice Dorothy Kunhardt 1933 American English
16607 Curtain Agatha Christie 1975 British English
16612 The Time Traders Andre Norton 1958 American English
16730 Manalive G. K. Chesterton 1912 British English
16677 Love And Freindship Jane Austen 1790 English English
16637 Personal Knowledge Michael Polanyi 1958 British English
16847 War Music Christopher Logue 1959 British English
17119 This Mortal Boy Fiona Kidman 2018 New Zealander English
16766 La edad de oro José Martí 1889 Cuban Spanish
17119 Great Books David Denby 1996 American English
17119 A Classical Education Richard Cobb 2009 American English
17119 A Reader's Delight Noel Perrin 1988 American English
17119 Waiting For The Fear Oğuz Atay 2024 Unknown English
17119 Big Jim And The White Boy David Walker 2024 Unknown English
17119 Odyssey Stephen Fry 2024 Unknown English
17119 Inspector French’s Greatest Case Freeman Wills Crofts 1924 British English
17119 Pax Tom Holland 2024 Unknown English
17119 The Canary Murder Case S. S. Van Dine 1927 American English
17119 Overture To Death Ngaio Marsh 1939 New Zealander English
17119 Sleeping Murder Agatha Christie 1976 British English
17073 In This House Of Brede Rumer Godden 1969 British English
17119 The Viaduct Murder Ronald Knox 1925 British English
17119 Summa Contra Gentiles Thomas Aquinas 1992 Italian Latin
17081 Full Of Life John Fante 1952 American English
17119 Appleby's End Michael Innes 1973 British English
16769 The Last Of The Wine Mary Renault 1956 British English
17119 The Benson Murder Case S. S. Van Dine 1926 American English
17119 The Penguin Pool Murder Stuart Palmer 1932 American English
17007 Crooked House Agatha Christie 1949 British English
17119 The Crooked Hinge John Dickson Carr 1937 American English
16757 The Man In The Queue Josephine Tey 1929 British English
17119 Death Of A Peer Ngaio Marsh 1996 New Zealand English
16803 A Shilling For Candles Josephine Tey 1953 British English
17119 The Case Of The Velvet Claws Erle Stanley Gardner 1933 American English
17119 The Viceroy Of Ouidah Bruce Chatwin 1980 British English
17051 The Bridal Wreath Sigrid Undset 1920 Norwegian Norwegian
17075 The Edible Woman Margaret Atwood 1969 Canadian English
17119 The Gift Of Asher Lev Chaim Potok 1990 American English
17119 Cuckold Kiran Nagarkar 1999 Indian English
17119 The Country Without A Post Office Agha Shahid Ali 1997 Indian English
16769 Kamouraska Anne Hébert 1970 Canadian French
17119 Lives Of The Saints Nino Ricci 1990 Canadian English
17119 Once And Forever Kenji Miyazawa 1994 Japanese Japanese
17119 The Fall Of The Roman Empire Peter Heather 2005 British English
17119 A Corner Of A Foreign Field Ramachandra Guha 2003 Indian English
17119 The Australian Ugliness Robin Boyd 1960 Australian English
17119 Come In Spinner Dymphna Cusack, Florence James 1951 Australian English
17119 The Timeless Land Eleanor Dark 1941 Australian English
17119 Kings In Grass Castles Mary Durack 1959 Australian English
17119 The Lucky Country Donald Horne 1964 Australian English
17119 Wild Cat Falling Colin Johnson 1965 Australian English
17119 The Chant Of Jimmie Blacksmith Thomas Keneally 1972 Australian English
17119 The Year Of Living Dangerously Christopher Koch 1978 Australian English
17119 The Shiralee D'Arcy Niland 1955 Australian English
17119 On Our Selection Steele Rudd 1976 Australian English
17119 Ash Road Ivan Southall 1965 Australian English
17119 To The Islands Randolph Stow 1958 Australian English
17119 The Nargun And The Stars Patricia Wrightson 1970 Australian English
16842 The Runaway Bunny Margaret Wise Brown 1942 American English
17119 Readings In Classical Chinese Philosophy Philip J. Ivanhoe, Bryan W. Van Norden 2001 Chinese English
17119 The Letters Of Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson, Cristanne Miller, Domhnall Mitchell 2024 American English
17119 The Expressman And The Detective Allan Pinkerton 2004 American English
16769 The Gentle Grafter O. Henry 1908 American English
16769 The Old Man In The Corner Baroness Emmuska Orczy 1908 British English
17119 John Thorndyke's Cases R Austin Freeman 1909 British English
17119 813 Maurice Leblanc 1910 French French
17119 At The Villa Rose A. E. W. Mason 1910 British English
17119 The Singing Bone R Austin Freeman 1912 British English
17119 The Silent Bullet Arthur B Reeve 1910 American English
17119 The Lodger Mrs Belloc Lowndes 1913 British English
17119 Max Carrados Ernest Bramah 1914 British English
17119 Limehouse Nights Thomas Burke 1917 British English
17119 The Middle Temple Murder J. S. Fletcher 1919 British English
17119 Call Mr. Fortune H.C. Bailey 1920 British English
17119 The Eight Strokes Of The Clock Maurice Leblanc 1923 French French
17119 The Brooklyn Murders G. D. H. Cole 1923 British English
17119 The House Without A Key Earl Derr Biggers 1925 American English
17119 The Paddington Mystery John Rhode 1925 British English
17119 Payment Deferred C. S. Forester 1926 British English
17119 The Bellamy Trial Frances Noyes Hart 1927 American English
17119 Meet The Tiger Leslie Charteris 1968 British English
17119 The Cape Cod Mystery Phoebe Atwood Taylor 1931 American English
17119 Murder At School James Hilton 1931 British English
17119 The Murder Of My Aunt Richard Hull 1934 British English
17119 No Hero John P. Marquand 1935 American English
17119 The Listening House Mabel Seeley 1938 American English
17119 Death From A Top Hat Clayton Rawson 1938 American English
17119 The So Blue Marble Dorothy B. Hughes 1940 American English
17119 The Norths Meet Murder Frances Lockridge, Richard Lockridge 1940 American English
17119 Verdict Of Twelve Raymond Postgate 1940 British English
17119 A Taste For Honey H.F. Heard 1941 British English
17119 Rocket To The Morgue Anthony Boucher 1942 American English
17119 The Just And The Unjust James Gould Cozzens 1942 American English
17119 The Adventures Of Sam Spade Dashiell Hammett 1944 American English
17119 The Unsuspected Charlotte Armstrong 1945 American English
17119 Wisteria Cottage Robert M. Coates 1948 American English
17119 Through A Glass, Darkly Helen McCloy 1950 American English
17119 Paper Lion George Plimpton 1966 American English
17119 The Summer Game Roger Angell 1972 American English
17119 The Golf Omnibus P. G. Wodehouse 1966 British English