The Greatest British 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
165 Winnie the Pooh A. A. Milne 1926 British English
581 The Innocence of Father Brown G. K. Chesterton 1911 British English
677 Lud-in-the-Mist Hope Mirrlees 1926 British English
762 Ballet Shoes Noel Streatfeild 1936 British English
983 A Study In Scarlet Arthur Conan Doyle 1887 British English
1107 The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene 1948 British English
1185 The Inimitable Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1923 British English
1819 Carry On, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1925 British English
3143 The Cask Freeman Wills Crofts 1920 British English
3629 Party Going Henry Green 1939 British English
3637 Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Lord Byron 1812 British English
3637 The Tomb Of Tutankhamun Howard Carter 1954 British English
3637 The Seven Lamps Of Architecture John Ruskin 1849 British English
3637 How I Found Livingstone Henry M. Stanley 1871 British English
3637 The Ringer Edgar Wallace 1925 British English
4686 Enthusiasm Ronald Knox 1950 British English
5626 Olivia Dorothy Bussy 1949 British English
5688 The Friendly Young Ladies Mary Renault 1943 British English
5756 Concerning The Eccentricities Of Cardinal Pirelli Ronald Firbank 1926 British English
6521 The Escaped Cock D. H. Lawrence 1929 British English
6637 Life With Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1983 British English
6860 My Guru And His Disciple Christopher Isherwood 1980 British English
7056 A Passionate Apprentice Virginia Woolf 1990 British English
7215 A Compass Error Sybille Bedford 1968 British English
7215 The Fortnight In September R. C. Sherriff 1931 British English
7215 The Long View Elizabeth Jane Howard 1956 British English
7966 Mountolive Lawrence Durrell 1958 British English
8075 Clea Lawrence Durrell 1960 British English
8472 Textermination Christine Brooke-Rose 1992 British English
8646 The Raj Quartet Paul Scott 1976 British English
8680 In Defense Of Sanity G. K. Chesterton 2011 British English
8799 Ann Veronica H. G. Wells 1909 British English
10358 The Borrowers Mary Norton 1952 British English
10765 Close Quarters William Golding 1987 British English
11064 The Complete Works Of Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft 1989 British English
11064 Fire Down Below William Golding 1989 British English
11574 The Painted Veil W. Somerset Maugham 1925 British English
14122 The Mask Of Apollo Mary Renault 1966 British English
14828 Troubles J. G. Farrell 1970 British English
14897 The Red House Mystery A. A. Milne 1922 British English
14897 More Work For The Undertaker Margery Allingham 1948 British English
14881 The Ghost And Mrs. Muir R. A. Dick 1945 British English
14897 The Documents In The Case Dorothy L. Sayers, Robert Eustace 1930 British English
14897 Before The Fact Francis Iles 1932 British English
15812 The Stone Of Chastity Margery Sharp 1940 British English
15902 The Big Bow Mystery Israel Zangwill 1895 British English
15902 Mrs Beeton's Book Of Household Management Isabella Beeton 1861 British English
15902 The Eagle Of The Ninth Rosemary Sutcliff 1954 British English
15902 My India Jim Corbett 1952 British English
15902 Callista John Henry Newman 1855 British English
15902 Maid Marian Thomas Love Peacock 1821 British English
15902 Rhapsody Dorothy Edwards 1927 British English
15902 In A German Pension Katherine Mansfield 1911 British English
15902 Pastors And Masters Ivy Compton-Burnett 1925 British English
15902 Martin Hewitt, Investigator Arthur Morrison 1894 British English
15902 Prince Zaleski M. P. Shiel 1895 British English
15902 The Wheel Spins Ethel Lina White 1936 British English
15902 Peter Pan In Kensington Gardens J. M. Barrie 1906 British English
15902 On Her Majesty's Secret Service Ian Fleming 1963 British English
15902 The Corn King And The Spring Queen Naomi Mitchison 1931 British English
15902 The Fifth Queen Ford Madox Ford 1908 British English
15902 Above The Dark Circus Hugh Walpole 1931 British English
15902 The Case Of The Abominable Snowman Nicholas Blake 1941 British English
15902 Father And Son Edmund Gosse 1907 British English
15902 A Journey To The Western Islands Of Scotland Samuel Johnson 1775 British English
15902 A Pin To See The Peepshow F. Tennyson Jesse 1934 British English
15902 A Rose For Winter Laurie Lee 1955 British English
15902 The Traveller's Tree Patrick Leigh Fermor 1950 British English
15885 Random Harvest James Hilton 1941 British English
16750 The Singing Sands Josephine Tey 1952 British English
16745 To Love And Be Wise Josephine Tey 1950 British English
16623 The Red Thumb Mark R Austin Freeman 1907 British English
16616 Curtain Agatha Christie 1975 British English
16741 Manalive G. K. Chesterton 1912 British English
16653 Personal Knowledge Michael Polanyi 1958 British English
16861 War Music Christopher Logue 1959 British English
17131 Inspector French’s Greatest Case Freeman Wills Crofts 1924 British English
17131 Sleeping Murder Agatha Christie 1976 British English
17099 In This House Of Brede Rumer Godden 1969 British English
17131 The Viaduct Murder Ronald Knox 1925 British English
17131 Appleby's End Michael Innes 1973 British English
16780 The Last Of The Wine Mary Renault 1956 British English
17009 Crooked House Agatha Christie 1949 British English
16768 The Man In The Queue Josephine Tey 1929 British English
16823 A Shilling For Candles Josephine Tey 1953 British English
17131 The Viceroy Of Ouidah Bruce Chatwin 1980 British English
17131 The Fall Of The Roman Empire Peter Heather 2005 British English
16780 The Old Man In The Corner Baroness Emmuska Orczy 1908 British English
17131 John Thorndyke's Cases R Austin Freeman 1909 British English
17131 At The Villa Rose A. E. W. Mason 1910 British English
17131 The Singing Bone R Austin Freeman 1912 British English
17131 The Lodger Mrs Belloc Lowndes 1913 British English
17131 Max Carrados Ernest Bramah 1914 British English
17131 Limehouse Nights Thomas Burke 1917 British English
17131 The Middle Temple Murder J. S. Fletcher 1919 British English
17131 Call Mr. Fortune H.C. Bailey 1920 British English
17131 The Brooklyn Murders G. D. H. Cole 1923 British English
17131 The Paddington Mystery John Rhode 1925 British English
17131 Payment Deferred C. S. Forester 1926 British English
17131 Meet The Tiger Leslie Charteris 1968 British English
17131 Murder At School James Hilton 1931 British English
17131 The Murder Of My Aunt Richard Hull 1934 British English
17131 Verdict Of Twelve Raymond Postgate 1940 British English
17131 A Taste For Honey H.F. Heard 1941 British English
17131 The Golf Omnibus P. G. Wodehouse 1966 British English
17131 The Penguin Book Of First World War Poetry George Walter 1979 British English
17131 The Complete Tales Beatrix Potter 1986 British English
17131 Guess How Much I Love You Sam McBratney 2007 British English
17131 The Long Shadow Celia Fremlin 1975 British English
17110 Pied Piper Nevil Shute 1942 British English
17131 The Third Man And Other Stories Graham Greene 2011 British English
17131 Funeral Games Mary Renault 1981 British English
17131 The Praise Singer Mary Renault 1978 British English
16780 Winter Quarters Alfred Duggan 1956 British English
17131 Augustus Allan Massie 1986 British English
17131 Tiberius Allan Massie 1991 British English
17131 The Young Caesar Rex Warner 1958 British English
16780 Shadow Of The Moon M.M. Kaye 1956 British English
17131 Emperor Of Rome Mary Beard 2023 British English
17131 Take A Girl Like You Kingsley Amis 1960 British English