The Greatest Books of All Time on Duty

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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
79 As I Lay Dying William Faulkner 1930 American English
92 The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton 1920 American English
125 Antigone Sophocles -441 Greek Ancient greek
192 Persuasion Jane Austen 1817 British English
199 The Radetzky March Joseph Roth 1932 Austrian German
204 The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro 1989 British English
235 The Ambassadors Henry James 1903 American English
263 The Tartar Steppe Dino Buzzati 1940 Italian Italian
313 Meditations Marcus Aurelius 161 Roman Greek
323 Mahabharata Vyasa -400 Indian Sanskrit
338 Effi Briest Theodor Fontane 1895 German German
382 Parade's End Ford Madox Ford 1924 British English
422 Ramayana Valmiki -200 Indian Sanskrit
425 Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen 1811 British English
468 Daniel Deronda George Eliot 1876 British English
490 Ethan Frome Edith Wharton 1911 American English
520 Mansfield Park Jane Austen 1814 British English
571 And Quiet Flows The Don Mikhail Sholokhov 1928 Russian Russian
609 The Opposing Shore Julien Gracq 1951 French French
713 The Killer Angels Michael Shaara 1974 American English
726 The Caine Mutiny Herman Wouk 1951 American English
786 The Far Pavilions Mary Margaret Kaye 1978 British English
921 Master and Commander Patrick O'Brian 1969 British English
997 Julie, or the New Heloise Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1761 French French
1040 The German Lesson Siegfried Lenz 1968 German German
1106 The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene 1948 British English
1177 Phèdre Jean Racine 1677 French French
1229 Strait is the Gate André Gide 1909 French French
1258 The General of the Dead Army Ismail Kadare 1963 Albanian Albanian
1267 Billy Budd Herman Melville 1924 American English
1269 The Unknown Soldier Väinö Linna 1954 Finnish Finnish
1351 The Suppliants Aeschylus -463 Greek Ancient greek
1360 The Makioka Sisters Junichiro Tanizaki 1948 Japanese Japanese
1367 Like Water For Chocolate Laura Esquivel 1989 Mexican Spanish
1434 R. E. Lee Douglas Southall Freeman 1934 American English
1455 Antigone Jean Anouilh 1944 French French
1560 Forest of the Hanged Liviu Rebreanu 1922 Romanian Romanian
1570 The Young Lions Irwin Shaw 1948 American English
1798 Washington Square Henry James 1880 American English
1807 Beware Of Pity Stefan Zweig 1939 Austrian German
2208 Waiting Ha Jin 1999 Chinese English
2239 The Twilight Years Sawako Ariyoshi 1972 Japanese Japanese
2287 The Cloister and the Hearth Charles Reade 1861 British English
2290 The White Guard Mikhail Bulgakov 1925 Russian Russian
2317 The Cruel Sea Nicholas Monsarrat 1951 British English
2448 The Rector's Daughter F. M. Mayor 1924 British English
2459 The Prisoner Of Zenda Anthony Hope 1894 British English
2462 Men At Arms Evelyn Waugh 1952 British English
2475 On Obligations Marcus Tullius Cicero -44 Roman Latin
2583 Good Behaviour Molly Keane 1981 Irish English
2590 Sir Charles Grandison Samuel Richardson 1753 British English
2879 The Patriot Antonio Fogazzaro 1906 Italian Italian
3037 They Were Counted Miklos Banffy 1934 Hungarian Hungarian
3086 Dragonflight Anne McCaffrey 1968 American English
3110 The Warden Anthony Trollope 1855 British English
3116 Principia Ethica George Edward Moore 1903 British English
3161 Weights And Measures Joseph Roth 1937 Austrian German
3173 A Simple Story S.Y. Agnon 1935 Israeli Hebrew
3239 Hms Ulysses Alistair MacLean 1955 Scottish English
3292 Bérénice Jean Racine 1670 French French
3306 Henry IV, Part I William Shakespeare 1597 British English
3324 Pepita Jimenez Juan Valera y Alcalá-Galiano 1874 Spanish Spanish
3324 None but the Brave Arthur Schnitzler 1895 Austrian German
3324 Life and Death of Harriett Frean May Sinclair 1922 British English
3324 Monica Saunders Lewis 1930 British Welsh
3376 Le Cid Pierre Corneille 1637 French French
3418 Plays Pierre Corneille 1641 French French
3460 Captain Pantoja And The Special Service Mario Vargas Llosa 1973 Peruvian Spanish
3501 Family Matters Rohinton Mistry 2002 Canadian English
3550 Gloriana Michael Moorcock 1978 British English
3596 Les Destinées Alfred de Vigny 1864 French French
3638 The Rider on the White Horse Theodor Storm 1888 German German
3638 Schach Von Wuthenow Theodor Fontane 1883 German German
3822 The Edge of the Sword Charles De Gaulle 1959 French French
3828 This Above All Eric Knight 1941 British English
3903 The Blue Sword Robin McKinley 1982 American English
4083 Death And The King's Horsemen Wole Soyinka 1975 Nigerian English
4134 The Nonexistent Knight Italo Calvino 1959 Italian Italian
4221 Iphigenia At Aulis Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
4260 A Nobleman's Nest Ivan Turgenev 1859 Russian Russian
4310 The Three Sisters May Sinclair 1914 British English
4468 Covenant With Death John Harris 1961 British English
4495 Soldiers Three Rudyard Kipling 1888 British English
4724 Mission Box Aris Alexandrou 1974 Greek Greek
4732 Don Carlos Friedrich Schiller 1787 German German
4743 The Commandant Jessica Anderson 1975 Australian English
4803 Brand Henrik Ibsen 1866 Norwegian Norwegian
4933 The Military Philosophers Anthony Powell 1968 British English
4937 The Baron's Sons Mór Jókai 1869 Hungarian Hungarian
4951 Sergeant Getúlio João Ubaldo Ribeiro 1971 Brazilian Portuguese
5103 Where Angels Fear to Tread E. M. Forster 1905 British English
5334 Starship Troopers Robert A. Heinlein 1959 American English
5494 Royally Screwed Emma Chase 2016 American English
5602 Doruntine Ismail Kadare 1980 Albanian Albanian
5846 Andromache Jean Racine 1667 French French
5914 The Cossacks Leo Tolstoy 1863 Russian Russian
6005 The Children Of The Sea Joseph Conrad 1897 British English
6152 The Thousand Autumns Of Jacob De Zoet David Mitchell 2010 British English
6376 The Priory Of The Orange Tree Samantha Shannon 2019 British English
6558 Hernani Victor Hugo 1830 French French
6870 The Mother Grazia Deledda 1920 Italian Italian
7021 Crito Plato -389 Greek Ancient greek
7066 Double Star Robert A. Heinlein 1956 American English
7216 The Mayor Of Zalamea Pedro Calderón de la Barca 1636 Spanish Spanish
7216 The Doctor Of His Own Honor Pedro Calderón de la Barca 1635 Spanish Spanish
7216 Polyeucte Pierre Corneille 1643 French French
7216 Horace Pierre Corneille 1640 French French
7216 Five Plays Heinrich von Kleist 1808 German German
7216 The Lady From The Sea Henrik Ibsen 1888 Norwegian Norwegian
7216 The Small House At Allington Anthony Trollope 1864 British English
7216 Can You Forgive Her? Anthony Trollope 1864 British English
7216 The Duke's Children Anthony Trollope 1880 British English
7216 Complete Plays Of Gilbert And Sullivan W. S. Gilbert 1938 British English
7216 Weir Of Hermiston Robert Louis Stevenson 1896 Scottish English
7216 Collected Stories Rudyard Kipling 1941 British English
7216 Complete Verse Rudyard Kipling 1940 British English
7216 A Princesa De Clèves Madame de La Fayette 1678 French French
7967 The Long March William Styron 1952 American English
7979 Spinning Silver Naomi Novik 2018 American English
8107 The District Governor's Daughters Camilla Collett 1854 Norwegian Norwegian