The Greatest Books of All Time on Empire

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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
123 Memoirs of Hadrian Marguerite Yourcenar 1951 French French
361 Foundation Isaac Asimov 1951 American English
481 The Lusiad Luís Vaz Camões 1572 Portuguese Portuguese
624 The Histories of Herodotus Herodotus -450 Greek Ancient greek
830 The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Edward Gibbon 1776 British English
1624 The Mediterranean And The Mediterranean World In The Age Of Philip Ii Fernand Braudel 1949 French French
1834 Histories Cornelius Tacitus 100 Roman Latin
3391 Napoleon Emil Ludwig 1926 German German
4499 The Rise And Fall Of The Great Powers Paul Kennedy 1987 British English
5123 Creation Gore Vidal 1981 American English
5702 Ancillary Justice Ann Leckie 2013 American English
6619 The Struggle For Mastery In Europe A. J. P. Taylor 1954 British English
6843 A History of the World in 100 Objects Neil MacGregor 2010 British English
6978 News From The Empire Fernando del Paso 1987 Mexican Spanish
7772 Napoleon Vincent Cronin 1971 British English
8061 The Anarchy William Dalrymple 2019 British English
8101 The Gates Of Europe Serhii Plokhy 2015 Ukrainian English
9904 A Memory Called Empire Arkady Martine 2019 American English
10365 A Desolation Called Peace Arkady Martine 2021 American English
10453 A Peace To End All Peace David Fromkin 1989 American English
11201 Mensagem Fernando Pessoa 1934 Portuguese Portuguese
11844 The Fate Of Rome Kyle Harper 2017 American English
12226 The Collapsing Empire John Scalzi 2017 American English
12326 Conquest Of Mexico Hugh Thomas 1993 British English
13239 The Last Emperox John Scalzi 2020 American English
13362 The History of the World Sir Walter Raleigh 1614 British English
13716 The Traitor Baru Cormorant Seth Dickinson 2015 American English
13737 Heir To The Empire Timothy Zahn 1991 American English
13763 Foundation And Empire Isaac Asimov 1952 American English
13971 The Consuming Fire John Scalzi 2018 American English
14025 Time's Monster Priya Satia 2020 American English
14078 The Tyrant Baru Cormorant Seth Dickinson 2020 American English
14132 A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Winston Churchill 1956 British English
14138 The Mule Isaac Asimov 1945 American English
14194 Julian Gore Vidal 1964 American English
14192 Pax Britannica James Morris 1968 British English
14431 The Greatness And Decline Of Rome Guglielmo Ferrero 1907 Italian Italian
14520 Why America Is Not A New Rome Vaclav Smil 2010 Canadian English
14762 The Histories Polybius -150 Greek Greek
14985 Imperial Caesar Rex Warner 1960 British English
14985 Sailing To Sarantium Guy Gavriel Kay 1998 Canadian English
14985 The Last Mughal William Dalrymple 2006 British English
15914 Judgment Night C. L. Moore 1952 American English
17162 The Triumphant Empire Lawrence H. Gipson 1948 American English
17162 Exploration and Empire William H. Goetzmann 1966 American English
17162 Embers of War Fredrik Logevall 2012 American English
17162 Liberty's Exiles Maya Jasanoff 2011 American English
17162 The Jasmine Throne Tasha Suri 2021 British English
17162 Empireland Sathnam Sanghera 2021 British English
17162 Black And British David Olusoga 2016 British English
17162 Aftermath Chuck Wendig 2015 American English
17162 Aztec Century Christopher Evans 1993 British English
17162 An Unfinished History Of The World Hugh Thomas 1979 British English
17162 Persian Fire Tom Holland 2005 British English
17162 From The Ruins Of Empire Pankaj Mishra 2012 Indian English
17162 Kalpa Imperial Angélica Gorodischer 1983 Argentinian Spanish
17162 The Middle Kingdoms Martyn Rady 2023 Unknown English
17162 The Washing Of The Spears Donald R. Morris 1965 American English
17162 The History Of The Medieval World Susan Wise Bauer 2010 American English
17162 Augustus Allan Massie 1986 British English
17162 The Court Of The Lion Eleanor Cooney, Daniel Altieri 1988 Unknown English
17162 The Chinese Emperor Jean Levi 1985 French French
17162 The Moghul Thomas Hoover 1983 American English
17162 The Incas Daniel Peters 1991 Unknown English
17162 Emperor Of Rome Mary Beard 2023 British English
17162 The Scythian Empire Christopher I. Beckwith 2023 Unknown English
17162 Colossus Niall Ferguson 2004 British English
17162 Secret History Of The Mongols Paul Kahn 1984 Unknown English
17162 Howling Dark Christopher Ruocchio 2019 American English
16936 The History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire Volume Iii Edward Gibbon 1781 British English
17162 The Complete Malazan Book Of The Fallen Steven Erikson Canadian English
16878 Frank Herbert's Dune Saga 6 Book Boxed Set Frank Herbert 1965 American English
17091 Mémoires D'hadrien, Carnets De Notes De Mémoires D'hadrien Marguerite Yourcenar 1951 French French