The Greatest Books of All Time Set in France

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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
2200 Death Of A Hero Richard Aldington 1929 British English
2201 Arch Of Triumph Erich Maria Remarque 1945 German German
2202 The Kindly Ones Jonathan Littell 2006 French French
2212 Collected Stories W. Somerset Maugham 1951 British English
2241 Collected Poems Arthur Rimbaud 1898 French French
2249 The Physiology Of Taste Or Meditations On Transcendental Gastronomy Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin 1825 French French
2270 The Nun Denis Diderot 1796 French French
2272 The Wretched of the Earth Frantz Fanon 1961 Algerian French
2278 One of Ours Willa Cather 1922 American English
2284 Smiley's People John le Carré 1979 British English
2286 The Cloister and the Hearth Charles Reade 1861 British English
2295 My Father's Glory Marcel Pagnol 1957 French French
2301 Le Roman Inachevé Louis Aragon 1956 French French
2330 Whitney, My Love Judith McNaught 1985 American English
2334 Moderato Cantabile Marguerite Duras 1958 French French
2348 Poems Of Louis Aragon Louis Aragon 1920 French French
2356 The Fruits of the Earth André Gide 1897 French French
2361 On the Heights of Despair Emil Cioran 1934 Romanian Romanian
2368 The Arcades Project Walter Benjamin 1982 German German
2372 The Man Who Planted Trees Jean Giono 1953 French French
2373 The Vagabond Colette 1910 French French
2373 Roxana Daniel Defoe 1724 British English
2386 Viper’s Tangle François Mauriac 1932 French French
2389 It Can't Always Be Caviar Johannes Mario Simmel 1960 Austrian German
2425 Platform Michel Houellebecq 2001 French French
2434 The Scarlet Pimpernel Baroness Emmuska Orczy 1905 British English
2446 The Map And The Territory Michel Houellebecq 2010 French French
2450 Henry V William Shakespeare 1600 British English
2478 L'acacia Claude Simon 1989 French French
2491 The Moon And Sixpence W. Somerset Maugham 1919 British English
2506 Memoirs of Louis XIV Louis de Rouvroy Saint-Simon (duc de) 1740 French French
2513 Howl, Kaddish And Other Poems Allen Ginsberg 1956 American English
2521 Waiting For God Simone Weil 1950 French French
2530 The Mystery Of The Yellow Room Gaston Leroux 1907 French French
2547 The Thinking Reed Rebecca West 1936 British English
2548 The Enormous Room E. E. Cummings 1922 American English
2548 Her Privates We Frederic Manning 1929 Australian English
2568 Poesías Completas Antonio Machado 1940 Spanish Spanish
2572 Childhood Nathalie Sarraute 1983 French French
2577 The Diary of Anais Nin, 1931-1934 Anaïs Nin 1966 French English
2579 Les Contemplations Victor Hugo 1856 French French
2602 Darkness Visible William Styron 1990 American English
2604 The Wars Timothy Findley 1977 Canadian English
2610 Whatever Michel Houellebecq 1994 French French
2627 Capital in the Twenty-First Century Thomas Piketty 2013 French French
2649 Gemini Michel Tournier 1975 French French
2654 Suicide Emile Durkheim 1897 French French
2662 Daughters of Fire Gerard de Nerval 1854 French French
2672 The Mysteries Of Paris Eugène Sue 1842 French French
2700 Existentialism And Humanism Jean Paul Sartre 1946 French French
2703 The Nightingale Kristin Hannah 2015 American English
2708 A Lover's Discourse Roland Barthes 1977 French French
2710 Les Caractères Jean de La Bruyère 1688 French French
2717 The Great War and Modern Memory Paul Fussell 1975 American English
2729 La légende des siècles Victor Hugo 1859 French French
2746 Erec And Enide Chrétien de Troyes 1160 French Old french
2751 Decisive Moments in History Stefan Zweig 1927 Austrian German
2752 Young Henry Of Navarre Heinrich Mann 1935 German German
2782 The Legend Of Thyl Ulenspiegel And Lamme Goedzak Charles de Coster 1867 Belgian French
2780 Lay Down Your Arms! Bertha von Suttner 1889 Austrian German
2788 A Cultural History Of The Modern Age Egon Friedell 1927 Austrian English
2804 Mastering the Art of French Cooking Julia Child, Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle 1961 American English
2814 La Débâcle Émile Zola 1892 French French
2846 Things Georges Perec 1965 French French
2875 The Horseman on the Roof Jean Giono 1951 French French
2905 Longsword, Earl Of Salisbury Thomas Leland 1762 Irish English
2910 Villa Des Roses Willem Elsschot 1913 Belgian Dutch
2913 Délie Maurice Scève 1544 French French
2913 A Simple Soul Gustave Flaubert 1877 French French
2921 Maigret And The Headless Corpse Georges Simenon 1955 Belgian French
2939 Tales Of A Traveller Washington Irving 1824 American English
2951 Some Hope Edward St Aubyn 1994 British English
2963 Au Bonheur Des Dames Émile Zola 1883 French French
2966 The Erasers Alain Robbe-Grillet 1953 French French
2965 In A Dark Wood Wandering Hella S. Haasse 1949 Dutch Dutch
2978 My Friends Emmanuel Bove 1924 French French
2985 The Vampire Lestat Anne Rice 1985 American English
3003 The Savage Mind Claude Lévi-Strauss 1962 French French
3006 Scaramouche Rafael Sabatini 1921 Italian English
3008 Camera Lucida Roland Barthes 1980 French French
3016 The American Henry James 1877 American English
3022 The Madman Of Bergerac Georges Simenon 1932 Belgian French
3054 National Episodes Benito Pérez Galdós 1873 Spanish Spanish
3067 Montaillou Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie 1975 French French
3092 Disturbance Philippe Lançon 2018 French French
3131 Little Nicholas Rene Goscinny 1959 French French
3132 The Man Who Loved Dogs Leonardo Padura 2009 Cuban Spanish
3136 Mother's Milk Edward St Aubyn 2005 British English
3149 Chronicles Jean Froissart 1370 French Middle french
3192 The Age of Reason Thomas Paine 1794 British English
3193 The Aesthetics Of Resistance Peter Weiss 1975 German German
3200 Story Of A Soul Thérèse of Lisieux 1898 French French
3203 Trap For Cinderella Sebastien Japrisot 1963 French French
3207 Submission Michel Houellebecq 2015 French French
3212 Betty Blue Philippe Djian 1985 French French
3221 Aphrodite Pierre Louÿs 1896 French French
3248 Memoirs of Cardinal De Retz Cardinal de Retz 1717 French French
3249 A Distant Mirror Barbara Wertheim Tuchman 1978 American English
3276 The Complete Plays of Jean Racine Jean Racine 1677 French French
3279 Holy Week Louis Aragon 1958 French French
3286 Three Strong Women Marie NDiaye 2009 French French
3299 The Gallic War And Other Writings Gaius Julius Caesar -58 Roman Latin
3304 Personal Recollections Of Joan Of Arc Mark Twain 1896 American English
3309 The Theater and Its Double Antonin Artaud 1938 French French
3315 The Afternoon of Monsieur Andesmas Marguerite Duras 1962 French French
3324 Reveries of a Solitary Walker Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1782 French French
3324 Tarr Wyndham Lewis 1918 British English
3324 Retreat Without Song Shahan Shahnur 1929 Armenian Armenian
3324 Summer Will Show Sylvia Townsend Warner 1936 British English
3324 Arcanum 17 André Breton 1944 French French
3324 L'Abbé C Georges Bataille 1950 French French
3374 A Man's Place Annie Ernaux 1983 French French
3387 Human Poems César Vallejo 1939 Peruvian Spanish
3391 Napoleon Emil Ludwig 1926 German German
3418 Plays Pierre Corneille 1641 French French
3424 Common Sense Thomas Paine 1776 British English
3475 The Campaign of the Marne Sewell Tyng 1927 American English
3492 Selected Poems Pierre Ronsard 1501 French French
3495 The Return Of Martin Guerre Natalie Zemon Davis 1983 Unknown English
3496 Devil's Cub Georgette Heyer 1932 British English