The Greatest Books of All Time on Human Rights

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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
112 The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank 1947 Dutch Dutch
206 The Gulag Archipelago Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 1973 Russian Russian
549 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry 1995 Indian English
550 Max Havelaar Multatuli 1860 Dutch Dutch
913 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass 1845 American English
1225 Untouchable Mulk Raj Anand 1935 Indian English
1260 The President Miguel Angel Asturias 1946 Guatemalan Spanish
1416 Rights of Man Thomas Paine 1791 British English
1462 An American Dilemma Gunnar Myrdal 1944 Swedish English
1700 The Hunger Angel Herta Müller 2009 German German
1925 The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Olaudah Equiano 1789 African English
2134 I Will Bear Witness Victor Klemperer 1995 German German
2643 Perpetual Peace Immanuel Kant 1795 German German
2752 Satyagraha in South Africa Gandhi 1928 Indian Gujarati
3088 I, Rigoberta Menchú Rigoberta Menchú Tum 1983 Guatemalan Spanish
3236 The Man Died Wole Soyinka 1972 Nigerian English
3300 The Red Record Ida B. Wells 1895 American English
3589 Just Mercy Bryan Stevenson 2014 American English
3620 Correspondence Voltaire 1751 French French
3623 Sepharad Antonio Muñoz Molina 2001 Spanish Spanish
3637 Charter of the United Nations United Nations 1945 Multiple English
3637 Armenian Atrocities Arnold J. Toynbee 1915 British English
3943 Of Love and Shadows Isabel Allende 1984 Chilean Spanish
4095 The Flaw Antonis Samarakis 1965 Greek Greek
4102 Life And Death In Shanghai Nien Cheng 1986 Chinese English
4159 We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families Philip Gourevitch 1998 American English
4275 Journey From St. Petersburg To Moscow Alexander Radishchev 1790 Russian Russian
4372 Irrlicht Und Feuer Max von der Grün 1963 German German
4431 Das Große Protokoll Gegen Zwetschkenbaum Albert Drach 1964 Austrian German
4443 Oblivion Héctor Abad Faciolince 2006 Colombian Spanish
4453 Zurita Raul Zurita 1979 Chilean Spanish
4527 Living In Truth Vaclav Havel 1986 Czech Czech
4615 Gulag Anne Applebaum 2003 American English
4734 The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation M. T. Anderson 2006 American English
4830 Cataract Mykhaylo Osadchy 1976 Ukrainian Ukrainian
5097 Where Do We Go From Here Martin Luther King 1967 American English
5448 Imperium Ryszard Kapuscinski 1993 Polish Polish
5589 Caste Isabel Wilkerson 2020 American English
5599 Bloodlands Timothy Snyder 2010 American English
5753 Shadows On The Tundra Dalia Grinkevičiutė 1997 Lithuanian Lithuanian
5929 Go Went Gone Jenny Erpenbeck 2015 German German
6005 Testimony Charles Reznikoff 1965 American English
6136 Country Of My Skull Antjie Krog 1998 South African Afrikaans
6219 Holocaust Charles Reznikoff 1975 American English
6266 Lowest Of The Low Günter Wallraff 1985 German German
6382 The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights United Nations 1948 Multiple English
6488 This Is The Hour Lion Feuchtwanger 1951 German German
6756 The Corpse Walker Liao Yiwu 2008 Chinese Chinese
6767 Harriet, The Moses Of Her People Sarah H. Bradford 1886 American English
6882 The Haunted Land Tina Rosenberg 1995 American English
6982 American Prison Shane Bauer 2018 American English
7086 A Short Border Handbook Gazmend Kapllani 2009 Greek Albanian
7739 No Turning Back Rania Abouzeid 2018 Unknown English
7766 As If I Am Not There Slavenka Drakulic 1999 Croatian English
7881 Safe Area Joe Sacco 2000 American English
7904 Move Your Shadow Joseph Lelyveld 1986 American English
8057 Cutting The Rose Efua Doorkenoo 1994 Ghanaian English
8107 The History Of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave Mary Prince 1831 British English
8324 Collected Stories Nadine Gordimer 1975 South African English
8458 March John Lewis 2013 American English
8639 Other Russias Victoria Lomasko 2017 Russian Russian
8745 Biko Donald Woods 1978 South African English
8863 The Warrior's Honor Michael Ignatieff 1997 Canadian English
8898 Are Prisons Obsolete? Angela Davis 2003 American English
8990 Falling Free Lois McMaster Bujold 1988 American English
9099 The Vanishing Generation Bagila Bukharbayeva 2019 Uzbek English
9193 Violation Sallie Tisdale 2016 American English
9193 A Sliver Of Light Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal, Sarah Shourd 2014 American English
9193 Irritable Hearts Mac McClelland 2015 Unknown English
9316 Exterminate All The Brutes Sven Lindqvist 1992 Swedish Swedish
9691 Development As Freedom Amartya Sen 1999 Indian English
9797 The Past Is Myself Christabel Bielenberg 1968 German English
9894 Bhimayana Srividya Natarajan, S. Anand 2011 Indian English
10082 To Shape A New World Tommie Shelby, Brandon M. Terry 2018 American English
10122 Angosta Héctor Abad Faciolince 2003 Colombian Spanish
10309 Walls Hiltgunt Zassenhaus 1974 German English
10454 Prisoner Without A Name, Cell Without A Number Jacobo Timerman 1981 Argentinian Spanish
10763 A Moonless, Starless Sky Alexis Okeowo 2017 American English
10927 Fear No Evil Natan Sharansky 1988 Israeli English
10947 Barracoon Zora Neale Hurston 2018 American English
10957 Tears in the Darkness Michael Norman, Elizabeth M. Norman 2009 American English
11046 My Seditious Heart Arundhati Roy 2019 Indian English
11141 A Problem from Hell Samantha Power 2002 American English
11141 Imperial Reckoning Caroline Elkins 2005 British English
11141 Devil in the Grove Gilbert King 2012 American English
11257 Scraps Of Life Marjorie Agosín 1983 Chilean Spanish
11337 Memoirs From The Women’s Prison Nawal El Saadawi 1983 Egyptian Arabic
11579 Abraham Lincoln Carl Sandburg 1939 American English
11663 The Dark Side Jane Mayer 2008 American English
11834 Cibola Burn James S. A. Corey 2014 American English
11901 Dumba Nengue, Run For Your Life Lina Magaia 1988 Mozambican Portuguese
11901 Grey Is The Colour Of Hope Irina Ratushinskaya 1988 Russian Russian
12123 The Palestine Laboratory Antony Loewenstein 2023 Australian English
12222 The Swallows Of Kabul Yasmina Khadra 2002 Algerian French
12259 The Women Outside Stephanie Golden 1990 American English
12326 Biting At The Grave Padraig O'Malley 1990 British English
12326 To End A War Richard Holbrooke 1998 American English
12834 Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume One Blanche Wiesen Cook 1992 American English
13279 This Blinding Absence Of Light Tahar Ben Jelloun 2001 French French
13269 Burmese Looking Glass Edith Mirante 1993 American English
14331 Execution Of Mayor Yin Chen Ruoxi 1978 Chinese Chinese
14375 Stones In The Wall Dai Houying 1980 Chinese Chinese
14599 Interventions Kofi Annan 2012 Ghanaian English
14680 A Full Life Jimmy Carter 2015 American English
14985 Blood in the Water Heather Ann Thompson 2016 American English
14985 East West Street Philippe Sands 2016 British English
14985 The Unit Ninni Holmqvist 2006 Swedish Swedish
15667 Do Not Disturb Michela Wrong 2021 British English
15916 Mi'raj Al Su'ud Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti, Hunqick J. 1615 Malian Unknown
17164 Newjack Ted Conover 2000 American English
17164 Encyclicals of Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII 1961 Vatican City Latin
17164 The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation David Brion Davis 2014 American English
17164 Death And The Maiden Ariel Dorfman 1991 Chilean Spanish
17164 Palestine Joe Sacco 1993 American English
17164 Red Notice Bill Browder 2015 American English
17164 Bent Martin Sherman 1979 British English
17164 Revolting Prostitutes Molly Smith, Juno Mac 2018 British English
17164 The House Of The Dead Daniel Beer 2017 British English
17164 The Blood Telegram Gary J. Bass 2013 American English
17164 The Faber Book Of Reportage John Carey 1987 British English