The Greatest Books of All Time on Humanity

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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
3278 Up in the Old Hotel Joseph Mitchell 1992 American English
3324 Reveries of a Solitary Walker Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1782 French French
3324 Compassion Benito Pérez Galdós 1897 Spanish Spanish
3324 The Guiltless Hermann Broch 1950 Austrian German
3375 Juan De Mairena Antonio Machado 1936 Spanish Spanish
3397 King Rat James Clavell 1962 British English
3409 The Glass Bees Ernst Jünger 1957 German German
3409 The Manila Rope Veijo Meri 1957 Finnish Finnish
3420 In The Country Of Last Things Paul Auster 1987 American English
3431 The Stories of Ray Bradbury Ray Bradbury 1980 American English
3479 The Use Of Man Aleksandar Tišma 1976 Serbian Serbo-croatian
3514 Poems, 1913 1956 Bertolt Brecht 1976 German German
3528 Poetry and the Age Randall Jarrell 1953 American English
3552 The Cloven Viscount Italo Calvino 1952 Italian Italian
3638 And where Were You, Adam? Heinrich Böll 1951 German German
3638 Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial Sir Thomas Browne 1658 British English
3638 Notes From The Blockade Lydia Ginzburg 1960 Russian Russian
3638 The Temptation To Exist Emil Cioran 1956 Romanian French
3638 The Gods Will Have Blood Anatole France 1912 French French
3638 The Invisible Flag Peter Bamm 1952 German German
3638 Gods, Graves, And Scholars C. W. Ceram 1949 German German
3638 Sämtliche Werke Des Wandsbecker Boten Matthias Claudius 1775 German German
3638 Who Once Eats Out Of The Tin Bowl Hans Fallada 1934 German German
3638 The Burnt Offering Albrecht Goes 1955 German German
3638 The Crusaders Stefan Heym 1948 German English
3638 The Future Has Already Begun Robert Jungk 1952 Austrian German
3638 Stalingrad Theodor Plievier 1948 German German
3638 Nuremberg Chronicle Hartmann Schedel 1493 German Latin
3638 Everyman Hugo von Hofmannsthal 1911 Austrian German
3833 The Obsolescence Of Man Günther Anders 1956 German German
3833 The Doctor Of Stalingrad Heinz G. Konsalik 1956 German German
3892 Beauty On Earth Charles Ferdinand Ramuz 1927 French French
3916 The Complete Poems of Marianne Moore Marianne Moore 1967 American English
3954 Το φως που καίει Kostas Varnalis 1922 Greek Greek
3954 A Prisoner Of War’s Story Stratis Doukas 1929 Greek Greek
3954 Η Αυλή των Θαυμάτων Iakovos Kambanellis 1962 Greek Greek
3954 Το Πλατύ Ποτάμι Yiannis Beratis 1946 Greek Greek
3954 Η Γυναίκα της Ζακύνθου Dionysios Solomos 1829 Greek Greek
4080 The Life Of Jesus Ernest Renan 1863 French French
4154 Collected Poems Nils Ferlin 1947 Swedish Swedish
4154 Like A Tear In The Ocean Manès Sperber 1961 Unknown German
4166 Confederates Thomas Keneally 1979 Australian English
4167 Vasili Tyorkin Alexander Tvardovsky 1943 Russian Russian
4171 Dissipatio H.G. Guido Morselli 1977 Italian Italian
4179 De Kellner En De Levenden Simon Vestdijk 1949 Dutch Dutch
4204 Darwin's Radio Greg Bear 1999 American English
4228 Each Day Catches Fire Imants Ziedonis 1978 Latvian Latvian
4269 Sevastopol Sketches Leo Tolstoy 1855 Russian Russian
4279 Fallen Leaves Vasily Rozanov 1913 Russian Russian
4372 The Long Voyage Jorge Semprún 1963 French French
4431 The Family of Man Edward Steichen 1955 American English
4476 Al Mawt `Ala Al Asfalt `Abd al-Rahman Abnudi 1960 Egyptian Arabic
4481 Revenge Of The Lawn Richard Brautigan 1971 American English
4492 Niourk Stefan Wul 1957 French French
4511 Out Of The Fire Ales Adamovich, Yanka Bryl, Vladimir Kolesnik 1981 Belarusian Russian
4544 Ingenious Pain Andrew Miller 1997 British English
4561 The Lady's Not For Burning Christopher Fry 1948 British English
4582 Antiworlds Andrey Voznesensky 1964 Russian Russian
4653 The Forever War Dexter Filkins 2008 American English
4688 The Lord Romano Guardini 1934 German German
4746 Oeuvre Poétique Léopold Sédar Senghor 1964 Senegalese French
4758 The Faculty of Useless Knowledge Yuri Dombrovsky 1976 Russian Russian
4879 To The End Of The World Blaise Cendrars 1957 French French
4896 Abel Alone Áron Tamási 1932 Hungarian Hungarian
4900 Lord Of The World Robert Hugh Benson 1907 British English
4931 The Poorhouse Fair John Updike 1959 American English
4957 The Centaur Algernon Blackwood 1911 British English
4978 God In Search Of Man Abraham Joshua Heschel 1955 American English
4979 Klara And The Sun Kazuo Ishiguro 2021 British English
5013 Zone One Colson Whitehead 2011 American English
5026 Dying As A Country Dimitris Dimitriadis 1978 Greek Greek
5102 The Doctor Stories William Carlos Williams 1984 American English
5252 The War Hound And The World's Pain Michael Moorcock 1981 British English
5271 I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream Harlan Ellison 1967 American English
5316 The Vampire Tapestry Suzy McKee Charnas 1980 American English
5362 Foundations Of Christian Faith Karl Rahner 1976 German German
5393 Poems Of Alexander Pope Alexander Pope 1711 British English
5417 The Brodeck Report Philippe Claudel 2007 French French
5448 Così Parlò Bellavista Luciano De Crescenzo 1977 Italian Italian
5488 Body Rags Galway Kinnell 1968 American English
5488 The Voices of Marrakesh Elias Canetti 1968 Bulgarian German
5500 After the Flood P. C. Jersild 1982 Swedish Swedish
5502 Warsaw Diary Kazimierz Brandys 1978 Polish Polish
5529 The Rise And Fall Of The Third Chimpanzee Jared Diamond 1991 American English
5608 The Imperative Of Responsibility Hans Jonas 1979 German German
5682 The Illustrated Man Ray Bradbury 1951 American English
5714 The Gallery John Horne Burns 1947 American English
5783 The Sergeant In The Snow Mario Rigoni Stern 1953 Italian Italian
5863 The Last Days of Mankind Karl Kraus 1919 Austrian German
5863 Centuries, Poems, And Thanksgivings Thomas Traherne 1903 British English
5938 Rendezvous with Rama Arthur C. Clarke 1973 British English
5939 Jesus Menschensohn Rudolf Augstein 1982 German German
5960 The Time Ships Stephen Baxter 1995 British English
6005 The Children Of The Sea Joseph Conrad 1897 British English
6005 Waiting For Nothing And Other Writings Tom Kromer 1935 American English
6005 Batailles Dans La Montagne Jean Giono 1937 French French
6005 Ceux De 14 Maurice Genevoix 1949 French French
6005 Night Edgar Hilsenrath 1964 German German
6005 Note Conjointe Charles Péguy 1914 French French
6005 Things Seen Victor Hugo 1887 French French
6005 Tous N'étaient Pas Des Anges Joseph Kessel 1970 French French
6132 The Fool In Christ Gerhart Hauptmann 1910 German German
6135 The Dance Of Life Havelock Ellis 1923 British English
6161 The Star Of Redemption Franz Rosenzweig 1971 German German
6219 Holocaust Charles Reznikoff 1975 American English
6250 Great Apes Will Self 1997 British English
6266 So Laßt Uns Denn Ein Apfelbäumchen Pflanzen Hoimar von Ditfurth 1985 German German
6277 The Narrow Road To The Deep North Richard Flanagan 2013 Australian English
6285 Earth Abides George Rippey Stewart 1949 American English
6292 Amers Saint-John Perse 1957 French French
6325 The Voices Of Silence Andre Malraux 1951 French French
6404 Crossing The Threshold Of Hope Pope John Paul II 1994 Italian Italian
6414 All Systems Red Martha Wells 2017 American English
6432 Ideas and Opinions Albert Einstein 1954 German English
6437 Blood Music Greg Bear 1985 American English
6448 Warngedichte Erich Fried 1987 Austrian German
6528 The Painter Of Battles Arturo Pérez-Reverte 2006 Spanish Spanish
6564 Avalanche Blaga Dimitrova 1980 Bulgarian Bulgarian
6589 The Works Of Johannes Bobrowski Johannes Bobrowski 1969 German German
6623 The Life of Insects Victor Pelevin 1993 Russian Russian