The Greatest Books of All Time on Intellectual Life

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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
568 The Mandarins Simone de Beauvoir 1954 French French
855 A Moveable Feast Ernest Hemingway 1964 American English
868 Henry James Leon Edel 1953 American English
923 The World Of Yesterday Stefan Zweig 1942 Austrian German
2576 Patriotic Gore Edmund Wilson 1962 American English
3312 Roughing It Mark Twain 1872 American English
4140 The Liars' Club Mary Karr 1995 American English
4659 Lanterns on the Levee William Alexander Percy 1941 American English
4737 Shadow and ACT Ralph Ellison 1964 American English
5119 North Toward Home Willie Morris 1967 American English
7665 The Flowering of New England Van Wyck Brooks 1936 American English
10789 Jackson Pollock Steven Naifeh, Gregory White Smith 1989 American English
11663 The Club Leo Damrosch 2019 American English
11663 With A Daughter's Eye Mary Catherine Bateson 1984 American English
12657 The Spiral Ascent Edward Upward British English
15919 Boswell's London Journal, 1762-1763 James Boswell 1950 British English
17171 Mistress to an Age J. Christopher Herold 1958 American English