The Greatest Books of All Time on Law

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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
19 The Bible Unknown -1400 Jewish Hebrew, aramaic, greek
21 The Trial Franz Kafka 1925 Czech German
109 In Cold Blood Truman Capote 1966 American English
121 Bleak House Charles Dickens 1852 British English
125 Antigone Sophocles -441 Greek Ancient greek
277 The Pickwick Papers Charles Dickens 1836 British English
345 Leviathan Thomas Hobbes 1651 British English
397 Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel 2009 British English
724 Michael Kohlhaas Heinrich von Kleist 1810 German German
997 The Judge and His Hangman Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1950 Swiss German
1154 True History of the Kelly Gang Peter Carey 2000 Australian English
1190 The Spirit Of The Laws Montesquieu 1748 French French
1264 The Franchise Affair Josephine Tey 1948 British English
1267 Billy Budd Herman Melville 1924 American English
1362 The Heart Of Midlothian Sir Walter Scott 1818 Scottish English
1455 Antigone Jean Anouilh 1944 French French
1491 Presumed Innocent Scott Turow 1987 American English
1550 Njal's Saga Iceland 1280 Icelandic Old norse
1590 Germania Cornelius Tacitus 98 Roman Latin
1685 Burr Gore Vidal 1973 American English
1801 A Time To Kill John Grisham 1989 American English
1908 Smallbone Deceased Michael Gilbert 1950 British English
1940 The Four Just Men Edgar Wallace 1905 British English
2070 The Round House Louise Erdrich 2012 American English
2091 Strong Poison Dorothy L. Sayers 1930 British English
2125 True Grit Charles Portis 1968 American English
2429 A View From The Bridge Arthur Miller 1955 American English
2485 The Firm John Grisham 1991 American English
2525 Old Filth Jane Gardam 2004 British English
2643 Perpetual Peace Immanuel Kant 1795 German German
2724 A Man For All Seasons Robert Bolt 1960 American English
2731 The Executioner's Song Norman Mailer 1979 American English
2967 The Sea John Banville 2005 Irish English
3110 The Warden Anthony Trollope 1855 British English
3313 Roughing It Mark Twain 1872 American English
3491 Democracy and Leadership Irving Babbitt 1924 American English
3500 Reflections of a Russian Statesman Konstantin P. Pobedonostsev 1898 Russian Russian
3508 The Journalist and the Murderer Janet Malcolm 1990 American English
3509 Joe Cinque's Consolation Helen Garner 2004 Australian English
3556 Tragedy At Law Cyril Hare 1942 British English
3638 Charter of the United Nations United Nations 1945 Multiple English
3890 The Concept Of Law H. L. A. Hart 1961 British English
4068 Lives Other Than My Own Emmanuel Carrère 2009 French French
4158 The Assemblywomen Aristophanes -391 Greek Ancient greek
4208 The Case Worker György Konrád 1969 Hungarian Hungarian
4231 The Wasps Aristophanes -422 Greek Ancient greek
4421 The Voysey Inheritance Harley Granville Barker 1905 British English
4483 The Eustace Diamonds Anthony Trollope 1871 British English
5019 Broken April Ismail Kadare 1978 Albanian Albanian
5150 Clouds Of Witness Dorothy L. Sayers 1926 British English
5360 The Treaty Of Waitangi Claudia Orange 1987 New Zealand English
5583 Professor Martens' Departure Jaan Kross 1984 Estonian Estonian
5719 Anatomy Of A Murder Robert Traver 1958 American English
5918 Orley Farm Anthony Trollope 1862 British English
6005 Testimony Charles Reznikoff 1965 American English
6084 Dissolution C. J. Sansom 2003 British English
6176 Gideon Of Scotland Yard J. J. Marric 1955 British English
6223 Justice Michael J. Sandel 2007 American English
6748 De Advocaat Van De Hanen A. F. Th. van der Heijden 1990 Dutch Dutch
6767 The Common Law Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. 1881 American English
7011 The Free Sea Hugo Grotius 2004 Dutch Latin
7021 Crito Plato -389 Greek Ancient greek
7048 The King Of Torts John Grisham 2003 American English
7094 The Color Of Law Richard Rothstein 2017 American English
7216 No Name Wilkie Collins 1862 British English
7216 Weir Of Hermiston Robert Louis Stevenson 1896 Scottish English
7909 The Lincoln Lawyer Michael Connelly 2005 American English
7961 The Starr Report Kenneth W. Starr 1998 American English
8220 Rumpole Of The Bailey John Mortimer 1978 British English
8557 The Tall Man Chloe Hooper 2008 Australian English
8664 Taking Rights Seriously Ronald Dworkin 1977 American English
8770 John Adams David McCullough 2001 American English
9001 The Emperor Of Ocean Park Stephen L. Carter 2002 American English
9178 War Powers Peter Irons 1987 American English
9182 Red Clocks Leni Zumas 2018 American English
9192 Violation Sallie Tisdale 2016 American English
9237 Primal Fear William Diehl 1993 American English
9301 The Client John Grisham 1993 American English
9533 Black Water Rising Attica Locke 2009 American English
9742 Crime Ferdinand Von Schirach 2009 German German
9824 The Collini Case Ferdinand Von Schirach 2011 German German
9921 Critical Race Theory Kimberle Crenshaw, Neil Gotanda, Gary Peller, Kendall Thomas 1995 American English
10233 We The People Jill Lepore 2025 American English
10303 Judgment At Tokyo Gary J. Bass 2023 Unknown English
10548 The Character Of Physical Law Richard P. Feynman 1965 American English
10633 History Of England David Hume 1754 British English
10824 The Ox Bow Incident Walter Van Tilburg Clark 1940 American English
10845 Who Controls The Internet? Tim Wu, Jack Goldsmith 2006 American English
10918 Common As Air Lewis Hyde 2010 American English
11135 The Widows Of Malabar Hill Sujata Massey 2018 American English
11141 A Problem from Hell Samantha Power 2002 American English
11422 The Onion Field Joseph Wambaugh 1973 American English
11480 Jessica Bryce Courtenay 1998 Australian English
11529 Selected Speeches Demosthenes, Robin Waterfield -322 Greek Greek
11547 Ten Thousand A Year Samuel Warren 1839 British English
11663 The Dark Side Jane Mayer 2008 American English
11663 The Nine Jeffrey Toobin 2007 American English
11663 A Machine That Would Go Of Itself Michael Kammen 1987 American English
11663 Original Intent And The Framers' Constitution Leonard W. Levy 1988 American English
11663 We The Corporations Adam Winkler 2018 American English
11941 Charles Evans Hughes Merlo J. Pusey 1951 American English
11941 Edmund Pendleton 1721–1803 David J. Mays 1952 American English
11941 The Man From New York Benjamin Lawrence Reid 1968 American English
12030 The Heather Blazing Colm Toibin 1992 Irish English
12050 Survivor’s Guilt Robyn Gigl 2023 American English
12326 Judge On Trial Ivan Klima 1991 Czech Czech
12326 Lincoln David Herbert Donald 1995 American English
12326 Overcoming Law Richard A. Posner 1995 American English
12326 An Affair Of State Richard A. Posner 1999 American English
12788 The Jailhouse Lawyer Calvin Duncan, Sophie Cull 2025 Unknown English
12875 The Containment Michelle Adams 2025 Unknown English
12958 38 Londres Street Philippe Sands 2025 British English
13113 Their Accomplices Wore Robes Brando Simeo Starkey 2025 Unknown English
13362 The Great Speeches And Orations Of Daniel Webster Daniel Webster 1851 American English
13597 Strangers And Brothers C. P. Snow 1940 British English
13600 Raboliot Maurice Genevoix 1925 French French
14111 Epistulae Pliny the Younger 100 Roman Latin
14335 Beyond Smoke And Mirrors Douglas S. Massey 2002 American English
14335 India Under British Rule From The Foundation Of The East India Company James Talboys Wheeler 1874 British English
14487 Modern Egypt Evelyn Baring, Earl of Cromer 1908 British English