The Greatest Books of All Time on Manipulation

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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
14 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov 1955 American English
73 The Portrait of a Lady Henry James 1881 American English
169 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Muriel Spark 1961 British, Scottish English
210 Dangerous Liaison Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 1782 French French
233 The Spy Who Came in From the Cold John le Carré 1963 British English
261 Wings of the Dove Henry James 1902 American English
401 Celestina Or The Tragic-Comedy Of Calisto And Melibea Fernando de Rojas 1499 Spanish Spanish
442 The Magus John Fowles 1965 British English
449 Les Enfants Terribles Jean Cocteau 1929 French French
493 Auto Da Fé Elias Canetti 1935 Bulgarian German
533 Cousin Bette Honoré de Balzac 1846 French French
589 Bel Ami Guy de Maupassant 1885 French French
791 Gone Girl Gillian Flynn 2012 American English
793 The Sirens of Titan Kurt Vonnegut 1959 American English
894 Rosemary's Baby Ira Levin 1967 American English
950 Richard III William Shakespeare 1592 British English
984 Tartuffe Molière 1664 French French
1047 The Egoist George Meredith 1879 British English
1109 Othello William Shakespeare 1603 British English
1240 Strangers On A Train Patricia Highsmith 1950 American English
1547 What Maisie Knew Henry James 1897 American English
1576 The Hidden Persuaders Vance Packard 1957 American English
1636 The Collector John Fowles 1963 British English
1679 The Killer Inside Me Jim Thompson 1952 American English
1865 Elmer Gantry Sinclair Lewis 1927 American English
1881 The Machiavellians James Burnham 1943 American English
1937 Geek Love Katherine Dunn 1989 American English
2082 Santa Evita Tomás Eloy Martínez 1995 Argentinian Spanish
2121 Julius Caesar William Shakespeare 1623 British English
2196 That Hideous Strength C. S. Lewis 1945 British English
2274 Hedda Gabler Henrik Ibsen 1890 Norwegian Norwegian
2444 The Space Merchants Frederik Pohl, C. M. Kornbluth 1952 American English
2556 Alamut Vladimir Bartol 1938 Slovenian Slovene
2605 Ender's Game Orson Scott Card 1985 American English
2630 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Bertolt Brecht 1941 German German
2675 Deep Water Patricia Highsmith 1957 American English
3146 Carrion Comfort Dan Simmons 1989 American English
3609 The Knights Aristophanes -424 Greek Ancient greek
3638 The Language Of The Third Reich Victor Klemperer 1947 German German
3840 Gog Andrew Sinclair 1967 British English
3896 The Planetarium Nathalie Sarraute 1959 French French
4167 Miss Julie August Strindberg 1888 Swedish Swedish
4256 Scenes From The Past Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin 1869 Russian Russian
4258 The Father August Strindberg 1887 Swedish Swedish
4734 Woman Of Straw Catherine Arley 1956 French French
4787 The Way Of The World William Congreve 1700 British English
4789 The Master Builder Henrik Ibsen 1892 Norwegian Norwegian
5019 The King David Report Stefan Heym 1972 German German
5722 Politics And The English Language George Orwell 1946 British English
5812 The Malcontent John Marston 1604 British English
5860 The School for Wives Molière 1662 French French
5887 The Girl With The Golden Eyes Honoré de Balzac 1835 French French
5948 Cigarettes Harry Mathews 1987 American English
5965 Pornografia Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
6240 Volpone Ben Jonson 1607 British English
6655 Aus Dem Wörterbuch Des Unmenschen Dolf Sternberger 1989 German German
6660 You Caroline Kepnes 2014 American English
6790 The True Deceiver Tove Jansson 1982 Finnish Swedish
6846 Dirty Tricks Michael Dibdin 1991 British English
6928 The Repairer Of Reputations Robert W. Chambers 1895 American English
6936 Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Joyce Carol Oates 1966 American English
7086 The Crocodile Bird Ruth Rendell 1993 British English
7205 The Pharmacist Ingrid Noll 1994 German German
7215 The Mandrake Niccolo Machiavelli 1518 Italian Italian
7215 The Dance Of Death August Strindberg 1900 Swedish Swedish
7215 The Woman Of The Pharisees François Mauriac 1941 French French
7215 Lulu Plays Frank Wedekind 1895 German German
7737 Becoming Madame Mao Anchee Min 2000 American English
7860 The Rehearsal Jean Anouilh 1950 French French
7963 Nothing Is True And Everything Is Possible Peter Pomerantsev 2014 British English
8176 Cards Of Identity Nigel Dennis 1955 British English
8176 Lilith J.R. Salamanca 1961 American English
8526 The Secret History Procopius 550 Multiple Greek
9168 Oleanna David Mamet 1992 American English
9191 The Confidence Game Maria Konnikova 2015 American English
9926 The Eagle's Throne Carlos Fuentes 2002 Mexican Spanish
10607 The Alchemist Ben Jonson 1610 British English
10907 Samedi The Deafness Jesse Ball 2007 American English
11172 Philosophy In The Boudoir Marquis de Sade 1795 French French
11286 Heartsick Chelsea Cain 2007 American English
11322 The Prince R. M. Koster 1972 Unknown English
11466 The Real Charlotte Edith Somerville, Violet Florence Martin 1894 Irish English
11793 Felicia's Journey William Trevor 1994 British English
12014 Hygiene And The Assassin Amélie Nothomb 1992 Belgian French
12048 The Visit Of The Royal Physician Per Olov Enquist 1999 Swedish Swedish
13318 A Deepness in the Sky Vernor Vinge 1999 American English
13359 The Seersucker Whipsaw Ross Thomas 1967 American English
13556 The Spoils of Poynton Henry James 1897 American English
13599 L'araigne Henri Troyat French French
13599 Brecht's Lover Jacques-Pierre Amette 2003 French French
13715 The Traitor Baru Cormorant Seth Dickinson 2015 American English
13765 Second Foundation Isaac Asimov 1953 American English
13971 The Monster Baru Cormorant Seth Dickinson 2018 American English
14011 The Houseguest Thomas Berger 1988 American English
14078 The Tyrant Baru Cormorant Seth Dickinson 2020 American English
14138 The Mule Isaac Asimov 1945 American English
14162 The Little Foxes Lillian Hellman 1939 American English
14212 Ender's War Orson Scott Card 1985 American English
14232 Glengarry Glen Ross David Mamet 1984 American English
14403 The Titan Theodore Dreiser 1914 American English
14457 The Image Men J. B. Priestley 1968 British English
14924 The End Of Eternity Isaac Asimov 1955 American English
14984 Notes on a Scandal Zoë Heller 2003 British English
14984 The Player Of Games Iain Banks 1988 Scottish English
14984 The Real Story Stephen R. Donaldson 1991 American English
15826 Laughter In The Dark Vladimir Nabokov 1932 Russian Russian
15898 The Protocols of the Elders of Zion Unknown 1903 Multiple Russian
15898 Success Lion Feuchtwanger 1930 German German
15898 The West Pier Patrick Hamilton 1952 British English
15898 A House And Its Head Ivy Compton-Burnett 1935 British English
16595 Trilby Charles Lomon 1894 British Unknown
16707 Diary Of A Seducer Soren Kierkegaard 1843 Danish Danish
16883 The Flight from the Enchanter Iris Murdoch 1956 British English
17120 Mother And Son Ivy Compton-Burnett 1955 British English
17120 Bug Jack Barron Norman Spinrad 1969 American English
17120 My Idea Of Fun Will Self 1993 British English
17120 Middlegame Seanan McGuire 2019 American English
17120 Gráinne Keith Roberts 1973 British English
17120 The Runaway Jury John Grisham 1996 American English
17034 The Chocolate War Robert Cormier 1974 American English