The Greatest Pastoral Books of All Time

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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
108 Walden Henry David Thoreau 1854 American English
136 The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame 1908 British English
224 Watership Down Richard Adams 1972 British English
288 Independent People Halldor Laxness 1934 Icelandic Icelandic
317 The Poems of Robert Frost Robert Frost 1913 American English
499 Platero Juan Ramón Jiménez 1914 Spanish Spanish
594 Growth of the Soil Knut Hamsun 1917 Norwegian Norwegian
867 Heidi Johanna Spyri 1881 Swiss German
872 Pallieter Felix Timmermans 1916 Belgian Dutch
908 The Life of a Good-For-Nothing Joseph von Eichendorff 1826 German German
914 The Yearling Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings 1938 American English
919 The Poems Of Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerald Manley Hopkins 1918 British English
944 Indian Summer Adalbert Stifter 1857 Austrian German
1014 The Tale of Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter 1902 British English
1077 Cider with Rosie Laurie Lee 1959 British English
1100 Collected Poems Of Edward Thomas Edward Thomas 1920 British English
1144 A Month In The Country J. L. Carr 1980 British English
1149 A Sportsman's Notebook Ivan Turgenev 1852 Russian Russian
1263 The Summer Book Tove Jansson 1972 Finnish Swedish
1326 The Compleat Angler Izaak Walton 1653 British English
1340 As You Like it William Shakespeare 1600 British English
1428 The Country of the Pointed Firs Sarah Orne Jewett 1896 American English
1516 The People of Hemsö August Strindberg 1887 Swedish Swedish
1543 Eclogues Virgil -37 Latin Latin
1557 Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Annie Dillard 1974 American English
1589 Tarka the Otter Henry Williamson 1927 British English
1607 Pan Knut Hamsun 1894 Norwegian Norwegian
1611 The Prelude William Wordsworth 1850 British English
1668 Solitude Caterina Albert 1905 Spanish Catalan
1684 Train Dreams Denis Johnson 2002 American English
1710 The Peasants Władysław Reymont 1904 Polish Polish
1743 Life & Times of Michael K J. M. Coetzee 1983 South African English
1777 Flowering Nettle Harry Martinson 1935 Swedish Swedish
1815 The Collected Poems of A. E. Housman A. E. Housman 1939 British English
1892 A Sand County Almanac Aldo Leopold 1949 American English
1982 The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne Gilbert White 1789 British English
2031 The Devil's Pool George Sand 1846 French French
2094 Derborence Charles Ferdinand Ramuz 1934 Swiss French
2095 Elias, Or The Fight With The Nightingales Maurice Gilliams 1936 Belgian Dutch
2106 Desert Solitaire Edward Abbey 1968 American English
2134 Farewell To Matyora Valentin Rasputin 1976 Russian Russian
2161 The Poetical Works Of William Wordsworth William Wordsworth 1807 British English
2295 My Father's Glory Marcel Pagnol 1957 French French
2330 Sunset Song Lewis Grassic Gibbon 1932 Scottish English
2371 The Man Who Planted Trees Jean Giono 1953 French French
2383 Don Segundo Sombra Ricardo Güiraldes 1926 Argentinian Spanish
2408 That They May Face the Rising Sun John McGahern 2002 Irish English
2415 Lyrical Ballads William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1798 British English
2459 Lark Rise To Candleford Flora Thompson 1945 British English
2462 Poems Of William Cullen Bryant William Cullen Bryant 1821 American English
2511 On the Black Hill Bruce Chatwin 1982 British English
2604 The Conservationist Nadine Gordimer 1974 South African English
2726 Last Poems A. E. Housman 1922 British English
2738 My Friend Flicka Mary O'Hara 1941 American English
2742 The Little White Horse Elizabeth Goudge 1946 British English
2750 The Worm Forgives The Plough John Stewart Collis 1947 British English
2782 Mountain Interval Robert Frost 1916 American English
2783 North Of Boston Robert Frost 1914 American English
2799 Delta Wedding Eudora Welty 1946 American English
2949 Redwall Brian Jacques 1986 British English
2970 The Steppe Anton Chekhov 1888 Russian Russian
3038 The Snow Goose Paul Gallico 1941 British English
3051 Our Town Thornton Wilder 1938 American English
3129 Mr. Weston's Good Wine T. F. Powys 1927 British English
3285 The Door Szabó, Magda 1987 Hungarian Hungarian
3371 Fable Of Polyphemus And Galatea Luis de Góngora 1627 Spanish Spanish
3492 Selected Poems Pierre Ronsard 1501 French French
3529 Uit Hoofts Lyriek P. C. Hooft 1636 Dutch Dutch
3545 Daphnis and Chloe Longus -200 Greek Ancient greek
3581 Selected Poems Andrew Marvell 1681 British English
3605 The Temple George Herbert 1633 British English
3619 Day Of The Minotaur Thomas Burnett Swann 1966 American English
3625 Bear Marian Engel 1976 Canadian English
3637 Uli The Farmhand Jeremias Gotthelf 1841 Swiss German
3901 Canne Al Vento Grazia Deledda 1913 Italian Italian
3938 Landscapes With Absent Figures Philippe Jacottet 1970 French French
4069 The Mountain And The Valley Ernest Buckler 1954 Canadian English
4092 Los Santos Inocentes Miguel Delibes 1981 Spanish Spanish
4177 Granida P. C. Hooft 1605 Dutch Dutch
4232 Een Zwerver Verliefd Arthur van Schendel 1904 Dutch Dutch
4261 Essays of Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau 1862 American English
4265 The Old World Landowners Nikolai Gogol 1835 Ukrainian Russian
4280 Air Of Solitude Gustave Roud 1945 Swiss French
4308 The Shrimp And The Anemone L. P. Hartley 1944 British English
4419 Poems Of George Herbert George Herbert 1633 British English
4491 All The Little Live Things Wallace Stegner 1967 American English
4496 The Unsettling of America Wendell Berry 1977 American English
4570 The Taste Of Country Cooking Edna Lewis 1976 American English
4767 The Bee Man Of Orn Frank R. Stockton 1887 American English
5001 Tüskevár István Fekete 1957 Hungarian Hungarian
5043 The Girl And The Faun Eden Phillpotts 1917 British English
5321 My First Summer in the Sierra John Muir 1911 American English
5354 New Hampshire Robert Frost 1923 American English
5384 Ox Bells And Fireflies Ernest Buckler 1968 Canadian English
5392 Lycidas, Comus, And The Minor Poems John Milton 1637 British English
5463 Téli Berek István Fekete 1957 Hungarian Hungarian
5494 All Creatures Great And Small James Herriot 1972 British English
5510 Now in November Josephine Winslow Johnson 1934 American English
5530 Kolik Příležitostí Má Růže Jan Skácel 1957 Czech Czech
5715 The Twin Gerbrand Bakker 2006 Dutch Dutch
5823 Idylls Theocritus -260 Greek Ancient greek
5962 This Is Happiness Niall Williams 2019 Irish English
6004 Batailles Dans La Montagne Jean Giono 1937 French French
6428 The Dog Kerstin Ekman 1986 Swedish Swedish
6489 The Enchanted April Elizabeth von Arnim 1922 British English
6508 Arcadia Jim Crace 1992 British English
6544 Collected Poems Les A. Murray 1991 Australian English
6717 Stories of Adalbert Stifter Adalbert Stifter 1801 Austrian German
6929 Jayber Crow Wendell Berry 2000 American English
7634 The Big Music Kirsty Gunn 2012 New Zealander English
7667 The Wild Places Robert Macfarlane 2007 British English
7691 Quiet Flows The Una Faruk Šehić 2011 Bosnian Bosnian
8070 Gaff Topsails Patrick Kavanagh 1996 Canadian English
8106 The Land Of Little Rain Mary Austin 1903 American English
8106 Weeds Edith Summers Kelley 1923 Canadian English
8106 Winter Wheat Mildred Walker 1944 American English
8349 This Cold Heaven Gretel Ehrlich 2001 American English
8523 Ring Of Bright Water Gavin Maxwell 1960 British English
8523 The Outermost House Henry Beston 1928 American English
8764 Spill Simmer Falter Wither Sara Baume 2015 Irish English