The Greatest Books of All Time Set in Philadelphia

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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
443 Americanah Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2013 Nigerian English
689 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin 1791 American English
1702 Oreo Fran Ross 1974 American English
3146 Carrion Comfort Dan Simmons 1989 American English
3424 Common Sense Thomas Paine 1776 British English
4675 The Time of Our Singing Richard Powers 2003 American English
4899 Notes Of Debates In The Federal Convention Of 1787 James Madison 1840 American English
5168 Edith's Diary Patricia Highsmith 1977 American English
5263 The Great Influenza John Barry 2004 American English
6002 Testimony Charles Reznikoff 1965 American English
6379 The Principles Of Scientific Management Frederick Winslow Taylor 1911 American English
6597 Benjamin Franklin Carl Van Doren 1938 American English
6766 Experiments And Observations On Electricity Benjamin Franklin 1751 American English
6766 Poor Richard Improved, The Way To Wealth Benjamin Franklin 1758 American English
6786 Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments Saidiya Hartman 2019 American English
6937 Century Of Struggle Eleanor Flexner 1959 American English
7679 Master Slave Husband Wife Ilyon Woo 2023 Unknown English
8331 The Brotherhood Of The Rose David Morrell 1984 American English
8572 Let The Trumpet Sound Stephen B. Oates 1982 American English
8767 John Adams David McCullough 2001 American English
9505 God Bless The Child Kristin Hunter 1964 American English
9375 Arthur Mervyn Charles Brockden Brown 1799 American English
9375 Ormond Charles Brockden Brown 1799 American English
9375 Edgar Huntly Charles Brockden Brown 1799 American English
9796 Minion L. A. Banks 2003 American English
9956 The Book Of Delights Ross Gay 2019 American English
10005 Edgar Allan Poe Arthur Hobson Quinn 1941 American English
10525 Beautyland Marie-Helene Bertino 2024 Unknown English
10601 The Unsettled Ayana Mathis 2023 American English
10784 The New Negro Jeffrey C. Stewart 2018 American English
10896 America’s Women Gail Collins 2003 American English
11287 The Girls Who Went Away Ann Fessler 2006 American English
11292 Such A Fun Age Kiley Reid 2019 American English
11358 America's God Mark Noll 2002 American English
11434 Philadelphia fire John Edgar Wideman 1990 American English
11660 American Dialogue Joseph Ellis 2018 American English
11939 Benjamin Franklin, Self-Revealed William Cabell Bruce 1917 American English
12083 Sweet Summer Bebe Moore Campbell 1989 American English
12315 Our Savage Neighbors Peter Silver 2008 Unknown English
12468 And The Pursuit Of Happiness Maira Kalman 2010 American English
12513 Black Ice Lorene Cary 1991 American English
12739 With The Fire On High Elizabeth Acevedo 2019 American English
13591 The School For Good Mothers Jessamine Chan 2022 American English
13748 The Enchantments Of Mammon Eugene McCarraher 2019 American English
14065 Thomas Jefferson Thomas S. Kidd 2022 Unknown English
14232 Founding Brothers Joseph Ellis 2000 American English
14229 Margaret Mead Elesha Coffman Unknown English
14588 Last Call Elon Green 2021 Unknown English
14933 The Amenities Of Book Collecting A. Edward Newton 1918 American English
14984 Long Bright River Liz Moore 2020 American English
15768 Kitty Foyle Christopher Morley 1939 American English
15866 Poems By Walt Whitman Walt Whitman 1886 American English
15851 On Revolution Hannah Arendt 1963 American English
15898 The life and letters of Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin 1817 American English
15898 There Is Confusion Jessie Fauset 1924 American English
15898 Street Of No Return David Goodis 1954 American English
15898 An Economic Interpretation Of The Constitution Of The United States Charles A. Beard 1913 American English
15898 Conceived In Liberty Howard Fast 1945 American English
15898 Citizen Tom Paine Howard Fast 1943 American English
15898 Janice Meredith Paul Leicester Ford 1899 American English
15898 Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker S. Weir Mitchell 1896 American English
15898 Tree Of Liberty Elizabeth Page 1939 Unknown English
16730 The Collected Tales Of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe 1908 American English
17120 Original Meanings Jack N. Rakove 1996 American English
17120 Written In My Own Heart's Blood Diana Gabaldon 2014 American English
17120 The Quaker City, Or The Monks Of Monk Hall George Lippard 1845 American English
17120 My Broken Language Quiara Alegría Hudes 2021 American English
17120 The Invention Of Wings Sue Monk Kidd 2014 American English
17120 Benjamin Franklin Walter Isaacson 2003 American English
17120 The Glorious Cause Jeff Shaara 2002 American English
17120 Rise To Rebellion Jeff Shaara 2001 American English
17120 A Patriot's History Of The United States Larry Schweikart 2004 American English
17120 Undaunted Courage Stephen E. Ambrose 1996 American English
17120 1776 David McCullough 2005 American English
17120 Dollar Sign On The Muscle Kevin Kerrane 1984 American English
17120 Dark Archives Megan Rosenbloom 2020 Unknown English
17120 Learned Optimism Martin E.P. Seligman 1990 American English
17120 The Dream Machine M. Mitchell Waldrop 2001 Unknown English
17120 Everything We Never Had Randy Ribay 2024 Unknown English
17120 American Covenant Yuval Levin 2016 American English
17120 Democracy Awakening Heather Cox Richardson 2023 American English
17120 Revolutionary Characters Gordon S. Wood 2006 American English
17120 The First American H.W. Brands 2000 American English
17120 Hip Hop Is History Questlove 2024 American Unknown
17120 Housemates Emma Copley Eisenberg 2024 Unknown English
17120 The Devil Colony James Rollins 2011 American English
17120 More Work For Mother Ruth Schwartz Cowan 1983 American English
17120 Freethinkers Susan Jacoby 2004 American English
17114 Malcolm X Malcolm X 1965 American English
17120 The Summer Game Roger Angell 1972 American English
17120 The City Game Pete Axthelm 1970 American English
17120 The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract Bill James 1985 American English
17120 Baseball's Great Experiment Jules Tygiel 1983 American English
17120 The Glory Of Their Times Lawrence Ritter 1966 American English
17120 Lords Of The Realm John Helyar 1994 American English
17120 Road Swing Steve Rushin 1998 American English
17120 The Penguin Complete Tales And Poems Of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe American English
17120 Dear Church lenny duncan 2019 American English
16762 The Complete Works Of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe 1902 American English
17074 The Age Of Revolution, 1789 1848 Eric Hobsbawm 1962 British English
17120 The First Rebel Neil Swanson 2009 American English
17120 Master Slave Husband Wife Ilyon Woo 2023 Unknown English
17120 The Unsettled Ayana Mathis 2023 American English
17120 Samuel Barber Howard Pollack 2023 Unknown English
17120 The Imperfects Amy Meyerson 2020 American English
17120 The Cause Joseph Ellis 2021 American English
17120 The Blue Between Sky And Water Susan Abulhawa 2015 American English
17120 Benedict Arnold Randall, Willard Sterne 2012 American English