The Greatest Books of All Time on Poverty

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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
2067 How Late It Was, How Late James Kelman 1994 Scottish English
2071 The Assistant Bernard Malamud 1957 American English
2107 Demon Copperhead Barbara Kingsolver 2022 American English
2125 Tell Me a Riddle Tillie Olsen 1961 American English
2164 Bread Givers Anzia Yezierska 1925 American English
2187 No One Writes to the Colonel Gabriel García Márquez 1961 Colombian Spanish
2208 Trainspotting Irvine Welsh 1993 Scottish English
2214 The Threepenny Opera Bertolt Brecht 1928 German German
2249 Twenty Years at Hull-House Jane Addams 1910 American English
2302 Ironweed William Kennedy 1983 American English
2305 Stockholm series Per Anders Fogelström 1960 Swedish Swedish
2341 Mastro Don Gesualdo Giovanni Verga 1889 Italian Italian
2361 Our Nig Harriet E. Wilson 1859 American English
2362 Sybil Benjamin Disraeli 1845 British English
2392 Satantango László Krasznahorkai 1985 Hungarian Hungarian
2393 The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls 2005 American English
2401 The Charwoman's Daughter James Stephens 1912 Irish English
2465 La Grande Maison Mohammed Dib 1952 Algerian French
2521 The Happy Prince And Other Tales Oscar Wilde 1888 British English
2557 Keep the Aspidistra Flying George Orwell 1936 British English
2564 The Family Of Pascual Duarte Camilo José Cela 1942 Spanish Spanish
2593 Tales Of Hulan River Xiao Hong 1942 Chinese Chinese
2608 The Gambler Fyodor Dostoevsky 1866 Russian Russian
2619 To Live Yu Hua 1993 Chinese Chinese
2620 The Prince and the Pauper Mark Twain 1881 American English
2646 Hurricane Season Fernanda Melchor 2017 Mexican Spanish
2649 The House of Scorta Laurent Gaudé 2004 French French
2650 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Sherman Alexie 2007 American English
2671 The Mysteries Of Paris Eugène Sue 1842 French French
2690 Childhood Tove Ditlevsen 1967 Danish Danish
2697 All Over But The Shoutin' Rick Bragg 1997 American English
2704 My Brilliant Career Miles Franklin 1901 Australian English
2709 Les Caractères Jean de La Bruyère 1688 French French
2729 Overcoat Nikolai Gogol 1842 Russian Russian
2733 A Violent Life Pier Paolo Pasolini 1959 Italian Italian
2751 Threepenny Novel Bertolt Brecht 1934 German German
2788 The Weavers Gerhart Hauptmann 1892 German German
2826 A Manual For Cleaning Women Lucia Berlin 2015 American English
2829 A Contract With God Will Eisner 1978 American English
2841 Children of Crisis Robert Coles 1967 American English
2889 The Traveller Oliver Goldsmith 1764 Irish English
2900 Cremation Rafael Chirbes 2007 Spanish Spanish
2956 The Inheritance of Loss Kiran Desai 2006 Indian English
2957 The Lower Depths Maxim Gorky 1902 Russian Russian
2971 The White Tiger Aravind Adiga 2008 Indian English
2998 Poor Folk Fyodor Dostoevsky 1846 Russian Russian
3075 Once Were Warriors Alan Duff 1990 New Zealand English
3077 Paradise of the Blind Dương Thu Hương 1988 Vietnamese Vietnamese
3088 Factory Girls Leslie T. Chang 2008 American English
3097 Second-class Citizen Buchi Emecheta 1974 Nigerian English
3103 Spoon River Anthology Edgar Lee Masters 1915 American English
3180 Women And Appletrees Moa Martinson 1933 Swedish Swedish
3218 The Long Loneliness Dorothy Day 1952 American English
3272 Bohemian Lights Ramón del Valle-Inclán 1920 Spanish Spanish
3311 Growing Up Russell Baker 1982 American English
3314 Satires Juvenal 100 Roman Latin
3324 Compassion Benito Pérez Galdós 1897 Spanish Spanish
3324 The Tin Flute Gabrielle Roy 1945 Canadian French
3324 House in the Uplands Erskine Caldwell 1946 American English
3374 A Man's Place Annie Ernaux 1983 French French
3398 The Name Of The Wind Patrick Rothfuss 2007 American English
3401 Brothers Yu Hua 2005 Chinese Chinese
3521 Nothing to Envy Barbara Demick 2009 American English
3538 Amelia Henry Fielding 1751 British English
3559 Memoirs of a Peasant Boy Xosé Neira Vilas 1961 Spanish Galician
3564 The Beggars' Strike Aminata Sow Fall 1979 Senegalese French
3595 Thick Tressie McMillan Cottom 2019 American English
3610 Winter's Bone Daniel Woodrell 2006 American English
3638 The Battle with the Slum Jacob A. Riis 1902 Danish English
3638 The House on Henry Street Lillian D. Wald 1915 American English
3638 Bicycle Thieves Luigi Bartolini 1946 Italian Italian
3638 Who Once Eats Out Of The Tin Bowl Hans Fallada 1934 German German
3638 The Poor Musician Franz Grillparzer 1848 Austrian German
3638 Scenes Of Bohemian Life Henri Murger 1845 French French
3638 The Large Testament And The Small Testament François Villon 1461 French French
3897 Zoo Station Christiane V. Felscherinow 1978 German German
3924 The Coldest Winter Ever Sister Souljah 1999 American English
3953 Η Αυλή των Θαυμάτων Iakovos Kambanellis 1962 Greek Greek
3953 The Beggar Andreas Karkavitsas 1896 Greek Greek
3953 The Complete Works Of Alexandros Papadiamantis Alexandros Papadiamantis 1952 Greek Greek
3953 The Thistles Of The Bărăgan Panaït Istrati 1928 Romanian French
3953 Groapa Eugen Barbu 1957 Romanian Romanian
4075 Travels With Lizbeth Lars Eighner 1993 American English
4093 Los Santos Inocentes Miguel Delibes 1981 Spanish Spanish
4140 Le Pauvre Christ De Bomba Mongo Beti 1956 French French
4207 The Case Worker György Konrád 1969 Hungarian Hungarian
4207 Here's to You, Jesusa! Elena Poniatowska 1969 Mexican Spanish
4260 Petals of blood Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o 1977 Kenyan English
4274 Journey From St. Petersburg To Moscow Alexander Radishchev 1790 Russian Russian
4276 In The Ravine Anton Chekhov 1900 Russian Russian
4309 Love On The Dole Walter Greenwood 1933 British English
4378 Revolt In Aspromonte Corrado Alvaro 1930 Italian Italian
4395 We The Animals Justin Torres 2011 American English
4440 The Thief's Journal Jean Genet 1949 French French
4446 Ellen Foster Kaye Gibbons 1987 American English
4455 Mountains Beyond Mountains Tracy Kidder 2003 American English
4458 The Truly Disadvantaged William Julius Wilson 1987 American English
4470 The Unheavenly City Edward C. Banfield 1970 American English
4487 The Sugarbag Years Tony Simpson 1974 New Zealand English
4493 The Little Match Girl Unknown 1845 Unknown Danish
4556 The Blood Knot Athol Fugard 1961 South African English
4589 The Nickel Boys Colson Whitehead 2019 American English
4626 The Chimes Charles Dickens 1844 British English
4745 Nos Matamos O Cão Tinhoso Bernardo Honwana 1964 Mozambican Portuguese
4795 The Good Person of Szechwan Bertolt Brecht 1943 German German
4856 Best of Simple Langston Hughes 1961 American English
4929 The Poorhouse Fair John Updike 1959 American English
4941 Ghettoside Jill Leovy 2015 American English
5002 Be Faithful Unto Death Zsigmond Móricz 1921 Hungarian Hungarian
5037 Eight Men Richard Wright 1961 American English
5095 Where Do We Go From Here Martin Luther King 1967 American English
5186 Kincskereső Kisködmön Ferenc Móra 1918 Hungarian Hungarian
5247 Jews Without Money Michael Gold 1930 American English
5248 Orphalina Zsigmond Móricz 1937 Hungarian Hungarian
5269 Under The Feet Of Jesus Helena María Viramontes 1995 American English
5349 How the Other Half Lives Jacob A. Riis 1890 Danish English
5349 A Street In Bronzeville Gwendolyn Brooks 1945 American English
5456 Mercy Among The Children David Adams Richards 2000 Canadian English
5459 The Yellow House Sarah M. Broom 2019 American English
5478 Strumpet City James Plunkett 1969 Irish English