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
14985 Lila Marilynne Robinson 2014 American English
14985 Last Stop On Market Street Matt de la Peña 2015 American English
14985 White Trash Nancy Isenberg 2016 American English
14985 Death Without Weeping Nancy Scheper-Hughes 1992 American English
14985 Lullabies For Little Criminals Heather O'Neill 2006 Canadian English
14985 The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven Sherman Alexie 1993 American English
14985 The Four Winds Kristin Hannah 2021 American English
14985 Poverty, By America Matthew Desmond 2023 American English
15567 The Moment Of Lift Melinda Gates 2019 American English
15567 Good Economics For Hard Times Abhijit V. Banerjee, Esther Duflo 2019 American English
15661 Abbé Pierre Jay William Hudson 1922 Unknown Unknown
15679 Children Of Loneliness Anzia Yezierska 1923 American English
15686 A Spell Of Good Things Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ 2023 Nigerian English
15686 The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over The Hills Charles Bukowski American English
15686 Places Where I’ve Done Time William Saroyan American English
15731 The Gift Of The Magi O. Henry 1905 American English
15741 The Bridal Canopy Shmuel Yosef Agnon 1931 Israeli Hebrew
15746 "Les Misérables" De Victor Hugo Henri Scepi 1862 French French
15795 Marcovaldo Italo Calvino 1963 Italian Italian
15784 Crime And Punishment Dostoyevsky 1866 Russian Russian
15808 A World I Never Made James T. Farrell 1936 American English
15821 A Christmas Carol / The Chimes / The Cricket On The Hearth Charles Dickens 1843 British English
15864 The Setting Sun Osamu Dazai 1947 Japanese Japanese
15916 Creatures that Once Were Men Maxim Gorky 1905 Russian Russian
15916 The Collected Short Stories of Maxim Gorky Maxim Gorky 1899 Russian Russian
16504 Coolie Mulk Raj Anand 1936 Indian English
15916 Adventures Of Sanmao The Orphan Zhang Leping 1935 Chinese Chinese
15916 Christ In Concrete Pietro di Donato 1939 American English
15916 Factories In The Fields Carey McWilliams 1939 American English
15916 The Hills Were Joyful Together Roger Mais 1953 Jamaican English
15916 To Sir, With Love E. R. Braithwaite 1959 British English
15916 Evening Descends Upon The Hills Anna Maria Ortese 1961 Italian Italian
15916 Blood Brothers Ernst Haffner 1932 German German
15916 The Beveridge Report William Beveridge 1942 British English
15916 America Is In The Heart Carlos Bulosan 1946 Filipino English
15916 The Dark Philosophers Gwyn Thomas, Simeon 1946 Welsh English
15916 Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag Edgardo M. Reyes 1968 Filipino Filipino
16620 Salka Valka Halldor Laxness 1931 Icelandic Icelandic
16552 Alton Locke Charles Kingsley 1850 British English
16552 Torregreca Ann Cornelisen 1969 Torregreca English
16548 Oil! Upton Sinclair 1927 American English
16546 The Fortunate Pilgrim Mario Puzo 1965 American English
16640 Sounder William H. Armstrong 1969 American English
16752 Os Miseráveis 2 Victor Hugo 1862 French French
16743 Os Miseráveis 1 Victor Hugo 1862 French French
17164 Docherty William McIlvanney 1975 Scottish English
17164 Swing Hammer Swing! Jeff Torrington 1992 Scottish English
17164 The Water Is Wide Pat Conroy 1972 American English
17164 Christy Catherine Marshall 1967 American English
17164 The Dogs of March Ernest Hebert 1979 American English
17164 Delicious Foods James Hannaham 2015 American English
17164 What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted? Alan Duff 1996 New Zealander English
17164 Front Desk Kelly Yang 2018 American English
17164 Riceyman Steps Arnold Bennett 1923 British English
17164 Blacks Gwendolyn Brooks 1987 American English
17164 Unequal City Carla Shedd 2015 American English
17164 Make Room! Make Room! Harry Harrison 1966 American English
17164 Finding Me Viola Davis 2022 American English
17164 Good People David Lindsay-Abaire 2011 American English
17099 Balm In Gilead Lanford Wilson 1965 American English
16879 Men Should Weep Ena Lamont Stewart 1947 Scottish English
17164 Bingo Edward Bond 1973 British English
17164 Dancing At Lughnasa Brian Friel 1990 Irish English
17164 Mama Terry McMillan 1987 American English
17164 The Short And Tragic Life Of Robert Peace Jeff Hobbs 2014 American English
17164 Young Mungo Douglas Stuart 2022 British English
17164 A Painted House John Grisham 2001 American English
17164 The Village Of Waiting George Packer 1988 American English
17164 Redburn Herman Melville 1849 American English
17164 Summer In Williamsburg Daniel Fuchs 1934 American English
17164 The Girl Meridel Le Sueur 1978 American English
17049 The Islandman Tomás Ó Crohan 1929 Irish Irish
17164 The Running Man Stephen King 1982 American English
17164 For Bread Alone Mohamed Choukri 1973 Moroccan Arabic
17164 The Lodging House Khairy Shalaby 1999 Egyptian Arabic
17164 Tsotsi Athol Fugard 1980 South African English
17164 Dog Flowers Danielle Geller 2021 American English
17164 My Broken Language Quiara Alegría Hudes 2021 American English
17164 Happy Dreams Jia Pingwa 2007 Chinese Chinese
17164 Lotus Lijia Zhang 2017 Chinese English
17164 When Crack Was King Donovan X. Ramsey 2023 American English
17164 American Dirt Jeanine Cummins 2020 American English
17164 Hunger Martin Caparros 2014 Argentinian Spanish
17164 The Sun Does Shine Anthony Ray Hinton 2018 American English
17164 Il Calzolaio Di Vigevano Lucio Mastronardi 1959 Italian Italian
17164 'Tis Frank McCourt 1999 American English
17164 Precious Sapphire 1996 American English
17096 Of Mice And Men / Cannery Row John Steinbeck 1937 American English
17164 Shirley, Goodness & Mercy Chris van Wyk 2004 South African English
17164 The Great Escape Saket Soni 2023 Unknown English
17164 An Uneasy Inheritance Polly Toynbee 2023 British English
17164 Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird Christopher Sergel 1990 American English
17164 The Ragamuffin Gospel Brennan Manning 1990 American English
17164 Unjust Rewards Polly Toynbee, David Walker 2008 British English
17066 Notes From Underground, White Nights, The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man, And Selections From The House Of The Dead Fyodor Dostoevsky 1961 Russian Russian
17164 The Life You Can Save Peter Singer 2009 Australian English
17164 $2.00 A Day Kathryn J. Edin 2015 American English
17164 Mary Coin Marisa Silver 2013 American English
17164 No Right To An Honest Living Jacqueline Jones 2023 Unknown English
17164 I Survived Capitalism And All I Got Was This Lousy T Shirt Madeline Pendleton 2024 Unknown English
17164 Black Like Me John Howard Griffin 1961 American English
17164 The Yacoubian Building علاء الأسواني 2002 Egyptian Arabic
17164 The Lost Boy Dave Pelzer 1997 American English
17164 Some Kids I Taught And What They Taught Me Kate Clanchy 2019 British English
17164 Poverty Safari Darren McGarvey 2017 British English
17164 The Likes Of Us Michael Collins 2004 British English
17164 Stuart Alexander Masters 2005 British English
17164 Poverty And Famines Amartya Sen 1981 Indian English
17164 Everybody Loves A Good Drought Palagummi Sainath 1996 Indian English
17164 The Battlers Kylie Tennant 1941 Australian English
17164 Limehouse Nights Thomas Burke 1917 British English
17164 Post Growth Tim Jackson 2021 British English
17164 جای خالی سلوچ Mahmoud Dowlatabadi 1979 Iranian Persian
16946 Capitães Da Areia Jorge Amado 1937 Brazilian Portuguese
17164 A Chair For My Mother Vera B. Williams 1982 American English
17164 In The Shade Of Spring Leaves Ichiyō Higuchi 1981 Japanese Japanese
17164 Live To See The Day Nikhil Goyal 2023 Unknown English
17164 Hungry Ghosts Kevin Jared Hosein 2023 Unknown English
16889 My Autobiography Charles Chaplin 1964 British English
16895 O Meu Pé De Laranja Lima José Mauro de Vasconcelos 1968 Brazilian Portuguese