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
14984 Lila Marilynne Robinson 2014 American English
14984 Last Stop On Market Street Matt de la Peña 2015 American English
14984 White Trash Nancy Isenberg 2016 American English
14984 Death Without Weeping Nancy Scheper-Hughes 1992 American English
14984 Lullabies For Little Criminals Heather O'Neill 2006 Canadian English
14984 The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven Sherman Alexie 1993 American English
14984 The Four Winds Kristin Hannah 2021 American English
14984 Poverty, By America Matthew Desmond 2023 American English
15561 The Moment Of Lift Melinda Gates 2019 American English
15561 Good Economics For Hard Times Abhijit V. Banerjee, Esther Duflo 2019 American English
15655 Abbé Pierre Jay William Hudson 1922 Unknown Unknown
15673 Children Of Loneliness Anzia Yezierska 1923 American English
15680 A Spell Of Good Things Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ 2023 Nigerian English
15680 The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over The Hills Charles Bukowski American English
15680 Places Where I’ve Done Time William Saroyan American English
15724 The Gift Of The Magi O. Henry 1905 American English
15734 The Bridal Canopy Shmuel Yosef Agnon 1931 Israeli Hebrew
15739 "Les Misérables" De Victor Hugo Henri Scepi 1862 French French
15777 Marcovaldo Italo Calvino 1963 Italian Italian
15767 Crime And Punishment Dostoyevsky 1866 Russian Russian
15805 A Christmas Carol / The Chimes / The Cricket On The Hearth Charles Dickens 1843 British English
15819 A World I Never Made James T. Farrell 1936 American English
15853 The Setting Sun Osamu Dazai 1947 Japanese Japanese
15898 Creatures that Once Were Men Maxim Gorky 1905 Russian Russian
15898 The Collected Short Stories of Maxim Gorky Maxim Gorky 1899 Russian Russian
16488 Coolie Mulk Raj Anand 1936 Indian English
15898 Adventures Of Sanmao The Orphan Zhang Leping 1935 Chinese Chinese
15898 Christ In Concrete Pietro di Donato 1939 American English
15898 Factories In The Fields Carey McWilliams 1939 American English
15898 The Hills Were Joyful Together Roger Mais 1953 Jamaican English
15898 To Sir, With Love E. R. Braithwaite 1959 British English
15898 Evening Descends Upon The Hills Anna Maria Ortese 1961 Italian Italian
15898 Blood Brothers Ernst Haffner 1932 German German
15898 The Beveridge Report William Beveridge 1942 British English
15898 America Is In The Heart Carlos Bulosan 1946 Filipino English
15898 The Dark Philosophers Gwyn Thomas, Simeon 1946 Welsh English
15898 Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag Edgardo M. Reyes 1968 Filipino Filipino
16586 Salka Valka Halldor Laxness 1931 Icelandic Icelandic
16532 Alton Locke Charles Kingsley 1850 British English
16532 Torregreca Ann Cornelisen 1969 Torregreca English
16529 Oil! Upton Sinclair 1927 American English
16528 The Fortunate Pilgrim Mario Puzo 1965 American English
16607 Sounder William H. Armstrong 1969 American English
16724 Os Miseráveis 2 Victor Hugo 1862 French French
16713 Os Miseráveis 1 Victor Hugo 1862 French French
17120 Docherty William McIlvanney 1975 Scottish English
17120 Swing Hammer Swing! Jeff Torrington 1992 Scottish English
17120 The Water Is Wide Pat Conroy 1972 American English
17120 Christy Catherine Marshall 1967 American English
17120 The Dogs of March Ernest Hebert 1979 American English
17120 Delicious Foods James Hannaham 2015 American English
17120 What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted? Alan Duff 1996 New Zealander English
17120 Front Desk Kelly Yang 2018 American English
17120 Riceyman Steps Arnold Bennett 1923 British English
17120 Blacks Gwendolyn Brooks 1987 American English
17120 Unequal City Carla Shedd 2015 American English
17120 Make Room! Make Room! Harry Harrison 1966 American English
17120 Finding Me Viola Davis 2022 American English
17120 Good People David Lindsay-Abaire 2011 American English
17058 Balm In Gilead Lanford Wilson 1965 American English
16837 Men Should Weep Ena Lamont Stewart 1947 Scottish English
17120 Bingo Edward Bond 1973 British English
17120 Dancing At Lughnasa Brian Friel 1990 Irish English
17120 Mama Terry McMillan 1987 American English
17120 The Short And Tragic Life Of Robert Peace Jeff Hobbs 2014 American English
17120 Young Mungo Douglas Stuart 2022 British English
17120 A Painted House John Grisham 2001 American English
17120 The Village Of Waiting George Packer 1988 American English
17120 Redburn Herman Melville 1849 American English
17120 Summer In Williamsburg Daniel Fuchs 1934 American English
17120 The Girl Meridel Le Sueur 1978 American English
17015 The Islandman Tomás Ó Crohan 1929 Irish Irish
17120 The Running Man Stephen King 1982 American English
17120 For Bread Alone Mohamed Choukri 1973 Moroccan Arabic
17120 The Lodging House Khairy Shalaby 1999 Egyptian Arabic
17120 Tsotsi Athol Fugard 1980 South African English
17120 Dog Flowers Danielle Geller 2021 American English
17120 My Broken Language Quiara Alegría Hudes 2021 American English
17120 Happy Dreams Jia Pingwa 2007 Chinese Chinese
17120 Lotus Lijia Zhang 2017 Chinese English
17120 When Crack Was King Donovan X. Ramsey 2023 American English
17120 American Dirt Jeanine Cummins 2020 American English
17120 Hunger Martin Caparros 2014 Argentinian Spanish
17120 The Sun Does Shine Anthony Ray Hinton 2018 American English
17120 Il Calzolaio Di Vigevano Lucio Mastronardi 1959 Italian Italian
17120 'Tis Frank McCourt 1999 American English
17120 Precious Sapphire 1996 American English
17019 Of Mice And Men / Cannery Row John Steinbeck 1937 American English
17120 Shirley, Goodness & Mercy Chris van Wyk 2004 South African English
17120 The Great Escape Saket Soni 2023 Unknown English
17120 An Uneasy Inheritance Polly Toynbee 2023 British English
17120 Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird Christopher Sergel 1990 American English
17120 The Ragamuffin Gospel Brennan Manning 1990 American English
17120 Unjust Rewards Polly Toynbee, David Walker 2008 British English
17016 Notes From Underground, White Nights, The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man, And Selections From The House Of The Dead Fyodor Dostoevsky 1961 Russian Russian
17120 The Life You Can Save Peter Singer 2009 Australian English
17120 $2.00 A Day Kathryn J. Edin 2015 American English
17120 Mary Coin Marisa Silver 2013 American English
17120 No Right To An Honest Living Jacqueline Jones 2023 Unknown English
17120 I Survived Capitalism And All I Got Was This Lousy T Shirt Madeline Pendleton 2024 Unknown English
17120 Black Like Me John Howard Griffin 1961 American English
17120 The Yacoubian Building علاء الأسواني 2002 Egyptian Arabic
17120 The Lost Boy Dave Pelzer 1997 American English
17120 Some Kids I Taught And What They Taught Me Kate Clanchy 2019 British English
17120 Poverty Safari Darren McGarvey 2017 British English
17120 The Likes Of Us Michael Collins 2004 British English
17120 Stuart Alexander Masters 2005 British English
17120 Poverty And Famines Amartya Sen 1981 Indian English
17120 Everybody Loves A Good Drought Palagummi Sainath 1996 Indian English
17120 The Battlers Kylie Tennant 1941 Australian English
17120 Limehouse Nights Thomas Burke 1917 British English
17120 Post Growth Tim Jackson 2021 British English
17120 جای خالی سلوچ Mahmoud Dowlatabadi 1979 Iranian Persian
16894 Capitães Da Areia Jorge Amado 1937 Brazilian Portuguese
17120 A Chair For My Mother Vera B. Williams 1982 American English
17120 In The Shade Of Spring Leaves Ichiyō Higuchi 1981 Japanese Japanese
17120 Live To See The Day Nikhil Goyal 2023 Unknown English
17120 Hungry Ghosts Kevin Jared Hosein 2023 Unknown English
16843 My Autobiography Charles Chaplin 1964 British English
16872 O Meu Pé De Laranja Lima José Mauro de Vasconcelos 1968 Brazilian Portuguese