The Greatest Books of All Time on Power

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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
1299 My Name is Red Orhan Pamuk 1998 Turkish Turkish
1317 To Each His Own Leonardo Sciascia 1966 Italian Italian
1343 The Hamlet William Faulkner 1940 American English
1348 Sandman Neil Gaiman 1989 British English
1383 The Birds Aristophanes -414 Greek Ancient greek
1395 The Mists of Avalon Marion Zimmer Bradley 1983 American English
1419 The Viceroys Federico De Roberto 1894 Italian Italian
1455 Antigone Jean Anouilh 1944 French French
1521 The Robbers Friedrich Schiller 1781 German German
1529 Orientalism Edward W. Said 1978 Palestinian English
1530 Myra Breckinridge Gore Vidal 1968 American English
1535 The Sound Of His Horn Sarban 1952 British English
1539 On the Genealogy of Morality Friedrich Nietzsche 1887 German German
1579 The Collected Stories of Isaac Babel Isaac Babel 1934 Russian Russian
1581 The Civilizing Process Norbert Elias 1939 German German
1585 Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke 2004 British English
1595 The Forbidden Kingdom Jan Jacob Slauerhoff 1932 Dutch Dutch
1617 Ways Of Seeing John Berger 1972 British English
1635 The Autumn of the Patriarch Gabriel García Márquez 1975 Colombian Spanish
1636 The Collector John Fowles 1963 British English
1645 Shogun James Clavell 1975 British English
1648 Wizard of the Crow Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o 2006 Kenyan English
1665 The House of Ulloa Emilia Pardo Bazán 1886 Spanish Spanish
1685 Burr Gore Vidal 1973 American English
1690 Goldfinger Ian Fleming 1959 British English
1694 Cassandra Christa Wolf 1983 German German
1705 The Sea-Wolf Jack London 1904 American English
1723 1Q84 Haruki Murakami 2009 Japanese Japanese
1732 The Government Inspector Nikolai Gogol 1836 Russian Russian
1755 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J. K. Rowling 2005 British English
1782 The Wild Ass's Skin Honoré de Balzac 1831 French French
1787 Sexual Politics Kate Millett 1970 American English
1814 Christ Recrucified Nikos Kazantzakis 1948 Greek Greek
1834 Histories Cornelius Tacitus 100 Roman Latin
1842 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J. K. Rowling 2000 British English
1848 Darker Than You Think Jack Williamson 1948 American English
1852 July's People Nadine Gordimer 1981 South African English
1865 Elmer Gantry Sinclair Lewis 1927 American English
1881 The Machiavellians James Burnham 1943 American English
1901 The Power Broker Robert Caro 1974 American English
1919 The Dying Earth Jack Vance 1950 American English
1937 Geek Love Katherine Dunn 1989 American English
1947 Shame Salman Rushdie 1983 British English
1953 Titus Alone Mervyn Peake 1959 British English
1959 Discipline and Punish Michel Foucault 1975 French French
1973 The Invisible Man H. G. Wells 1897 British English
2007 King Ubu Alfred Jarry 1896 French French
2017 Riddley Walker Russell Hoban 1980 British English
2025 Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden 1997 American English
2059 The Passion Of New Eve Angela Carter 1977 British English
2061 The Last World Christoph Ransmayr 1988 Austrian German
2066 The Infernal Desire Machines Of Doctor Hoffman Angela Carter 1972 British English
2075 The Memory of Fire Trilogy Eduardo Galeano 1982 Uruguayan Spanish
2082 Santa Evita Tomás Eloy Martínez 1995 Argentinian Spanish
2102 The Bloody Chamber And Other Stories Angela Carter 1979 British English
2112 House On The Embankment Yuri Trifonov 1976 Russian Russian
2116 Querelle of Brest Jean Genet 1947 French French
2121 Julius Caesar William Shakespeare 1623 British English
2122 The Crystal Cave Mary Stewart 1970 British English
2136 Conan The Conqueror Robert E. Howard 1935 American English
2138 The Worm Ouroboros E. R. Eddison 1922 British English
2168 Terra Nostra Carlos Fuentes 1975 Mexican Spanish
2178 The Love Of The Last Tycoon F. Scott Fitzgerald 1941 American English
2184 In a Free State V. S. Naipaul 1971 Trinidadian English
2192 American Gods Neil Gaiman 2001 British English
2196 That Hideous Strength C. S. Lewis 1945 British English
2211 Swordspoint Ellen Kushner 1987 American English
2220 Against Our Will Susan Brownmiller 1975 American English
2232 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J. K. Rowling 2007 British English
2242 Milkman Anna Burns 2018 Irish English
2243 The Tombs Of Atuan Ursula K. Le Guin 1971 American English
2268 The Jewel In The Crown Paul Scott 1966 British English
2274 Hedda Gabler Henrik Ibsen 1890 Norwegian Norwegian
2281 Boris Godunov Alexander Pushkin 1831 Russian Russian
2282 Crowds And Power Elias Canetti 1960 German German
2304 Giles Goat-Boy John Barth 1966 American English
2308 The Dead Father Donald Barthelme 1975 American English
2312 Room At The Top John Braine 1957 British English
2335 Libra Don DeLillo 1988 American English
2338 Master of the Senate Robert Caro 2002 American English
2339 Personal History Katharine Graham 1997 American English
2380 The Will To Power Friedrich Nietzsche 1901 German German
2389 The Wheel of Time Series Robert Jordan 1990 American English
2398 The Blazing World Margaret Cavendish 1666 British English
2403 The City Of Marvels Eduardo Mendoza 1986 Spanish Spanish
2406 Lust Elfriede Jelinek 1989 Austrian German
2413 The Stars My Destination Alfred Bester 1956 American English
2419 The Melancholy of Resistance László Krasznahorkai 1989 Hungarian Hungarian
2444 The Space Merchants Frederik Pohl, C. M. Kornbluth 1952 American English
2449 Henry V William Shakespeare 1600 British English
2452 Black Mischief Evelyn Waugh 1932 British English
2481 Blood and Guts in High School Kathy Acker 1978 American English
2489 Murder In The Cathedral T. S. Eliot 1935 British English
2505 Memoirs of Louis XIV Louis de Rouvroy Saint-Simon (duc de) 1740 French French
2515 L.A. Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
2517 Rites of Passage William Golding 1980 British English
2522 The Passage Of Power Robert Caro 2012 American English
2547 Stories Heinrich von Kleist 1810 German German
2559 Pharaoh Bolesław Prus 1895 Polish Polish
2557 Alamut Vladimir Bartol 1938 Slovenian Slovene
2561 Segu Maryse Condé 1984 French French
2604 The Conservationist Nadine Gordimer 1974 South African English
2630 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Bertolt Brecht 1941 German German
2651 Circe Madeline Miller 2018 American English
2685 The Managerial Revolution James Burnham 1941 American English
2700 Witch World Andre Norton 1963 American English
2709 Les Caractères Jean de La Bruyère 1688 French French
2719 Richard Ii William Shakespeare 1595 British English
2723 A Man For All Seasons Robert Bolt 1960 American English
2771 The Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist Friedrich Nietzsche 1888 German German
2786 By Night Under The Stone Bridge Leo Perutz 1953 Austrian German
2802 Stormbringer Michael Moorcock 1965 British English
2820 The Damnation Game Clive Barker 1985 British English
2843 The Book Of Ptath A. E. van Vogt 1943 American English
2863 Endgame Samuel Beckett 1957 Irish French
2888 Olvidado Rey Gudú Ana María Matute 1996 Spanish Spanish
2917 Bring Up the Bodies Hilary Mantel 2012 British English
2960 Prison Notebooks Antonio Gramsci 1948 Italian Italian
2962 The History Man Malcolm Bradbury 1975 British English
2966 Kane and Abel Jeffrey Archer 1979 British English