The Greatest American Reference Books of All Time

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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
620 The Elements of Style E. B. White, William Strunk Jr. 1918 American English
675 The Joy of Cooking Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker 1931 American English
1896 Smoking and Health Surgeon General 1964 American English
2187 The American Language H. L. Mencken 1919 American English
2254 A Field Guide to the Birds Roger Tory Peterson 1934 American English
2671 Webster's Dictionary Noah Webster 1828 American English
3220 The American Cinema Andrew Sarris 1968 American English
3638 Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home Emily Post 1922 American English
4223 A Pattern Language Christopher Alexander 1977 American English
4677 Our Bodies, Ourselves Unknown 1970 American English
4900 Rules Of Civility And Decent Behavior In Company And Conversation George Washington 1748 American English
5090 On Food and Cooking Harold McGee 1984 American English
5485 The Ants E. O. Wilson, Bert Hölldobler 1990 American English
6973 Our Bodies, Ourselves Boston Women’s Health Collective 1970 American English
7112 Index To Science Fiction Anthologies And Collections And Supplement William G. Contento 1978 American English
7200 Science Fiction And Fantasy Literature & Supplement R. Reginald 1979 American English
7216 The New York Times Manual Of Style And Usage Allan M. Siegal, William G. Connolly 1950 American English
7597 The Guide To Supernatural Fiction Everett F. Bleiler 1983 American English
7597 Supernatural Fiction Writers Everett F. Bleiler 1983 American English
7688 The Rest is Noise Alex Ross 2007 American English
7933 The Penguin Encyclopedia Of Horror And The Supernatural Jack Sullivan 1986 American English
8288 The Interpretation Of Cultures Clifford Geertz 1973 American English
8398 The First Gothics Frederick S. Frank 1987 American English
8398 Science Fiction And Fantasy Reference Index, 1878 1985 And Supplements H. W. Hall 1987 American English
8638 The Whole Internet Ed Krol 1992 American English
8686 Fantasy Literature For Children And Young Adults Ruth Nadelman Lynn 1989 American English
9377 Commentary On The Bibliography Of Edgar A. Poe John W. Robertson 1923 American English
9631 Bibliography Of The Writings Of Edgar A. Poe John W. Robertson 1934 American English
10246 Understanding Poetry Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks 1938 American English
10309 Chinook Texts Franz Boas 1894 American English
10394 Basic Documents in American History Richard Brandon Morris 1958 American English
10531 The Checklist Of Science Fiction And Supernatural Fiction Everett F. Bleiler 1948 American English
11168 The Creators Daniel J. Boorstin 1992 American English
12021 An Illustrated History Of The Horror Film Carlos Clarens 1967 American English
13298 Reference Guide To Fantastic Films Walt Lee 1974 American English
13355 The Ray Bradbury Companion William F. Nolan 1975 American English
13362 How To Lie With Statistics Darrell Huff 1954 American English
13362 The Feynman Lectures On Physics, Vol. Iii Richard P. Feynman 1965 American English
13533 Gardner's Art Through The Ages Helen Gardner 1926 American English
13694 The Fabulous Fantasy Films Jeff Rovin 1977 American English
14212 Frank Stewart's Bridge Club Frank Stewart 2001 American English
14435 The World Of Mathematics James R. Newman 1956 American English
14985 Book Lust Nancy Pearl 2003 American English
15594 Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex David Reuben 1969 American English
15594 The Sensuous Woman Terry Garrity 1969 American English
17163 African American Music Mellonee V. Burnim, Portia K. Maultsby 2006 American English
17163 Turn Left At Orion Guy Consolmagno, Dan M. Davis 1989 American English
17163 365 Starry Nights Chet Raymo 1982 American English
17163 Black Inventors For Children Charles Jones 2002 American Unknown
17163 What Is The World Made Of? Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld 1994 American English
17163 Basic Physics Karl F. Kuhn 1996 American English
17163 Home Comforts Cheryl Mendelson 1999 American English
17077 The Law Of Presidential Impeachment Association of the Bar of the City of New York 1974 American English
17163 Ben Hogan's Five Lessons Ben Hogan, Herbert Warren Wind 1957 American English
17163 The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract Bill James 1985 American English
17163 The Baseball Encyclopedia Macmillan 1969 American English
17163 The Story Of American Golf Herbert Warren Wind 1975 American English
17163 The Great Movies Roger Ebert 2003 American English
17163 Writing Fiction Janet Burroway 1982 American English
17163 Screenplay Syd Field 1979 American English
17163 The Great American Bathroom Book Stevens W. Anderson 2007 American English
17163 The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook Joshua Piven 2001 American English
17163 Atlas Obscura Joshua Foer 2016 American English
17002 Security Analysis Benjamin Graham 1934 American English
17163 Hedge Fund Market Wizards Jack D. Schwager 2012 American English
16959 The Anarchist Cookbook William Powell 1971 American English