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
2186 The American Language H. L. Mencken 1919 American English
2253 A Field Guide to the Birds Roger Tory Peterson 1934 American English
2670 Webster's Dictionary Noah Webster 1828 American English
3219 The American Cinema Andrew Sarris 1968 American English
3638 Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home Emily Post 1922 American English
4222 A Pattern Language Christopher Alexander 1977 American English
4675 Our Bodies, Ourselves Unknown 1970 American English
4898 Rules Of Civility And Decent Behavior In Company And Conversation George Washington 1748 American English
5087 On Food and Cooking Harold McGee 1984 American English
5482 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
7199 Science Fiction And Fantasy Literature & Supplement R. Reginald 1979 American English
7215 The New York Times Manual Of Style And Usage Allan M. Siegal, William G. Connolly 1950 American English
7596 The Guide To Supernatural Fiction Everett F. Bleiler 1983 American English
7596 Supernatural Fiction Writers Everett F. Bleiler 1983 American English
7687 The Rest is Noise Alex Ross 2007 American English
7932 The Penguin Encyclopedia Of Horror And The Supernatural Jack Sullivan 1986 American English
8286 The Interpretation Of Cultures Clifford Geertz 1973 American English
8395 The First Gothics Frederick S. Frank 1987 American English
8395 Science Fiction And Fantasy Reference Index, 1878 1985 And Supplements H. W. Hall 1987 American English
8634 The Whole Internet Ed Krol 1992 American English
8682 Fantasy Literature For Children And Young Adults Ruth Nadelman Lynn 1989 American English
9372 Commentary On The Bibliography Of Edgar A. Poe John W. Robertson 1923 American English
9627 Bibliography Of The Writings Of Edgar A. Poe John W. Robertson 1934 American English
10239 Understanding Poetry Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks 1938 American English
10303 Chinook Texts Franz Boas 1894 American English
10388 Basic Documents in American History Richard Brandon Morris 1958 American English
10524 The Checklist Of Science Fiction And Supernatural Fiction Everett F. Bleiler 1948 American English
11161 The Creators Daniel J. Boorstin 1992 American English
12019 An Illustrated History Of The Horror Film Carlos Clarens 1967 American English
13295 Reference Guide To Fantastic Films Walt Lee 1974 American English
13352 The Ray Bradbury Companion William F. Nolan 1975 American English
13359 How To Lie With Statistics Darrell Huff 1954 American English
13359 The Feynman Lectures On Physics, Vol. Iii Richard P. Feynman 1965 American English
13532 Gardner's Art Through The Ages Helen Gardner 1926 American English
13693 The Fabulous Fantasy Films Jeff Rovin 1977 American English
14212 Frank Stewart's Bridge Club Frank Stewart 2001 American English
14434 The World Of Mathematics James R. Newman 1956 American English
14983 Book Lust Nancy Pearl 2003 American English
15586 Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex David Reuben 1969 American English
15586 The Sensuous Woman Terry Garrity 1969 American English
17117 African American Music Mellonee V. Burnim, Portia K. Maultsby 2006 American English
17117 Turn Left At Orion Guy Consolmagno, Dan M. Davis 1989 American English
17117 365 Starry Nights Chet Raymo 1982 American English
17117 Black Inventors For Children Charles Jones 2002 American Unknown
17117 What Is The World Made Of? Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld 1994 American English
17117 Basic Physics Karl F. Kuhn 1996 American English
17117 Home Comforts Cheryl Mendelson 1999 American English
17013 The Law Of Presidential Impeachment Association of the Bar of the City of New York 1974 American English
17117 Ben Hogan's Five Lessons Ben Hogan, Herbert Warren Wind 1957 American English
17117 The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract Bill James 1985 American English
17117 The Baseball Encyclopedia Macmillan 1969 American English
17117 The Story Of American Golf Herbert Warren Wind 1975 American English
17117 The Great Movies Roger Ebert 2003 American English
17117 Writing Fiction Janet Burroway 1982 American English
17117 Screenplay Syd Field 1979 American English
17117 The Great American Bathroom Book Stevens W. Anderson 2007 American English
17117 The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook Joshua Piven 2001 American English
17117 Atlas Obscura Joshua Foer 2016 American English
16955 Security Analysis Benjamin Graham 1934 American English
17117 Hedge Fund Market Wizards Jack D. Schwager 2012 American English
16963 The Anarchist Cookbook William Powell 1971 American English