The Greatest British 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
714 Encyclopedia Britannica Encyclopedia Britannica 1768 British English
806 The Story of Art Ernest H. Gombrich 1950 British English
1526 A History of Western Philosophy Bertrand Russell 1945 British English
1706 The Principia Mathematica Alfred North Whitehead, Bertrand Russell 1910 British English
2109 Oxford English Dictionary Oxford University Press 1884 British English
2612 Book of Common Prayer Thomas Cranmer 1549 British English
2877 Scouting For Boys Robert Baden-Powell 1908 British English
3413 A Biographical Dictionary Of Film David Thomson 1975 British English
3469 The Story Of English Robert McCrum 1986 British English
3638 The Tomb Of Tutankhamun Howard Carter 1954 British English
3638 An Outline Of European Architecture Nikolaus Pevsner 1943 British English
4414 The House Book Terence Conran 1974 British English
4642 Micrographia Robert Hooke 1665 British English
4815 The New Oxford Book Of English Verse Helen Gardner 1972 British English
5844 Revolution in the Head Ian MacDonald 1994 British English
9215 Eats, Shoots and Leaves Lynne Truss 2003 British English
9686 The Code Book Simon Singh 1999 British English
9812 The Supernatural Index Mike Ashley 1995 British English
9844 The Gothic Quest Montague Summers 1938 British English
9906 The Oxford Book Of Letters Frank Kermode, Anita Kermode 1995 British English
9949 A Gothic Bibliography Montague Summers 1940 British English
10239 A History of Philosophy Frederick Charles Copleston 1946 British English
10303 A Dictionary of the English Language Samuel Johnson 1755 British English
10424 A Bibliography Of The Works Of Sir Henry Rider Haggard J. E. Scott 1947 British English
10840 The World Of Economics John Eatwell, Murray Milgate, Peter Newman 1991 British English
12564 Dinner Meera Sodha British English
13359 Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Peter Mark Roget 1852 British English
13574 The Sound Of The City Charlie Gillett 1970 British English
13742 Dictionary Of Subjects And Symbols In Art James Hall 1974 British English
14553 Reading Shakespeare's Sonnets Don Paterson 2010 British English
14787 A Dictionary Of Modern English Usage H. W. Fowler 1926 British English
14787 French Country Cooking Elizabeth David 1951 British English
15678 The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Buddhist Wisdom Gill Farrer-Halls British English
15737 The Faber Book Of Aphorisms W. H. Auden 1962 British English
15791 The New Guide To Modern World Literature Martin Seymour-Smith 1973 British English
15897 Mrs Beeton's Book Of Household Management Isabella Beeton 1861 British English
17117 Bathtub Science Shar Levine 2001 British English
17117 The Periodic Table Adrian Dingle, Simon Basher 2007 British English
17117 Microlife That Helps Us Steve Parker 2005 British English
17025 The Golden Dawn Israel Regardie 1971 British English
17117 A Taste Of India Madhur Jaffrey 1985 British English
17117 The Etymologicon Mark Forsyth 2011 British English
17117 The Ode Less Travelled Stephen Fry 2005 British English