The Greatest Books of All Time on Rural Life

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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
317 The Poems of Robert Frost Robert Frost 1913 American English
456 Let Us Now Praise Famous Men James Agee 1941 American English
480 Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons 1932 British English
486 Adam Bede George Eliot 1859 British English
559 Christ Stopped at Eboli Carlo Levi 1945 Italian Italian
594 Growth of the Soil Knut Hamsun 1917 Norwegian Norwegian
674 Far from the Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy 1874 British English
767 The Tree of Man Patrick White 1955 Australian English
1077 Cider with Rosie Laurie Lee 1959 British English
1149 A Sportsman's Notebook Ivan Turgenev 1852 Russian Russian
1343 The Hamlet William Faulkner 1940 American English
1611 Some Experiences Of An Irish R.M. E.Œ. Somerville, Martin Ross 1899 Irish English
1659 The Americans Robert Frank 1959 American English
1996 A Childhood Harry Crews 1978 American English
2031 The Devil's Pool George Sand 1846 French French
2172 Poems Of Robert Burns Robert Burns 1786 Scottish Scots
2263 Georgics Virgil 29 Latin Latin
2383 Don Segundo Sombra Ricardo Güiraldes 1926 Argentinian Spanish
2408 That They May Face the Rising Sun John McGahern 2002 Irish English
2459 Lark Rise To Candleford Flora Thompson 1945 British English
2511 On the Black Hill Bruce Chatwin 1982 British English
2593 Tales Of Hulan River Xiao Hong 1942 Chinese Chinese
2750 The Worm Forgives The Plough John Stewart Collis 1947 British English
2776 Helmbrecht Wernher der Gartenaere 1250 German Middle high german
2782 Mountain Interval Robert Frost 1916 American English
3310 Cross Creek Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings 1942 American English
3637 Stopfkuchen Wilhelm Karl Raabe 1891 German German
4092 Los Santos Inocentes Miguel Delibes 1981 Spanish Spanish
5022 The City And The Mountains Eça de Queirós 1901 Portuguese Portuguese
5354 New Hampshire Robert Frost 1923 American English
5862 Poems Of John Clare John Clare 1820 British English
6303 A Life Of Her Own Émilie Carles 1977 French French
6913 With The Animals Noëlle Revaz 2002 Swiss French
7215 The Deserted Village Oliver Goldsmith 1770 Irish English
7215 Poems Of George Crabbe George Crabbe 1807 British English
7215 Death In The Woods And Other Stories Sherwood Anderson 1933 American English
7215 Pather Panchali Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay 1929 Indian Bengali
7723 The Peasants Of Languedoc Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie 1966 French French
9001 Little Fadette George Sand 1849 French French
9072 Stone Upon Stone Wiesław Myśliwski 1984 Polish Polish
9942 Joseph Marie-Hélène Lafon 2014 French French
10815 Firelight and Woodsmoke Claude Michelet 1979 French French
10881 Kampung Boy Lat 1979 Malaysian Malay
11309 Tarry Flynn Patrick Kavanagh 1948 Irish English
11580 A Country Year Sue Hubbell 1986 American English
12200 Memorial Ferdinando Camon 1983 Italian Italian
12258 And They Didn't Die Lauretta Ngcobo 1990 South African English
12325 The Lost Upland W. S. Merwin 1992 American English
13600 En France Marius-Ary Leblond 1909 French French
13600 De Goupil à Margot Louis Pergaud 1910 French French
13600 The Call Of The Soil Adrien Bertrand 1916 French French
13600 Nêne Ernest Pérochon 1920 French French
13600 Raboliot Maurice Genevoix 1925 French French
13600 Vent De Mars Henri Pourrat 1941 French French
13600 The Fruits Of Winter Bernard Clavel 1968 French French
13716 The God Of Animals Aryn Kyle 2007 American English
14099 Eben Holden Irving Bacheller 1900 American English
14429 A Small Town Called Hibiscus Gu Hua 1983 Chinese Chinese
14479 Adventures In Friendship David Grayson 1910 American English
14480 The Banyan Tree Christopher Nolan 1999 Irish English
14550 Turbulence Jia Pingwa 1987 Chinese Chinese
14629 China Along The Yellow River Cao Jinqing 2000 Chinese Chinese
15902 One Man's Meat E. B. White 1942 American English
15902 The Hills Is Lonely Lillian Beckwith 1959 British English
15902 A Fortunate Man John Berger 1967 American English
16536 Akenfield Ronald Blythe 1969 American English
16536 Torregreca Ann Cornelisen 1969 Torregreca English
17126 Recollected Essays Wendell Berry 1981 American English
17126 A Feast of Snakes Harry Crews 1976 American English
17126 Tamara Drewe Posy Simmonds 2007 British English
17126 The Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen 2014 British English
17126 On Our Selection Steele Rudd 1976 Australian English
16977 Under The Autumn Star Knut Hamsun 1906 Norwegian Norwegian
17126 Kick The Latch Kathryn Scanlan 2022 American English
16836 Precious Bane Mary Webb 1924 British English
17126 Swallowing Mercury Wioletta Greg 2014 Polish Polish
17126 Muscle For The Wing Daniel Woodrell 1988 American English
16842 Pedro Páramo / El Llano En Llamas Juan Rulfo 1953 Mexican Spanish
17126 Ember Lane Sheila Kaye-Smith British English
17126 Foggage Patrick McGinley 1983 Irish English