The Greatest Satire 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
1678 A Time To Be Born Dawn Powell 1942 American English
1691 Cat Country Lao She 1932 Chinese Chinese
1699 That Awful Mess On Via Merulana Carlo Emilio Gadda 1957 Italian Italian
1722 The Joke Milan Kundera 1967 Czech Czech
1731 The Government Inspector Nikolai Gogol 1836 Russian Russian
1732 A Harlot High And Low Honoré de Balzac 1839 French French
1738 The Bedbug And Selected Poetry Vladimir Mayakovsky 1920 Russian Russian
1742 A Tale Of A Tub Jonathan Swift 1704 British English
1759 Bai Ganyo Aleko Konstantinov 1895 Bulgarian Bulgarian
1772 Hard Times Charles Dickens 1854 British English
1788 Heartbreak House George Bernard Shaw 1919 British English
1808 Martin Chuzzlewit Charles Dickens 1843 British English
1865 Elmer Gantry Sinclair Lewis 1927 American English
1915 A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works Jonathan Swift 1729 Irish English
1921 Anglo Saxon Attitudes Angus Wilson 1956 British English
1926 The Spectator Joseph Addison 1711 British English
1927 Stories of Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol 1831 Russian Russian
1957 The Spanish Brabanter G. A. Bredero 1617 Dutch Dutch
1960 The Provincial Letters Blaise Pascal 1656 French French
1990 Le Mariage De Figaro Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais 1784 French French
1992 Headlong Hall Thomas Love Peacock 1816 British English
2007 King Ubu Alfred Jarry 1896 French French
2019 The Death Ship B. Traven 1926 German German
2053 The Misanthrope Molière 1666 French French
2090 Parkinson's Law C. Northcote Parkinson 1957 British English
2103 Collected Short Stories of Saki Saki 1930 British English
2105 Someone Like You Roald Dahl 1953 British English
2155 Don Juan Molière 1665 French French
2192 The Witches Of Eastwick John Updike 1984 American English
2215 The Threepenny Opera Bertolt Brecht 1928 German German
2224 Good Omens Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman 1990 British English
2236 The Futurological Congress Stanislaw Lem 1971 Polish Polish
2241 Flashman George MacDonald Fraser 1969 British English
2250 1066 And All That W. C. Sellar 1930 British English
2327 What a Carve Up! Jonathan Coe 1994 British English
2374 Put Out More Flags Evelyn Waugh 1942 British English
2374 South Wind Norman Douglas 1917 British English
2404 The Poems Of John Wilmot, Earl Of Rochester John Wilmot 1680 British English
2405 The City Of Marvels Eduardo Mendoza 1986 Spanish Spanish
2426 Platform Michel Houellebecq 2001 French French
2440 Puckoon Spike Milligan 1963 Irish English
2444 The Ascent Of Rum Doodle W. E. Bowman 1956 British English
2445 Pudd'nhead Wilson Mark Twain 1894 American English
2446 The Space Merchants Frederik Pohl, C. M. Kornbluth 1952 American English
2447 The Map And The Territory Michel Houellebecq 2010 French French
2454 Black Mischief Evelyn Waugh 1932 British English
2456 Molesworth Geoffrey Willans, Ronald Searle 1953 British English
2462 Men At Arms Evelyn Waugh 1952 British English
2482 Mangeclous Albert Cohen 1938 French French
2520 The American Way of Death Jessica Mitford 1963 American English
2557 Keep the Aspidistra Flying George Orwell 1936 British English
2585 Bokhandlaren som slutade bada Fritiof Nilsson Piraten 1937 Swedish Swedish
2624 Collected Writings Ambrose Bierce 1909 American English
2628 Selected Plays of George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw 1976 Irish English
2631 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Bertolt Brecht 1941 German German
2697 Wise Children Angela Carter 1991 British English
2710 Les Caractères Jean de La Bruyère 1688 French French
2745 Dialogues of the Courtesans Lucian of Samosata 150 Unknown Ancient greek
2752 Castle Gripsholm Kurt Tucholsky 1931 German German
2752 Threepenny Novel Bertolt Brecht 1934 German German
2752 Fabian Erich Kästner 1931 German German
2772 The Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist Friedrich Nietzsche 1888 German German
2770 Unkempt Thoughts Stanislaw Jerzy Lec 1950 Polish Polish
2774 Max And Moritz Wilhelm Busch 1865 German German
2777 Helmbrecht Wernher der Gartenaere 1250 German Middle high german
2782 The Legend Of Thyl Ulenspiegel And Lamme Goedzak Charles de Coster 1867 Belgian French
2794 Soft Soap Willem Elsschot 1931 Belgian Dutch
2799 The Anatomy of Melancholy Robert Burton 1621 British English
2803 The Old Devils Kingsley Amis 1986 British English
2931 Tourist Season Carl Hiaasen 1986 American English
2952 Nevsky Prospekt Nikolai Gogol 1835 Russian Russian
2964 The History Man Malcolm Bradbury 1975 British English
2973 The White Tiger Aravind Adiga 2008 Indian English
2982 The Life And Loves Of A She Devil Fay Weldon 1983 British English
3002 Monsignor Quixote Graham Greene 1982 British English
3022 The Memoirs Of Barry Lyndon William Makepeace Thackeray 1844 British English
3022 Queen Lucia E. F. Benson 1920 British English
3022 Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House Eric Hodgkins 1946 American English
3022 Pictures From An Institution Randall Jarrell 1954 American English
3022 Whisky Galore Compton Mackenzie 1947 British English
3035 Novel on Yellow Paper Stevie Smith 1936 British English
3042 England, Their England A. G. Macdonell 1933 British English
3094 Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers Tom Wolfe 1970 American English
3103 Super Sad True Love Story Gary Shteyngart 2010 American English
3129 Mr. Weston's Good Wine T. F. Powys 1927 British English
3139 Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk Ben Fountain 2012 American English
3158 The Flounder Günter Grass 1977 German German
3207 Submission Michel Houellebecq 2015 French French
3244 The Thurber Carnival James Thurber 1945 American English
3290 Candida George Bernard Shaw 1898 Irish English
3314 Satires Juvenal 100 Roman Latin
3324 Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus Scriblerus Club 1741 British English
3324 The Female Quixote Charlotte Lennox 1752 British English
3324 The Apes of God Wyndham Lewis 1930 British English
3372 The Nazi And The Barber Edgar Hilsenrath 1971 German German
3379 Zadig Voltaire 1747 French French
3391 Selected Poetry Of Francisco De Quevedo Francisco de Quevedo 1648 Spanish Spanish
3406 The Great Indian Novel Shashi Tharoor 1989 Indian English
3460 Captain Pantoja And The Special Service Mario Vargas Llosa 1973 Peruvian Spanish
3503 The Works of Max Beerbohm Max Beerbohm 1902 British English
3564 The Beggars' Strike Aminata Sow Fall 1979 Senegalese French
3585 The Would-Be Gentleman Molière 1670 French French
3609 The Knights Aristophanes -424 Greek Ancient greek
3619 Porterhouse Blue Tom Sharpe 1974 British English
3631 Life Of Quintus Fixlein Jean-Paul Richter 1796 German German
3638 The Works Of John Dryden John Dryden 1808 British English
3638 The Rivals Richard Brinsley Sheridan 1775 Irish English
3638 The Devil's Dictionary Ambrose Bierce 1906 American English
3638 The Gods Will Have Blood Anatole France 1912 French French
3638 Till Eulenspiegel Hermann Bote 1510 German German
3638 The Ship Of Fools Sebastian Brant 1494 German English
3638 The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen Gottfried Burger 1785 German German
3638 Der Gaulschreck Im Rosennetz Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando 1928 Austrian German
3638 Gallows Songs Christian Morgenstern 1905 German German
3638 Die Feuerzangenbowle Heinrich Spoerl 1933 German German
3638 The History Of The Abderites Christoph Martin Wieland 1774 German German
3638 The Captain Of Köpenick Carl Zuckmayer 1931 German German
3802 Inside Mr. Enderby Anthony Burgess 1963 British English
3804 The Ponder Heart Eudora Welty 1954 American English
3805 The Miser Molière 1668 French French