The Greatest Sailors & The Sea 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
10024 The Iambics Of Newfoundland Robert Finch 2007 Canadian English
10057 In the Heart of the Sea Nathaniel Philbrick 2000 American English
10241 Moonfleet J. Meade Faulkner 1898 British English
10241 We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea Arthur Ransome 1937 British English
10360 Far Tortuga Peter Matthiessen 1975 American English
10450 The North Water Ian McGuire 2016 British English
10613 Ships Of The Sky Gunnar Gunnarsson 1938 Icelandic Unknown
10765 Close Quarters William Golding 1987 British English
10813 ‘Gapô Lualhati Bautista 1988 Filipino Filipino
10867 Down The Nile Rosemary Mahoney 2007 American English
11021 Jerome Jean-Pierre Martinet 1978 French French
11064 Fire Down Below William Golding 1989 British English
11363 The Watch Nikos Kavvadias Greek Greek
11407 The Island Robert Merle 1962 French French
11439 Il Colombre Dino Buzzati 1966 Italian Italian
11529 Journals (Cook) James Cook 1768 British English
11537 Benito Cereno Herman Melville 1855 American English
11661 Crossing The Line William Finnegan 1986 American Unknown
11661 Into The Raging Sea Rachel Slade 2018 American English
11879 The Sea Around Us Rachel Carson 1951 American English
11895 Peter Simple Frederick Marryat 1834 British English
11895 Cruise Of The Midge Michael Scott 1834 Scottish English
12083 John Dollar Marianne Wiggins 1989 American English
12165 Running Close To The Wind Alexandra Rowland 2024 Unknown English
12250 The Endurance Caroline Alexander 1998 Unknown English
12324 Outerbridge Reach Robert Stone 1992 American English
12448 In The Beginning Was The Sea Tomás González 1983 Colombian Spanish
12513 Living By Water Brenda Peterson 1991 American English
12655 War Of The Whales Joshua Horwitz 2014 American English
12771 Island On The Edge Of The World Charles Maclean 2006 Unknown English
13337 River Of Smoke Amitav Ghosh 2011 Indian English
13359 An Iceland Fisherman Pierre Loti 1886 French French
13359 A Grave For A Dolphin Alberto Denti di Pirajno 1956 Italian Italian
13359 The Pilot James Fenimore Cooper 1823 American English
13542 Spartina John Casey 1989 American English
13599 Le Peuple De La Mer Marc Elder 1913 French French
13752 Japhet, In Search Of A Father Frederick Marryat 1836 British English
13771 Flood Of Fire Amitav Ghosh 2015 Indian English
13788 Ocean Sea Alessandro Baricco 1993 Italian Italian
14008 The Ordinary Seaman Francisco Goldman 1997 American English
14025 Jamrach’s Menagerie Carol Birch 2011 British English
14347 Middle Passage Charles R. Johnson 1990 American English
14410 Youth, A Narrative Joseph Conrad 1898 British English
14598 Passage To Juneau Jonathan Raban 1999 British English
14666 Sacred Hunger Barry Unsworth 1992 British English
14786 Captains Courageous Rudyard Kipling 1897 British English
14876 To Have And Have Not Ernest Hemingway 1937 American English
14878 Tai Pan James Clavell 1966 British English
14984 Every Man for Himself Beryl Bainbridge 1996 British English
14984 The Complete Short Stories of Jack London Jack London 1993 American English
14984 Fathoms Rebecca Giggs 2020 Australian English
14984 Ship Of Magic Robin Hobb 1998 American English
14984 The Adventures Of Amina Al Sirafi S. A. Chakraborty 2023 American English
14984 The Wager David Grann 2023 American English
15603 The Raft Coningsby Dawson 1920 British English
15636 The Boatbuilder Daniel Gumbiner 2018 American English
15727 Infortunios De Alonso Ramirez / The Misfortunes Of Alonso Ramirez José F. Buscaglia-Salgado, Carlos de Siguenza y Gongora 1690 Mexican Spanish
15781 Stars On The Sea F. Van Wyck Mason 1940 American English
15798 To The Indies C.S. Forester 1940 British English
15866 In the Land of White Death Valerian Albanov 1917 Russian Russian
15899 Jacob Faithful Frederick Marryat 1834 British English
15899 The Sea And The Jungle H. M. Tomlinson 1912 British English
15899 The Bounty Trilogy Charles Nordhoff 1936 American English
15899 The Confessions Of A Beachcomber E J Banfield 1908 Australian English
15899 By Reef And Palm Louis Becke 1900 Australian English
15899 Lively Lady Kenneth Roberts 1931 American English
15899 Captain Caution Kenneth Roberts 1934 American English
15899 Roll, Shenandoah Bruce Lancaster 1949 American English
15899 The Cruise Of The Snark Jack London 1911 American English
16515 The Sail And The Storm Hanna Mina 1966 Syrian Arabic
16532 L'onda Dell'incrociatore Pier Antonio Quarantotti Gambini 1947 Italian Italian
16581 Post Captain Patrick O'Brian 1972 British English
16573 Typhoon Joseph Conrad 1902 British English
16587 David Balfour Robert Louis Stevenson 1893 Scottish English
16563 Benjamin Blake Edison Marshall 1941 American English
16747 Mutiny on the Bounty William Bligh 1932 British English
17120 English Passengers Matthew Kneale 2000 British English
17120 The Water Is Wide Pat Conroy 1972 American English
17120 Slow Water Annamarie Jagose 2003 New Zealander English
17120 A Ship Of The Line C. S. Forester 1938 British English
17120 The Bone Ships RJ Barker 2019 British English
17120 The Crater, Or Vulcan's Peak James Fenimore Cooper 1847 American English
17120 Frontiers Noel Mostert 1992 South African English
17021 The Islandman Tomás Ó Crohan 1929 Irish Irish
17120 The True Confessions Of Charlotte Doyle Avi 1990 American English
17120 Pirate Latitudes Michael Crichton 2009 American English
17120 The Neptune File Tom Standage 2000 British English
17120 Desolation Island Patrick O'Brian 1978 British English
17120 Caribbean James A. Michener 1989 American English
17120 The Whale Philip Hoare 2008 British English
17120 Atlas Of An Anxious Man Christoph Ransmayr 2016 Austrian German
17120 Red Seas Under Red Skies Scott Lynch 2007 American English
17120 Into The Great Wide Ocean Sönke Johnsen 2024 Unknown English
17120 Somewhere Beyond The Sea Tj Klune 2024 Unknown English
17120 Any Duke In A Storm Amalie Howard 2024 Unknown English
17120 A Letter To The Luminous Deep Sylvie Cathrall 2024 Unknown English
17120 Deep Space Govert Schilling 2024 Dutch English
17120 The Story Of Nature Jeremy Mynott 2024 Unknown English
17120 Deep Water James D. Bradley 2024 Unknown English
17120 What The Wild Sea Can Be Helen Scales 2024 Unknown English
17120 Mad Ship Robin Hobb 1999 American English
16824 Cup Of Gold John Steinbeck 1929 American English
17120 The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists Gideon Defoe 2004 British English
16882 Ninety Two In The Shade Thomas McGuane 1973 American English
17120 Bloody Jack L.A. Meyer 2002 American English
17120 Moby Dick Will Eisner 1998 Unknown Unknown
17120 Whale Music Paul Quarrington 1989 Canadian English
17120 Coast Of Slaves, Ships Of Slaves And Islands Of Slaves Thorkild Hansen 1967 Danish Danish
17120 Gould's Book Of Fish Richard Flanagan 2001 Australian English
17120 A Boy And A Bear In A Boat Dave Shelton 2012 British English
17120 This Thing Of Darkness Harry Thompson 2005 British English
17120 Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea Marcus Rediker 1987 American English
17120 Once Upon A Time In The North Philip Pullman 2008 British English
17120 Armada Charles Gidley 1987 Unknown English
17120 Sea Power Admiral James Stavridis 2017 American English
17120 Blind Man's Bluff Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew, Annette Drew 1998 American English
17120 Stalking The Red Bear Peter Sasgen 2009 Unknown English
17120 Pirate Enlightenment David Graeber 2023 Unknown English
17120 Sailing Alone Richard King 2023 Unknown English
17120 Dead Man's Chest Nicholas Rankin 1987 Unknown English