The Greatest Books of All Time on Social Class

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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
15 Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë 1847 British English
20 Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert 1857 French French
28 Middlemarch George Eliot 1871 British English
38 Great Expectations Charles Dickens 1860 British English
47 David Copperfield Charles Dickens 1849 British English
58 Gone With the Wind Margaret Mitchell 1936 American English
78 A Passage to India E. M. Forster 1924 British English
83 Emma Jane Austen 1815 British English
90 Buddenbrooks Thomas Mann 1901 German German
110 The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer 1400 British Middle english
117 Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy 1891 British English
121 Bleak House Charles Dickens 1852 British English
122 Decameron Giovanni Boccaccio 1353 Italian Italian
128 The Stories of Anton Chekhov Anton Chekhov 1900 Russian Russian
139 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins 1860 British English
166 Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel García Márquez 1985 Colombian Spanish
168 Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald 1934 American English
185 U.S.A. Trilogy John Dos Passos 1930 American English
192 Persuasion Jane Austen 1817 British English
243 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain 1876 American English
246 The Forsyte Saga John Galsworthy 1906 British English
281 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck 1931 American English
297 Ivanhoe Sir Walter Scott 1819 British English
310 Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe 1987 American English
332 Clarissa Samuel Richardson 1748 British English
339 The Adventures of Oliver Twist Charles Dickens 1837 British English
352 The Vicar of Wakefield Oliver Goldsmith 1766 British English
358 The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy 1886 British English
386 La Regenta Clarín 1884 Spanish Spanish
387 Our Mutual Friend Charles Dickens 1864 British English
392 Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis 1954 British English
401 Celestina Or The Tragic-Comedy Of Calisto And Melibea Fernando de Rojas 1499 Spanish Spanish
414 The Mill on the Floss George Eliot 1860 British English
467 A Handful of Dust Evelyn Waugh 1934 British English
480 Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons 1932 British English
482 Jakob Von Gunten Robert Walser 1909 Swiss German
489 Manon Lescaut Abbe Prevost 1731 French French
500 Everything That Rises Must Converge Flannery O'Connor 1965 American English
504 Her Lover Albert Cohen 1968 Swiss French
510 Eugenie Grandet Honoré de Balzac 1833 French French
523 Fortunata and Jacinta Benito Pérez Galdós 1887 Spanish Spanish
554 Satyricon Petronius 65 Roman Latin
556 The Code of the Woosters P. G. Wodehouse 1938 British English
591 Stories of Guy de Maupassant Guy de Maupassant 1880 French French
622 Elective Affinities Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1809 German German
632 Dom Casmurro Machado de Assis 1899 Brazilian Portuguese
674 Far from the Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy 1874 British English
678 Barchester Towers Anthony Trollope 1857 British English
679 The Expedition of Humphry Clinker Tobias Smollett 1771 British English
680 The Stories of John Cheever John Cheever 1978 American English
691 Excellent Women Barbara Pym 1952 British English
703 The Way We Live Now Anthony Trollope 1875 British English
737 The Custom of the Country Edith Wharton 1913 American English
760 Decline and Fall Evelyn Waugh 1928 British English
772 The Group Mary McCarthy 1963 American English
781 Simplicius Simplicissimus Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen 1668 German German
821 Castle Rackrent Maria Edgeworth 1800 British English
852 The Last Chronicle of Barset Anthony Trollope 1867 British English
853 Mc Teague Frank Norris 1899 American English
931 The House by the Medlar Tree Giovanni Verga 1881 Italian Italian
934 The Theory of the Leisure Class Thorstein Veblen 1899 American English
995 Dombey and Son Charles Dickens 1846 British English
997 Julie, or the New Heloise Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1761 French French
1047 The Egoist George Meredith 1879 British English
1140 Nana Émile Zola 1880 French French
1185 The Inimitable Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1923 British English
1221 Thank You, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1934 British English
1226 The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle Tobias Smollett 1751 British English
1294 Peyton Place Grace Metalious 1956 American English
1343 The Hamlet William Faulkner 1940 American English
1360 The Makioka Sisters Junichiro Tanizaki 1948 Japanese Japanese
1379 The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty Eudora Welty 1980 American English
1382 The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde 1895 Irish English
1431 Cakes And Ale Or, The Skeleton In The Cupboard W. Somerset Maugham 1930 British English
1432 A Woman's Life Guy de Maupassant 1883 French French
1464 Little Dorrit Charles Dickens 1855 British English
1468 The Collected Stories of William Faulkner William Faulkner 1950 American English
1604 Phineas Finn Anthony Trollope 1869 British English
1611 Some Experiences Of An Irish R.M. E.Œ. Somerville, Martin Ross 1899 Irish English
1671 The Ordeal Of Richard Feverel George Meredith 1859 British English
1710 The Peasants Władysław Reymont 1904 Polish Polish
1741 The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 Sue Townsend 1982 British English
1766 The Man of Feeling Henry Mackenzie 1771 British English
1778 Rob Roy Sir Walter Scott 1817 British English
1791 Confessions Of Felix Krull, Confidence Man Thomas Mann 1954 German German
1792 The Adventures Of Roderick Random Tobias Smollett 1748 British English
1798 Washington Square Henry James 1880 American English
1819 Carry On, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1925 British English
1900 Collected Stories Of O. Henry O. Henry 1908 American English
1903 Handley Cross R. S. Surtees 1843 British English
1926 Stories of Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol 1831 Russian Russian
2091 Lady Audley's Secret M. E. Braddon 1862 British English
2210 Exemplary Stories Miguel de Cervantes 1613 Spanish Spanish
2261 Appointment in Samarra John O'Hara 1934 American English
2298 The Getting Of Wisdom Henry Handel Richardson 1910 Australian English
2341 Mastro Don Gesualdo Giovanni Verga 1889 Italian Italian
2372 Roxana Daniel Defoe 1724 British English
2443 Pudd'nhead Wilson Mark Twain 1894 American English
2444 The Space Merchants Frederik Pohl, C. M. Kornbluth 1952 American English
2446 The Rector's Daughter F. M. Mayor 1924 British English
2451 Joy in the Morning P. G. Wodehouse 1946 British English
2543 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Winifred Watson 1938 British English
2589 Sir Charles Grandison Samuel Richardson 1753 British English
2615 The Rise Of Silas Lapham William Dean Howells 1885 American English
2620 The Prince and the Pauper Mark Twain 1881 American English
2627 Selected Plays of George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw 1976 Irish English
2814 The Belkin Tales Alexander Pushkin 1831 Russian Russian
2961 Au Bonheur Des Dames Émile Zola 1883 French French
2979 The Man of Property John Galsworthy 1906 British English
2995 Childhood Leo Tolstoy 1852 Russian Russian
2998 Poor Folk Fyodor Dostoevsky 1846 Russian Russian
3013 The American Henry James 1877 American English
3017 Before Lunch Angela Thirkell 1939 British English
3019 The Tortoise And The Hare Elizabeth Jenkins 1936 British English
3019 Diary Of A Provincial Lady E. M. Delafield 1930 British English
3039 South Riding Winifred Holtby 1936 British English
3039 East Lynne Ellen Wood 1861 British English
3125 Daisy Miller Henry James 1878 American English
3324 The Female Quixote Charlotte Lennox 1752 British English
3324 The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby Charles Kingsley 1863 British English