The Greatest Victorian 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
13 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen 1813 British English
15 Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë 1847 British English
28 Middlemarch George Eliot 1871 British English
29 Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë 1847 British English
38 Great Expectations Charles Dickens 1860 British English
40 Les Misérables Victor Hugo 1862 French French
47 David Copperfield Charles Dickens 1849 British English
53 Dracula Bram Stoker 1897 British English
73 The Portrait of a Lady Henry James 1881 American English
83 Emma Jane Austen 1815 British English
89 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Irish English
93 Little Women Louisa May Alcott 1868 American English
105 Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray 1847 British English
115 Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson 1883 British English
117 Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy 1891 British English
121 Bleak House Charles Dickens 1852 British English
139 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins 1860 British English
164 The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle 1902 British English
188 A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens 1859 British English
205 The Complete Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle 1927 British English
216 A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens 1843 British English
246 The Forsyte Saga John Galsworthy 1906 British English
261 Wings of the Dove Henry James 1902 American English
277 The Pickwick Papers Charles Dickens 1836 British English
287 Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy 1895 British English
300 The Life of Samuel Johnson James Boswell 1791 British English
332 Clarissa Samuel Richardson 1748 British English
338 Effi Briest Theodor Fontane 1895 German German
339 The Adventures of Oliver Twist Charles Dickens 1837 British English
358 The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy 1886 British English
376 The Golden Bowl Henry James 1904 American English
386 La Regenta Clarín 1884 Spanish Spanish
387 Our Mutual Friend Charles Dickens 1864 British English
393 The Moonstone Wilkie Collins 1868 British English
414 The Mill on the Floss George Eliot 1860 British English
439 North and South Elizabeth Gaskell 1855 British English
450 Way of All Flesh Samuel Butler 1903 British English
468 Daniel Deronda George Eliot 1876 British English
486 Adam Bede George Eliot 1859 British English
503 Pamela Samuel Richardson 1740 British English
508 Black Beauty Anna Sewell 1877 British English
510 Eugenie Grandet Honoré de Balzac 1833 French French
520 Mansfield Park Jane Austen 1814 British English
533 Cousin Bette Honoré de Balzac 1846 French French
542 Uncle Silas Sheridan Le Fanu 1864 Irish English
567 The French Lieutenant's Woman John Fowles 1969 British English
606 New Grub Street George Gissing 1891 British English
643 Silas Marner George Eliot 1861 British English
649 Villette Charlotte Brontë 1853 British English
663 The Siege of Krishnapur J. G. Farrell 1973 British English
674 Far from the Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy 1874 British English
678 Barchester Towers Anthony Trollope 1857 British English
696 King Solomon's Mines H. Rider Haggard 1885 British English
703 The Way We Live Now Anthony Trollope 1875 British English
707 Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson 1830 British English
739 The Return of the Native Thomas Hardy 1878 British English
752 Poems Of Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy 1898 British English
785 The Stechlin Theodor Fontane 1898 German German
813 Cranford Elizabeth Gaskell 1851 British English
814 The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett 1911 British English
815 Around the World in Eighty Days Jules Verne 1872 French French
845 Evelina Fanny Burney 1778 British English
852 The Last Chronicle of Barset Anthony Trollope 1867 British English
868 Henry James Leon Edel 1953 American English
926 Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne 1864 French French
946 The Diary of a Nobody George Grossmith, Weedon Grossmith 1892 British English
965 Eminent Victorians Lytton Strachey 1918 British English
974 The Poems of John Keats John Keats 1817 British English
978 The History Of Henry Esmond William Makepeace Thackeray 1852 British English
983 A Study In Scarlet Arthur Conan Doyle 1887 British English
995 Dombey and Son Charles Dickens 1846 British English
1010 Fingersmith Sarah Waters 2002 British English
1034 The Bostonians Henry James 1886 American English
1047 The Egoist George Meredith 1879 British English
1057 The Master of Ballantrae Robert Louis Stevenson 1889 British English
1090 The Kreutzer Sonata Leo Tolstoy 1889 Russian Russian
1103 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë 1848 British English
1140 Nana Émile Zola 1880 French French
1146 Nicholas Nickleby Charles Dickens 1839 British English
1273 Robert Browning's Poetry Robert Browning 1833 British English
1319 The Story Of An African Farm Olive Schreiner 1883 South African English
1382 The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde 1895 Irish English
1406 The Life of Charlotte Brontë Elizabeth Gaskell 1857 British English
1428 The Country of the Pointed Firs Sarah Orne Jewett 1896 American English
1450 Mary Barton Elizabeth Gaskell 1848 British English
1464 Little Dorrit Charles Dickens 1855 British English
1482 Eline Vere Louis Couperus 1889 Dutch Dutch
1604 Phineas Finn Anthony Trollope 1869 British English
1641 Disraeli Robert Blake 1966 British English
1671 The Ordeal Of Richard Feverel George Meredith 1859 British English
1767 Carmilla Sheridan Le Fanu 1872 Irish English
1772 Hard Times Charles Dickens 1854 British English
1789 The Mystery Of Edwin Drood Charles Dickens 1870 British English
1790 The Master Colm Toibin 2004 Irish English
1798 Washington Square Henry James 1880 American English
1808 Martin Chuzzlewit Charles Dickens 1843 British English
1815 The Collected Poems of A. E. Housman A. E. Housman 1939 British English
1815 The Ring And The Book Robert Browning 1868 British English
1825 Studies In The History Of The Renaissance Walter Pater 1873 British English
1867 The Woodlanders Thomas Hardy 1887 British English
1903 Handley Cross R. S. Surtees 1843 British English
1918 The Lady Of The Camellias Alexandre Dumas 1848 French French
2080 A Little Princess Frances Hodgson Burnett 1905 British English
2091 Lady Audley's Secret M. E. Braddon 1862 British English
2123 The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle 1892 British English
2230 The Cathedral Folk Nikolai Leskov 1872 Russian Russian
2298 The Getting Of Wisdom Henry Handel Richardson 1910 Australian English
2327 Tom Brown's School Days Thomas Hughes 1857 British English
2328 Romola George Eliot 1863 British English
2344 Goblin Market Christina Georgina Rossetti 1862 British English
2361 Our Nig Harriet E. Wilson 1859 American English
2362 Sybil Benjamin Disraeli 1845 British English
2433 The Scarlet Pimpernel Baroness Emmuska Orczy 1905 British English
2453 The Sign of Four Arthur Conan Doyle 1890 British English
2458 Shirley Charlotte Brontë 1849 British English
2578 Les Contemplations Victor Hugo 1856 French French
2591 Emily of New Moon L. M. Montgomery 1923 Canadian English
2615 The Rise Of Silas Lapham William Dean Howells 1885 American English
2620 The Prince and the Pauper Mark Twain 1881 American English
2663 Debit And Credit Gustav Freytag 1855 German German