The Greatest Books of All Time on Violence

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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
1804 Cartucho And My Mother's Hands Nellie Campobello 1931 Mexican Spanish
1861 Citizen Claudia Rankine 2014 American English
1906 Red Sorghum Yan Mo 1986 Chinese Chinese
1930 Killing Floor Lee Child 1997 British English
1947 Shame Salman Rushdie 1983 British English
1965 A Flag For Sunrise Robert Stone 1981 American English
1971 Parable of the Talents Octavia E. Butler 1998 American English
1973 The Invisible Man H. G. Wells 1897 British English
1989 Your Face Tomorrow Javier Marias 2002 Spanish Spanish
1995 Say Nothing Patrick Radden Keefe 2018 American English
2001 The Flamethrowers Rachel Kushner 2013 American English
2007 King Ubu Alfred Jarry 1896 French French
2060 The Passion Of New Eve Angela Carter 1977 British English
2069 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
2070 The Round House Louise Erdrich 2012 American English
2085 Fight Club Chuck Palahniuk 1996 American English
2102 Tree of Smoke Denis Johnson 2007 American English
2104 The Bloody Chamber And Other Stories Angela Carter 1979 British English
2117 Querelle of Brest Jean Genet 1947 French French
2136 Cop Hater Ed McBain 1956 American English
2181 Blue of Noon Georges Bataille 1957 French French
2185 In a Free State V. S. Naipaul 1971 Trinidadian English
2189 No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy 2005 American English
2191 Les Tragiques Agrippa d'Aubigné 1616 French French
2203 The Kindly Ones Jonathan Littell 2006 French French
2209 Trainspotting Irvine Welsh 1993 Scottish English
2221 Against Our Will Susan Brownmiller 1975 American English
2243 Milkman Anna Burns 2018 Irish English
2260 Advertisements for Myself Norman Mailer 1959 American English
2269 The Jewel In The Crown Paul Scott 1966 British English
2273 The Wretched of the Earth Frantz Fanon 1961 Algerian French
2278 The Twelve Alexander Blok 1918 Russian Russian
2286 The Crossing Cormac McCarthy 1994 American English
2337 Libra Don DeLillo 1988 American English
2338 There There Tommy Orange 2018 American English
2351 The Inheritors William Golding 1955 British English
2352 The Salt Eaters Toni Cade Bambara 1980 American English
2358 The Butcher Boy Patrick McCabe 1992 Irish English
2367 Little Big Man Thomas Berger 1964 American English
2386 Less Than Zero Bret Easton Ellis 1985 American English
2408 Lust Elfriede Jelinek 1989 Austrian German
2442 A Rage In Harlem Chester Himes 1957 American English
2483 Blood and Guts in High School Kathy Acker 1978 American English
2502 Rebellion In The Backlands Euclides da Cunha 1902 Brazilian Portuguese
2517 L.A. Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
2528 On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Ocean Vuong 2019 American English
2565 The Family Of Pascual Duarte Camilo José Cela 1942 Spanish Spanish
2588 Red Shift Alan Garner 1973 British English
2600 Almost Transparent Blue Ryū Murakami 1976 Japanese Japanese
2603 Regarding the Pain of Others Susan Sontag 2003 American English
2618 The Neapolitan Novels Elena Ferrante 2011 Italian Italian
2624 Collected Writings Ambrose Bierce 1909 American English
2631 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Bertolt Brecht 1941 German German
2642 The Power Naomi Alderman 2016 British English
2647 Hurricane Season Fernanda Melchor 2017 Mexican Spanish
2670 This Boy's Life Tobias Wolff 1989 American English
2702 Close Range Annie Proulx 1999 American English
2731 The Executioner's Song Norman Mailer 1979 American English
2732 Lost Souls Poppy Z. Brite 1992 American English
2734 A Violent Life Pier Paolo Pasolini 1959 Italian Italian
2822 The Damnation Game Clive Barker 1985 British English
2838 The Bottle Factory Outing Beryl Bainbridge 1974 British English
2867 The Story Of The Lost Child Elena Ferrante 2014 Italian Italian
2927 The Great Shark Hunt Hunter S. Thompson 1979 American English
2934 Dolly City Orly Castel-Bloom 1992 Israeli Hebrew
2935 The Better Angels Of Our Nature Steven Pinker 2011 American English
2953 Dog Soldiers Robert Stone 1974 American English
2983 Blind Man with a Pistol Chester Himes 1969 American English
3012 Point Blank Richard Stark 1962 American English
3057 LaBrava Elmore Leonard 1983 American English
3064 The Secret River Kate Grenville 2005 Australian English
3072 The Armies of the Night Norman Mailer 1968 American English
3088 I, Rigoberta Menchú Rigoberta Menchú Tum 1983 Guatemalan Spanish
3091 Disturbance Philippe Lançon 2018 French French
3116 The White Album Joan Didion 1979 American English
3144 Dhalgren Samuel R. Delany 1975 American English
3145 A Simple Plan Scott Smith 1993 American English
3146 Carrion Comfort Dan Simmons 1989 American English
3166 Paris Trout Pete Dexter 1988 American English
3168 North Seamus Heaney 1975 Irish English
3182 Minor Detail Adania Shibli 2017 Palestinian Arabic
3187 City, Sister, Silver Jáchym Topol 1994 Czech Czech
3224 The Driver's Seat Muriel Spark 1970 British English
3226 Millennium Trilogy Stieg Larsson 2005 Swedish Swedish
3300 The Red Record Ida B. Wells 1895 American English
3319 Our Lady of the Assassins Fernando Vallejo 1994 Colombian Spanish
3323 House in the Uplands Erskine Caldwell 1946 American English
3323 L'Abbé C Georges Bataille 1950 French French
3385 The Shadow Lines Amitav Ghosh 1988 Indian English
3400 Brothers Yu Hua 2005 Chinese Chinese
3406 In A Lonely Place Karl Edward Wagner 1977 American English
3425 The Violent Bear It Away Flannery O'Connor 1960 American English
3444 Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids Kenzaburō Ōe 1958 Japanese Japanese
3448 Falling Angel William Hjortsberg 1978 American English
3461 The First Deadly Sin Lawrence Sanders 1973 American English
3470 Little Caesar W. R. Burnett 1929 American English
3503 The Big Blowdown George P. Pelecanos 1996 American English
3509 Song Of Kali Dan Simmons 1985 American English
3533 The Birthday Party Harold Pinter 1958 British English
3541 Her Body and Other Parties Carmen Maria Machado 2017 American English
3544 I, The Jury Mickey Spillane 1947 American English
3548 The Wolfen Whitley Strieber 1978 American English
3566 Mystery and Manners Flannery O'Connor 1969 American English
3573 Notes from No Man's Land Eula Biss 2009 American English
3609 Winter's Bone Daniel Woodrell 2006 American English
3615 11 22 63 Stephen King 2011 American English
3622 The Atrocity Exhibition J. G. Ballard 1970 British English
3812 Reflections On Violence Georges Sorel 1908 French French
3816 City of Bohane Kevin Barry 2011 Irish English
3817 The Beach Alex Garland 1996 British English
3838 De Niro's Game Rawi Hage 2006 Canadian English
3853 The Girl Next Door Jack Ketchum 1989 American English
3856 Closer Dennis Cooper 1989 American English
3875 We Need To Talk About Kevin Lionel Shriver 2003 American English
3883 The Cellar Richard Laymon 1980 American English
3902 Cities of the Plain Cormac McCarthy 1998 American English
3914 Sudden Death Alvaro Enrigue 2013 Mexican Spanish
3939 Collected Stories Raymond Chandler 1964 American English
4066 A Feast Unknown Philip José Farmer 1969 American English
4164 The Good Lord Bird James McBride 2013 American English