The Greatest Books of All Time on Violence

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

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.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
12821 Rage Steve Gerlach 2006 Australian English
12834 After Henry Joan Didion 1992 American English
12834 A Chorus Of Stones Susan Griffin 1992 American English
12834 Killing Color Charlotte W. Sherman 1992 American English
12834 Still Loved By The Sun Migael Scherer 1992 American English
13104 The Life And Poetry Of Frank Stanford James McWilliams 2025 American English
13153 The New Carthaginians Nick Makoha 2025 Ugandan English
13279 Golden Child Claire Adam 2019 Trinidadian English
13279 The Adversary Michael Crummey 2024 Canadian English
13259 The Corpse Washer Sinan Antoon 2010 Iraqi Arabic
13340 Project X Jim Shepard 2004 American English
13362 Night Shift Maritta Wolff 1942 American English
13508 Train To Pakistan Khushwant Singh 1956 Indian English
13543 Steps Jerzy Kosinski 1968 Polish English
13543 Mr. Sammler's Planet Saul Bellow 1970 American English
13560 I Am Malala Malala Yousafzai 2013 Pakistani English
13578 One With Others C. D. Wright 2010 American English
13584 A People's Tragedy Orlando Figes 1996 British English
13593 We Were The Mulvaneys Joyce Carol Oates 1996 American English
13600 A Father's Love Jacques Chessex 1973 Swiss French
13600 Captain Conan Roger Vercel 1934 French English
13600 Sang Et Lumières Joseph Peyre French French
13600 The Law Roger Vailland 1957 French French
13600 The Savage State Georges Conchon French French
13600 To Forget Palermo Edmonde Charles-Roux 1966 French French
13600 The Margin André Pieyre de Mandiargues 1967 French French
13600 L'epervier De Maheux Jean Carrière 1972 French French
13600 Les Flamboyants Patrick Grainville 1976 French French
13600 The Wedding Yann Queffélec 1985 French French
13600 Un Grand Pas Vers Le Bon Dieu Jean Vautrin 1989 French French
13600 The Battle Patrick Rambaud 1997 French French
13600 Houris Kamel Daoud 2024 French French
13772 The Flowers Dagoberto Gilb 2008 American English
13803 Les Racines Du Mal Maurice G. Dantec 1995 French French
13818 As God Commands Niccolò Ammaniti 2006 Italian Italian
13818 Ferocity Nicola Lagioia 2014 Italian Italian
13818 M Antonio Scurati 2018 Italian Italian
13879 Thrown Kerry Howley 2014 American English
13886 Pygmy Chuck Palahniuk 2009 American English
13938 Marat Sade Peter Weiss 1963 German German
13941 Clockers Richard Price 1992 American English
13941 Master Harold...And The Boys Athol Fugard 1982 South African English
13991 Eureka Street Robert McLiam Wilson 1996 Irish English
13993 The Year's Best Horror Stories: Viii Karl Edward Wagner 1980 American English
14025 Pigeon English Stephen Kelman 2011 British English
14078 Deaf Republic Ilya Kaminsky 2019 American English
14078 Ordinary Girls Jaquira Díaz 2019 American English
14100 The Royal Family William T. Vollmann 2000 American English
14113 Eyes Bottle Dark With A Mouthful Of Flowers Jake Skeets 2019 American English
14138 The Wisdom Of Crowds Joe Abercrombie 2021 British English
14173 Wife Bharati Mukherjee 1975 Indian English
14176 Black Tickets Jayne Anne Phillips 1979 American English
14204 High-Rise J. G. Ballard 1975 British English
14210 The Word For World Is Forest Ursula K. Le Guin 1972 American English
14212 Trouble Is My Business Raymond Chandler 1950 American English
14232 Sweat Lynn Nottage 2015 American English
14232 Ruined Lynn Nottage 2009 American English
14346 Reading In The Dark Seamus Deane 1996 Irish English
14348 Paco's Story Larry Heinemann 1986 American English
14348 Shadow Country Peter Matthiessen 2008 American English
14390 Early Novels and Stories James Baldwin 1984 American English
14402 La Ligne Noire Jean-Christophe Grangé 2004 French French
14499 News Of A Kidnapping Gabriel García Márquez 1996 Colombian Spanish
14545 In The Valley Of The Sun Andy Davidson American English
14554 The City That Became Safe Franklin E. Zimring 2011 American English
14554 Love And Death In The American Novel Leslie Fiedler 1960 American English
14599 Our Story Begins Tobias Wolff 2008 American English
14694 The Parts Keith Ridgway 2003 Irish English
14778 Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man James Weldon Johnson 1912 American English
14851 The Playboy Of The Western World John Millington Synge 1907 Irish English
14899 Maggie Stephen Crane 1893 American English
14899 The Harp In The South Ruth Park 1948 Australian English
14899 The Third Life Of Grange Copeland Alice Walker 1970 American English
14899 Hypatia Charles Kingsley 1853 British English
14877 To Have And Have Not Ernest Hemingway 1937 American English
14952 The Dutchman Amiri Baraka 1964 American English
14953 Blood Wedding Federico García Lorca 1933 Spanish Spanish
14960 Helter Skelter Vincent Bugliosi 1974 American English
14986 Going Native Stephen Wright 1994 American English
14986 Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned Wells Tower 2009 American English
14986 Say You’re One of Them Uwem Akpan 2008 Nigerian English
14977 The Soft Machine William S. Burroughs 1961 American English
14986 Nova Express William S. Burroughs 1964 American English
14986 Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down Ishmael Reed 1969 American English
14986 The House Of Splendid Isolation Edna O'Brien 1994 Irish English
14986 Wild at Heart Barry Gifford 1990 American English
14986 The Cabin At The End Of The World Paul Tremblay 2018 American English
14986 Property Valerie Martin 2003 American English
14986 The Real Story Stephen R. Donaldson 1991 American English
14986 Age Of Iron J. M. Coetzee 1990 South African English
14986 Chainsaw Man Tatsuki Fujimoto 2018 Japanese Japanese
14986 Blasted Sarah Kane 1995 British English
14986 God Of Carnage Yasmina Reza 2006 French French
14986 The Pillowman Martin McDonagh 2003 Irish English
14986 The Lieutenant Of Inishmore Martin McDonagh 2001 Irish English
14986 The Blade Itself Joe Abercrombie 2006 British English
14986 The Extremes Christopher Priest 1998 British English
14986 Anita Blake Laurell K. Hamilton 1993 American English
14986 Catching Fire Suzanne Collins 2009 American English
14986 Death Without Weeping Nancy Scheper-Hughes 1992 American English
14986 Razorblade Tears S. A. Cosby 2021 American English
14986 The Great Partition Yasmin Khan 2007 British English
14969 End Zone Don DeLillo 1972 American English
14986 The Englishman's Boy Guy Vanderhaeghe 1996 Canadian English
14986 La Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
15570 A Private Cathedral James Lee Burke 2020 American English
15619 The New Centurions Joseph Wambaugh 1970 American English
15645 Honor Thy Father Gay Talese 1971 American English
15679 Through The Wheat Thomas Boyd 1923 American English
15833 Sapphira And The Slave Girl Willa Cather 1940 American English
15865 On Revolution Hannah Arendt 1963 American English
15885 No Beast So Fierce Edward Bunker 1973 American English
15891 Tomb For 500,000 Soldiers Pierre Guyotat 1967 French French
15920 The Prussian Officer D. H. Lawrence 1914 British English
15920 Thoughts for the Times on War and Death Sigmund Freud 1915 Austrian German
15920 Funnyhouse Of A Negro Adrienne Kennedy 1964 American English
15920 The Flagellants Carlene Hatcher Polite 1966 American English
15918 The Dumb Waiter Harold Pinter 1957 British English
16524 The Zoo Story Edward Albee 1958 American English
15920 A Boy And His Dog Harlan Ellison 1969 American English