The Greatest Western 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
1755 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J. K. Rowling 2005 British English
1756 Strange Fruit Lillian Smith 1944 American English
1757 Books of Blood Clive Barker 1984 British English
1758 Sabbath's Theater Philip Roth 1995 American English
1760 Desperate Characters Paula Fox 1970 American English
1761 The Serious Game Hjalmar Soderberg 1912 Swedish Swedish
1762 Lady into Fox David Garnett 1922 British English
1763 Small Is Beautiful E. F. Schumacher 1973 British English
1764 Tales Of The Hasidim Martin Buber 1949 German German
1765 A Little Life Hanya Yanagihara 2015 American English
1766 Who Do You Think You Are? Alice Munro 1978 Canadian English
1767 The Man of Feeling Henry Mackenzie 1771 British English
1768 Carmilla Sheridan Le Fanu 1872 Irish English
1769 Under Milk Wood Dylan Thomas 1954 British English
1770 The Emperor of Portugallia Selma Lagerlöf 1914 Swedish Swedish
1771 Stone Butch Blues Leslie Feinberg 1993 American English
1772 Hard Times Charles Dickens 1854 British English
1773 Doctor Glas Hjalmar Soderberg 1905 Swedish Swedish
1774 The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne Brian Moore 1955 Irish English
1775 Interpreter of Maladies Jhumpa Lahiri 1999 American English
1776 Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke 1953 British English
1777 Flowering Nettle Harry Martinson 1935 Swedish Swedish
1778 The Strudlhof Steps Heimito von Doderer 1951 German German
1779 Rob Roy Sir Walter Scott 1817 British English
1781 Juno And The Paycock Sean O'Casey 1924 Irish English
1782 The Wild Ass's Skin Honoré de Balzac 1831 French French
1783 A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Dave Eggers 2000 American English
1784 Marks of Identity Juan Goytisolo 1966 Spanish Spanish
1785 The Murders in the Rue Morgue Edgar Allan Poe 1841 American English
1786 Farthest North Fridtjof Nansen 1897 Norwegian Norwegian
1787 Sexual Politics Kate Millett 1970 American English
1788 Heartbreak House George Bernard Shaw 1919 British English
1789 The Mystery Of Edwin Drood Charles Dickens 1870 British English
1790 The Master Colm Toibin 2004 Irish English
1791 Confessions Of Felix Krull, Confidence Man Thomas Mann 1954 German German
1792 The Adventures Of Roderick Random Tobias Smollett 1748 British English
1793 The Last Unicorn Peter S. Beagle 1968 American English
1794 My Past And Thoughts Alexander Herzen 1861 Russian Russian
1795 Victory Joseph Conrad 1915 British English
1798 Washington Square Henry James 1880 American English
1799 The Giver Lois Lowry 1993 American English
1800 The Deptford Trilogy Robertson Davies 1970 Canadian English
1801 A Time To Kill John Grisham 1989 American English
1802 Kallocain Karin Boye 1940 Swedish Swedish
1803 The Problems of Philosophy Bertrand Russell 1912 British English
1806 Moominland Midwinter Tove Jansson 1957 Finnish Swedish
1808 Martin Chuzzlewit Charles Dickens 1843 British English
1807 Beware Of Pity Stefan Zweig 1939 Austrian German
1809 The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon 2001 Spanish Spanish
1810 The Weary Blues Langston Hughes 1926 American English
1811 A Time Of Gifts Patrick Leigh Fermor 1977 British English
1812 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark Haddon 2003 British English
1813 Swan Song Robert R. McCammon 1987 American English
1814 Christ Recrucified Nikos Kazantzakis 1948 Greek Greek
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
1817 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot 2010 American English
1818 Barbarian Days William Finnegan 2015 American English
1819 Carry On, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1925 British English
1820 Fontamara Ignazio Silone 1933 Italian Italian
1821 The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle 1969 American English
1822 Small Lives Pierre Michon 1984 French French
1823 Stuart Little E. B. White 1945 American English
1824 The Engineer of Human Souls Josef Škvorecký 1977 Czech Czech
1825 Studies In The History Of The Renaissance Walter Pater 1873 British English
1826 The Other Thomas Tryon 1971 American English
1827 Experience Martin Amis 2000 British English
1828 The Mysterious Stranger Mark Twain 1916 American English
1829 To The Friend Who Did Not Save My Life Hervé Guibert 1990 French French
1830 Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Anne Tyler 1982 American English
1831 The Swords Of Lankhmar Fritz Leiber 1968 American English
1833 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader C. S. Lewis 1952 British English
1834 Histories Cornelius Tacitus 100 Roman Latin
1835 Sophie's World Jostein Gaarder 1991 Norwegian Norwegian
1836 Grendel John Gardner 1971 American English
1837 Jaws Peter Benchley 1974 American English
1838 Just William Richmal Crompton 1922 British English
1839 The Child Of Pleasure Gabriele D'Annunzio 1889 Italian Italian
1840 Mysteries Knut Hamsun 1892 Norwegian Norwegian
1842 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J. K. Rowling 2000 British English
1843 Euclid's Elements Euclid -300 Greek Ancient greek
1844 The Sixth Extinction Elizabeth Kolbert 2014 American English
1845 Drifting Cities Stratis Tsirkas 1960 Greek Greek
1846 Swiss Family Robinson Johann David Wyss 1812 Swiss German
1847 The Little Sister Raymond Chandler 1949 American English
1848 Darker Than You Think Jack Williamson 1948 American English
1849 Z Vassilis Vassilikos 1967 Greek Greek
1850 On Germany Germaine de Staël 1810 French French
1850 The Jew's Beech Annette von Droste-Hülshoff 1842 German German
1853 The Velveteen Rabbit Margery Williams 1922 British English
1854 The Courage to Be Paul Tillich 1952 German English
1855 The Order of Things Michel Foucault 1966 French French
1856 Under Western Eyes Joseph Conrad 1911 British English
1857 A Lost Lady Willa Cather 1923 American English
1858 Terug naar Oegstgeest Jan Wolkers 1965 Dutch Dutch
1859 Angel Elizabeth Taylor 1957 British English
1860 Notebook Of A Return To The Native Land Aimé Césaire 1939 French French
1861 Citizen Claudia Rankine 2014 American English
1862 On Aggression Konrad Lorenz 1963 Austrian German
1863 Katherine Anya Seton 1954 American English
1864 The Jewish War Flavius Josephus 75 Jewish Greek
1865 Elmer Gantry Sinclair Lewis 1927 American English
1866 The Lion of Flanders Hendrik Conscience 1838 Belgian Dutch
1867 The Woodlanders Thomas Hardy 1887 British English
1868 Junky William S. Burroughs 1953 American English
1870 The George Sand-Gustave Flaubert Letters Gustave Flaubert 1921 French French
1871 Brief Lives John Aubrey 1898 British English
1872 To the Finland Station Edmund Wilson 1940 American English
1873 And the Band Played On Randy Shilts 1987 American English
1874 The Proud Tower Barbara Wertheim Tuchman 1966 American English
1875 Last Seen Wearing ... Hillary Waugh 1952 American English
1876 Home Marilynne Robinson 2008 American English
1877 Cold Mountain Charles Frazier 1997 American English
1878 East Goes West Younghill Kang 1937 American English
1879 Tuck Everlasting Natalie Babbitt 1975 American English
1880 The Complete John Silence Stories Algernon Blackwood 1908 British English
1881 The Machiavellians James Burnham 1943 American English
1882 Pereira Maintains Antonio Tabucchi 1994 Italian Italian
1883 Chariots Of The Gods Erich Von Däniken 1968 German German
1884 The Looming Tower Lawrence Wright 2006 American English