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
3637 Rinaldo Rinaldini, The Robber Captain Christian August Vulpius 1799 German German
3637 The Ringer Edgar Wallace 1925 British English
3637 The Assistant Robert Walser 1908 Swiss German
3637 Caspar Hauser Or The Inertia Of The Heart Jakob Wassermann 1908 German German
3637 Ich Suchte Adam Herbert Wendt 1954 German German
3637 The Embezzled Heaven Franz Werfel 1940 Austrian German
3637 The History Of The Abderites Christoph Martin Wieland 1774 German German
3637 History Of The Art Of Antiquity Johann Joachim Winckelmann 1762 German German
3637 Les Rougon Macquart Émile Zola 1871 French French
3637 Brockhaus Enzyklopädie Unknown 1796 German German
3637 Duden. Die Deutsche Rechtschreibung Unknown 1880 German German
3637 The Man Outside Wolfgang Borchert 1947 German German
3637 Everyman Hugo von Hofmannsthal 1911 Austrian German
3637 The Captain Of Köpenick Carl Zuckmayer 1931 German German
3801 A Imortalidade Milan Kundera 1990 Czech Czech
3802 Inside Mr. Enderby Anthony Burgess 1963 British English
3802 Manon des sources Marcel Pagnol 1963 French French
3804 The Ponder Heart Eudora Welty 1954 American English
3805 The Miser Molière 1668 French French
3806 Critique Of Cynical Reason Peter Sloterdijk 1983 German German
3807 Rousseau and Revolution Will Durant, Ariel Durant 1967 American English
3808 Hotel du Lac Anita Brookner 1984 British English
3809 A Pale View of Hills Kazuo Ishiguro 1982 British English
3809 Wittgenstein's Nephew Thomas Bernhard 1982 Austrian German
3809 The Writing Life Annie Dillard 1989 American English
3812 Reflections On Violence Georges Sorel 1908 French French
3813 Henry IV, Part II William Shakespeare 1600 British English
3814 Dark Lover J. R. Ward 2005 American English
3815 Nederlandsche Historien P. C. Hooft 1642 Dutch Dutch
3816 City of Bohane Kevin Barry 2011 Irish English
3818 Poems Of Seamus Heaney Seamus Heaney 1966 Irish English
3817 The Beach Alex Garland 1996 British English
3819 The Commitments Roddy Doyle 1987 Irish English
3819 Weaveworld Clive Barker 1987 British English
3821 Lenin's Tomb David Remnick 1993 American English
3822 The Edge of the Sword Charles De Gaulle 1959 French French
3823 The Search For Modern China Jonathan Spence 1990 American English
3824 Outliers Malcolm Gladwell 2008 Canadian English
3825 The Subtle Knife Philip Pullman 1997 British English
3826 Shadows Charles L. Grant 1978 American English
3827 Cloudstreet Tim Winton 1991 Australian English
3829 This Above All Eric Knight 1941 British English
3830 Lord Foul's Bane Stephen R. Donaldson 1977 American English
3831 Blott On The Landscape Tom Sharpe 1975 British English
3832 Stories Of Three Decades Thomas Mann 1936 German German
3833 Mannen utan väg Erik Lindegren 1942 Swedish Swedish
3838 De Niro's Game Rawi Hage 2006 Canadian English
3833 The Obsolescence Of Man Günther Anders 1956 German German
3833 Invocation Of The Great Bear Ingeborg Bachmann 1956 Austrian German
3833 Повесть о жизни Konstantin Paustovsky 1956 Russian Russian
3833 The Doctor Of Stalingrad Heinz G. Konsalik 1956 German German
3839 Gog Andrew Sinclair 1967 British English
3840 Country Of Origin E. du Perron 1935 Dutch Dutch
3841 All Our Yesterdays Natalia Ginzburg 1952 Italian Italian
3842 An Extraordinary Union Alyssa Cole 2017 American English
3843 The Fractal Geometry Of Nature Benoît Mandelbrot 1977 French English
3844 The Stone Raft José Saramago 1986 Portuguese Portuguese
3845 Written on the Body Jeanette Winterson 1992 British English
3845 Troubling Love Elena Ferrante 1992 Italian Italian
3848 Piranesi Susanna Clarke 2020 British English
3849 The Unlimited Dream Company J. G. Ballard 1979 British English
3850 Fourth Mansions R. A. Lafferty 1969 American English
3851 JR William Gaddis 1975 American English
3852 Of Woman Born Adrienne Rich 1976 American English
3853 The Girl Next Door Jack Ketchum 1989 American English
3854 Little Johannes Frederik van Eeden 1887 Dutch Dutch
3855 Breath Tim Winton 2008 Australian English
3856 Closer Dennis Cooper 1989 American English
3857 The Silent World Jacques Cousteau 1953 French French
3859 This Side of Paradise F. Scott Fitzgerald 1920 American English
3858 Enduring Love Ian McEwan 1997 British English
3868 Monkey Grip Helen Garner 1977 Australian English
3869 Walden Two B. F. Skinner 1948 American English
3869 Sansibar Or The Last Reason Alfred Andersch 1957 German German
3869 Die Skeptische Generation Helmut Schelsky 1957 German German
3872 The Beautiful and Damned F. Scott Fitzgerald 1922 American English
3873 The Alienist Caleb Carr 1994 American English
3874 Flow Mihály Csíkszentmihályi 1990 American English
3875 We Need To Talk About Kevin Lionel Shriver 2003 American English
3876 Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 Hunter S. Thompson 1973 American English
3878 The Hollow Hills Mary Stewart 1973 British English
3879 Kees The Boy Theo Thijssen 1923 Dutch Dutch
3882 Woe From Wit Alexander Griboyedov 1825 Russian Russian
3883 The Cellar Richard Laymon 1980 American English
3884 Mother London Michael Moorcock 1988 British English
3885 Collected Plays John Millington Synge 1935 Irish English
3886 Lunar Park Bret Easton Ellis 2005 American English
3887 The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Robert A. Heinlein 1966 American English
3888 Illywhacker Peter Carey 1985 Australian English
3889 There But For The Ali Smith 2011 British English
3891 Ella Enchanted Gail Carson Levine 1997 American English
3890 The Concept Of Law H. L. A. Hart 1961 British English
3892 Aline Charles Ferdinand Ramuz 1905 French French
3892 Beauty On Earth Charles Ferdinand Ramuz 1927 French French
3892 Oriental Tales Marguerite Yourcenar 1938 French French
3895 The Planetarium Nathalie Sarraute 1959 French French
3896 The Meaning of Hitler Sebastian Haffner 1978 German German
3899 Groot Lied Boeck G. A. Bredero 1622 Dutch Dutch
3899 Terug Tot Ina Damman Simon Vestdijk 1934 Dutch Dutch
3896 Runaway Horse Martin Walser 1978 German German
3896 Zoo Station Christiane V. Felscherinow 1978 German German
3901 Canne Al Vento Grazia Deledda 1913 Italian Italian
3902 Cities of the Plain Cormac McCarthy 1998 American English
3903 The Blue Sword Robin McKinley 1982 American English
3904 Other Voices, Other Rooms Truman Capote 1948 American English
3905 Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories Robert Aickman 1964 British English
3906 Out Stealing Horses Per Petterson 2003 Norwegian Norwegian
3907 The Wind on the Moon Eric Linklater 1944 British English
3907 Med Ana Schwoazzn Dintn Hans Carl Artmann 1958 Austrian German
3907 Homo Sociologicus Ralf Dahrendorf 1958 German German
3910 Water For Elephants Sara Gruen 2006 American English
3912 The Tiger In The Smoke Margery Allingham 1952 British English
3911 Salt On Our Skin Benoîte Groult 1988 French French
3913 The History Of A Town Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin 1870 Russian Russian
3916 The Complete Poems of Marianne Moore Marianne Moore 1967 American English
3918 Fences August Wilson 1985 American English
3921 She Stoops to Conquer Oliver Goldsmith 1773 British English
3919 Staying Power Peter Fryer 1984 British English
3919 Collected Poems Allen Ginsberg 1984 American English
3922 Wonder R. J. Palacio 2012 American English