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
4104 Lange Schatten Marie Luise Kaschnitz 1960 German German
4104 Die Schaukel Annette Kolb 1960 German German
4104 Wolfskin Hans Lebert 1960 Austrian German
4104 Summerhill Alexander Sutherland Neill 1960 British English
4104 Leavetaking Peter Weiss 1960 German German
4110 Brat Farrar Josephine Tey 1949 British English
4111 Art and Illusion Ernest H. Gombrich 1960 British English
4112 The Old Woman Daniil Kharms 1939 Russian Russian
4113 Brick Lane Monica Ali 2003 British English
4114 For a New Novel Alain Robbe-Grillet 1963 French French
4115 Why Did I Ever? Mary Robison 2001 American English
4116 Hekeldichten Joost van den Vondel 1625 Dutch Dutch
4122 Either Or Soren Kierkegaard 1843 Danish Danish
4119 Voices In The Evening Natalia Ginzburg 1961 Italian Italian
4119 Each Man In His Darkness Julien Green 1960 French French
4118 Anton Wachter Series Simon Vestdijk 1934 Dutch Dutch
4123 A Very Long Engagement Sebastien Japrisot 1991 French French
4125 Le Parole Tra Noi Leggere Lalla Romano 1969 Italian Italian
4126 Ferdinand Huyck Jacob van Lennep 1840 Dutch Dutch
4126 Ideas Multatuli 1862 Dutch Dutch
4126 The Good Hope Herman Heijermans 1901 Dutch Dutch
4126 Het Uur U Martinus Nijhoff 1936 Dutch Dutch
4131 Dark Avenues Ivan Bunin 1943 Russian Russian
4133 The Nonexistent Knight Italo Calvino 1959 Italian Italian
4135 The Faraway Nearby Rebecca Solnit 2013 American English
4136 Το Μυθιστόρημα της Κυρίας Έρσης Nikos-Gabriel Pentzikis 1966 Greek Greek
4137 Three plays Paul Claudel 1912 French French
4138 The Liars' Club Mary Karr 1995 American English
4139 Le Pauvre Christ De Bomba Mongo Beti 1956 French French
4139 Climbié Bernard Dadié 1956 French French
4139 Le Vieux Nègre Et La Médaille Ferdinand Oyono 1956 French French
4144 Krapp's Last Tape Samuel Beckett 1958 Irish English
4143 Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe Benjamin Alire Sáenz 2012 American English
4145 Vineland Thomas Pynchon 1990 American English
4146 The Dark Descent David Hartwell 1987 American English
4147 Forever... Judy Blume 1975 American English
4148 The Tale Of Cross Eyed Lefty From Tula And The Steel Flea Nikolai Leskov 1881 Russian Russian
4150 Oxherding Tale Charles R. Johnson 1982 American English
4151 American Genius Lynne Tillman 2006 American English
4152 Collected Poems Nils Ferlin 1947 Swedish Swedish
4152 Ankunft Im Alltag Brigitte Reimann 1961 German German
4155 Asymmetry Lisa Halliday 2018 American English
4157 We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families Philip Gourevitch 1998 American English
4156 The Assemblywomen Aristophanes -391 Greek Ancient greek
4158 China To Me Emily Hahn 1944 American English
4159 The Burning Court John Dickson Carr 1937 American English
4159 Rockbound Frank Parker Day 1928 Canadian English
4161 No One Is Talking About This Patricia Lockwood 2021 American English
4162 The Good Lord Bird James McBride 2013 American English
4163 The Naked Civil Servant Quentin Crisp 1968 British English
4164 Confederates Thomas Keneally 1979 Australian English
4165 Vasili Tyorkin Alexander Tvardovsky 1943 Russian Russian
4166 Miss Julie August Strindberg 1888 Swedish Swedish
4167 The History of the Standard Oil Company Ida Tarbell 1904 American English
4167 Letters On England Voltaire 1734 French French
4169 Dissipatio H.G. Guido Morselli 1977 Italian Italian
4170 Trout Fishing In America Richard Brautigan 1967 American English
4171 The Bone Collector Jeffery Deaver 1997 American English
4172 Sandro of Chegem Fazil Iskander 1966 Russian Russian
4174 Peer Gynt Henrik Ibsen 1867 Norwegian Norwegian
4173 Replay Ken Grimwood 1986 American English
4175 The Mind of the South W. J. Cash 1941 American English
4177 Granida P. C. Hooft 1605 Dutch Dutch
4177 Geeraerdt Van Velsen P. C. Hooft 1613 Dutch Dutch
4177 Warenar P. C. Hooft 1617 Dutch Dutch
4177 Palamedes Joost van den Vondel 1625 Dutch Dutch
4177 Kleine Gedigten Voor Kinderen Hieronymus van Alphen 1778 Dutch Dutch
4177 De Roos Van Dekama Jacob van Lennep 1836 Dutch Dutch
4177 Cheops J.H. Leopold 1936 Dutch Dutch
4177 Prometheus Carry van Bruggen 1919 Dutch Dutch
4177 De Kellner En De Levenden Simon Vestdijk 1949 Dutch Dutch
4186 The Nymph And The Lamp Thomas H. Raddall 1950 Canadian English
4187 Age of Ambition Evan Osnos 2014 American English
4188 An Ember In The Ashes Sabaa Tahir 2015 American English
4189 The Bridges Of Madison County Robert James Waller 1992 American English
4189 Flowers From The Storm Laura Kinsale 1992 American English
4191 Oriental Despotism Karl August Wittfogel 1957 German English
4192 The Three Robbers Tomi Ungerer 1961 French English
4193 The Celestine Prophecy James Redfield 1993 American English
4194 The Oppermanns Lion Feuchtwanger 1933 German German
4198 The Elementals Michael McDowell 1981 American English
4199 Edisto Padgett Powell 1984 American English
4201 Ain't I A Woman? bell hooks 1981 American English
4202 Darwin's Radio Greg Bear 1999 American English
4203 The Arabian Nightmare Robert Irwin 1983 British English
4204 The Colonizer and the Colonized Albert Memmi 1957 French French
4206 The Castle of Crossed Destinies Italo Calvino 1969 Italian Italian
4213 The Beginning of Spring Penelope Fitzgerald 1988 British English
4214 Andromache Euripides -425 Greek Ancient greek
4220 The Shadow of the Torturer Gene Wolfe 1980 American English
4217 Heracles Euripides -416 Greek Ancient greek
4216 Hecuba Euripides -424 Greek Ancient greek
4218 Ion Euripides -413 Greek Ancient greek
4219 Iphigenia At Aulis Euripides -405 Greek Ancient greek
4221 A Pattern Language Christopher Alexander 1977 American English
4223 Orestes Euripides -408 Greek Ancient greek
4222 The Spectre Of Alexander Wolf Gaito Gazdanov 1947 French Russian
4225 The Frogs Aristophanes -405 Greek Ancient greek
4229 The Wasps Aristophanes -422 Greek Ancient greek
4226 Introduction To The Sociology Of Music Theodor Adorno 1962 German English
4226 The Light Of Day Eric Ambler 1962 British English
4231 Mariette In Ecstasy Ron Hansen 1991 American English
4232 Trou Ringh Jacob Cats 1637 Dutch Dutch
4232 De Wiskunstenaars, Of 'T Gevluchte Juffertje Pieter Langendijk 1715 Dutch Dutch
4232 The Hollanders In Nova Zembla Hendrik Tollens 1819 Dutch Dutch
4232 Gedichten Van Den Schoolmeester Gerrit van de Linde 1859 Dutch Dutch
4232 De Dichtwerken P.A. de Genestet 1860 Dutch Dutch
4232 Mathilde Jacques Perk 1882 Dutch Dutch
4232 Het Land Van Rembrand Cd. Busken Huet 1879 Dutch Dutch
4232 Een Liefde Lodewijk van Deyssel 1887 Dutch Dutch
4232 Een Zwerver Verliefd Arthur van Schendel 1904 Dutch Dutch
4232 The Mountain Of Light Louis Couperus 1906 Dutch Dutch
4232 Iskander Louis Couperus 1920 Dutch Dutch
4232 Occupied City Paul van Ostaijen 1921 Belgian Dutch
4232 Vormen Martinus Nijhoff 1924 Dutch Dutch
4232 Eva Carry van Bruggen 1927 Dutch Dutch
4232 Schuim En Asch J.J. Slauerhoff 1930 Dutch Dutch
4232 Captain Jan Jan de Hartog 1945 Dutch Dutch
4232 Eric In The Land Of The Insects Godfried Bomans 1941 Dutch Dutch
4232 De Vuuraanbidders Simon Vestdijk 1947 Dutch Dutch