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
4375 The Truce Unknown 1963 Italian Spanish
4381 How To End A Story Helen Garner 2021 Australian English
4383 Flowers in the Attic V. C. Andrews 1979 American English
4382 A Tale Of Poor Lovers Vasco Pratolini 1947 Italian Italian
4385 It's A Hard Life Luciano Bianciardi 1962 Italian Italian
4385 Fratelli D'italia Alberto Arbasino 1963 Italian Italian
4384 Incubus Giuseppe Berto 1964 Italian Italian
4387 Novecento Alessandro Baricco 1994 Italian Italian
4388 James Joyce Richard Ellmann 1959 American English
4389 The Bishop Murder Case S. S. Van Dine 1929 American English
4390 Crabwalk Günter Grass 2002 German German
4391 The Winds Of War Herman Wouk 1971 American English
4392 The Friend Sigrid Nunez 2018 American English
4393 Halifax, Warden Of The North Thomas H. Raddall 1948 Canadian English
4394 We The Animals Justin Torres 2011 American English
4399 Ariosto Chelsa quinn yarbro 1972 American Unknown
4400 The Revolt Of The Angels Anatole France 1914 French French
4400 The Sword Of Welleran Lord Dunsany 1908 Irish English
4402 The L Shaped Room Lynne Reid Banks 1960 British English
4402 A Kind Of Loving Stan Barstow 1960 British English
4402 This Sporting Life David Storey 1960 British English
4402 Fortunes Of War Olivia Manning 1960 British English
4408 Salammbô Gustave Flaubert 1862 French French
4409 The Pigeon Patrick Suskind 1987 German German
4412 Norma Vladimir Sorokin 1970 Russian Russian
4410 Sharpe's Eagle Bernard Cornwell 1981 British English
4413 The House Book Terence Conran 1974 British English
4415 Detransition, Baby Torrey Peters 2021 American English
4416 A Bright Shining Lie Neil Sheehan 1988 American English
4417 Johnny The Partisan Beppe Fenoglio 1968 Italian Italian
4418 The Swerve Stephen Greenblatt 2011 American English
4419 Selections From The Tatler And The Spectator Joseph Addison, Richard Steele 1804 British English
4419 Poems Of George Herbert George Herbert 1633 British English
4419 Memoirs Of The Author Of A Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman William Godwin 1798 British English
4419 Life Of John Sterling Thomas Carlyle 1851 British English
4419 The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies James McNeill Whistler 1890 American English
4419 Guide To Kulchur Ezra Pound 1938 American English
4419 The Voysey Inheritance Harley Granville Barker 1905 British English
4419 The Madras House Harley Granville Barker 1910 British English
4419 Trifles Susan Glaspell 1916 American English
4419 Desire Under The Elms Eugene O'Neill 1924 American English
4429 The Family of Man Edward Steichen 1955 American English
4429 One Dimensional Man Herbert Marcuse 1964 German English
4429 And Really Frau Blum Would Very Much Like To Meet The Milkman Peter Bichsel 1964 Swiss German
4429 Das Große Protokoll Gegen Zwetschkenbaum Albert Drach 1964 Austrian German
4433 Verzameld Werk: Poëzie Paul van Ostaijen 1955 Belgian Dutch
4434 House Mother Normal B. S. Johnson 1971 British English
4435 A Mother's Kisses Bruce Jay Friedman 1964 American English
4435 In Dreams Begin Responsibilities And Other Stories Delmore Schwartz 1938 American English
4435 Native Funk & Flash Alexandra Jacopetti 1974 American English
4435 The Dream Songs John Berryman 1964 American English
4439 The Thief's Journal Jean Genet 1949 French French
4440 Demons By Daylight Ramsey Campbell 1973 British English
4442 A Long Long Way Sebastian Barry 2005 Irish English
4443 Chronicles of Wasted Time Malcolm Muggeridge 1972 British English
4444 Verzameld Werk Willem Elsschot 1957 Belgian Dutch
4445 Ellen Foster Kaye Gibbons 1987 American English
4446 The Greek Coffin Mystery Ellery Queen 1932 American English
4447 Abyssinian Chronicles Moses Isegawa 1998 Dutch English
4448 Shibumi Trevanian 1979 American English
4449 The Eye Of The World Robert Jordan 1990 American English
4450 Gift From The Sea Anne Morrow Lindbergh 1955 American English
4452 Gogol's Wife Tommaso Landolfi 1953 Italian Italian
4453 The City in History Lewis Mumford 1961 American English
4454 Mountains Beyond Mountains Tracy Kidder 2003 American English
4455 The Circus Of Dr. Lao Charles G. Finney 1935 American English
4456 Death Of Jezebel Christianna Brand 1948 British English
4458 The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman 2008 British English
4457 The Truly Disadvantaged William Julius Wilson 1987 American English
4459 The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake Aimee Bender 2010 American English
4460 Collected Works of Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay 1956 American English
4461 The Royal Physician's Visit Per Olov Enquist 1999 Swedish Swedish
4465 Samuels bok Sven Delblanc 1981 Swedish Swedish
4466 The Chateau William Maxwell 1961 American English
4466 Covenant With Death John Harris 1961 British English
4469 The Unheavenly City Edward C. Banfield 1970 American English
4468 The History of Love Nicole Krauss 2005 American English
4470 Intermezzo Sally Rooney 2024 Irish English
4471 Nifft The Lean Michael Shea 1982 American English
4472 Alias Grace Margaret Atwood 1996 Canadian English
4473 Minuet Louis-Paul Boon 1955 Belgian Dutch
4474 Soundjata Ou L'épopée Mandingue Djibril Tamsir Niane 1960 French French
4477 The Economy of Cities Jane Jacobs 1969 American English
4479 Revenge Of The Lawn Richard Brautigan 1971 American English
4478 Perceval, Or The Story Of The Grail Chrétien de Troyes 1181 French Old french
4480 The Private Papers Of Henry Ryecroft George Gissing 1903 British English
4481 The Eustace Diamonds Anthony Trollope 1871 British English
4481 The Collected Plays of W.B. Yeats William Butler Yeats 1934 Irish English
4481 The Duchess Of Malfi John Webster 1623 British English
4481 The Night Of The Hunter Davis Grubb 1953 American English
4487 The Bears' Famous Invasion Of Sicily Dino Buzzati 1945 Italian Italian
4488 La Pesanteur Et La Grâce Simone Weil 1947 French French
4489 Voyage In The Dark Jean Rhys 1934 British English
4491 All The Little Live Things Wallace Stegner 1967 American English
4493 Soldiers Three Rudyard Kipling 1888 British English
4493 Castle to Castle Louis-Ferdinand Céline 1957 French French
4493 The Letters Of Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert 1887 French French
4490 Niourk Stefan Wul 1957 French French
4496 The Unsettling of America Wendell Berry 1977 American English
4497 The Rise And Fall Of The Great Powers Paul Kennedy 1987 British English
4499 Night Visitor B. Traven 1966 German Unknown
4500 How Should a Person Be? Sheila Heti 2010 Canadian English
4502 Killers of the Dream Lillian Smith 1949 American English
4504 Different Seasons Stephen King 1982 American English
4505 North Woods Daniel Mason 2023 American English
4506 Truman David McCullough 1992 American English
4507 The Book about Blanche and Marie Per Olov Enquist 2004 Swedish Swedish
4508 Practicalities Marguerite Duras 1987 French French
4509 The Aula Hermann Kant 1965 German German
4512 Comet In Moominland Tove Jansson 1946 Finnish Swedish
4513 The Rattle Bag Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney 1982 British English
4514 The Channel Shore Charles Bruce 1954 Canadian English
4515 Finn Family Moomintroll Tove Jansson 1948 Finnish Swedish
4516 The Black Cauldron Lloyd Alexander 1965 American English
4517 When The Wind Blows Raymond Briggs 1982 British English
4518 Sour Sweet Timothy Mo 1982 British English
4520 Last Train to Memphis Peter Guralnick 1994 American English
4522 The Situation Is Hopeless, But Not Serious Paul Watzlawick 1983 American English
4524 Falconer John Cheever 1977 American English
4525 Living In Truth Vaclav Havel 1986 Czech Czech