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
4526 The Medium Is The Massage Marshall McLuhan 1967 Canadian English
4529 Minneliederen Hendrik van Veldeke 1170 German Middle dutch
4527 Songs Hadewijch 1250 Dutch Middle dutch
4532 Mend The Living Maylis de Kerangal 2014 French French
4530 Der Naturen Bloeme Jacob van Maerlant 1270 Dutch Middle dutch
4531 The Spiritual Espousals Jan van Ruusbroec 1343 Dutch Middle dutch
4533 Annihilation Jeff VanderMeer 2014 American English
4535 Turkish Delight Jan Wolkers 1969 Dutch Dutch
4536 Special Topics In Calamity Physics Marisha Pessl 2006 American English
4537 Stiff Mary Roach 2003 American English
4538 Affliction Russell Banks 1989 American English
4539 Rules Of Summer Shaun Tan 2013 Australian English
4541 A New Life Bernard Malamud 1961 American English
4542 Ingenious Pain Andrew Miller 1997 British English
4543 The Collected Poems Of Odysseus Elytis Odysseas Elytis 1971 Greek Greek
4543 Η Σαρκοφαγος Giorgos Ioannou 1971 Greek Greek
4546 Island Of The Blue Dolphins Scott O'Dell 1960 American English
4547 Forever Amber Kathleen Winsor 1944 American English
4547 Frederica Georgette Heyer 1965 British English
4547 Restoree Anne McCaffrey 1967 American English
4547 Bride Of The Mac Hugh Jan Cox Speas 1954 American English
4547 The Wolf And The Dove Kathleen E. Woodiwiss 1974 American English
4547 Mistress Of Mellyn Victoria Holt 1960 British English
4553 When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit Judith Kerr 1971 German English
4558 Star Of The Sea Joseph O'Connor 2003 Irish English
4559 The Lady's Not For Burning Christopher Fry 1948 British English
4560 The Haunted Woman David Lindsay 1922 British English
4560 A House Of Pomegranates Oscar Wilde 1891 British English
4560 The Unfortunate Fursey Mervyn Wall 1946 Irish English
4560 Return Of Fursey Mervyn Wall 1948 Irish English
4560 The Twilight Of The Gods Richard Garnett 1888 British English
4565 Mortal y rosa Francisco Umbral 1975 Spanish Spanish
4566 No Great Mischief Alistair MacLeod 1999 Canadian English
4567 The Dirty Dust Máirtin Ó Cadhain 1949 Irish Irish
4568 The Rules Of Attraction Bret Easton Ellis 1987 American English
4569 No Kiss For Mother Tomi Ungerer 1973 French English
4570 The Taste Of Country Cooking Edna Lewis 1976 American English
4570 William Eggleston's Guide John Szarkowski 1976 American English
4572 The Moomins And The Great Flood Tove Jansson 1945 Finnish Swedish
4573 Moominvalley In November Tove Jansson 1970 Finnish Swedish
4576 No Ordinary Time Doris Kearns Goodwin 1994 American English
4574 The Black Brothers Lisa Tetzner 1941 German German
4575 Alanna Tamora Pierce 1983 American English
4578 History Of Art Elie Faure 1919 French French
4579 Papillon Henri Charrière 1969 French French
4580 Antiworlds Andrey Voznesensky 1964 Russian Russian
4580 A Theory Of The Consumption Function Milton Friedman 1957 American English
4580 The Zone Sergei Dovlatov 1982 Russian Russian
4580 Laut Und Luise Ernst Jandl 1966 Austrian German
4586 The Loser Thomas Bernhard 1983 Austrian German
4587 Columbine Dave Cullen 2009 American English
4588 The Nickel Boys Colson Whitehead 2019 American English
4589 La Demoiselle sauvage Corinna Bille 1974 French French
4590 Vurt Jeff Noon 1993 British English
4591 Conversations With Friends Sally Rooney 2017 Irish English
4592 Ten North Frederick John O'Hara 1955 American English
4594 Man in the Holocene Max Frisch 1979 Swiss German
4593 Last Night James Salter 2005 American English
4595 Nora Webster Colm Toibin 2014 Irish English
4596 The Fourth Dimension Yannis Ritsos 1972 Greek Greek
4603 Babel R. F. Kuang 2022 American English
4604 Swords And Deviltry Fritz Leiber 1970 American English
4605 Verzamelde Gedichten Lucebert 1957 Dutch Dutch
4606 The Dice Man Luke Rhinehart 1971 American English
4607 One Lonely Night Mickey Spillane 1951 American English
4608 Here Richard McGuire 2014 American English
4609 Las Personas Del Verbo Jaime Gil de Biedma
 1975 Spanish Spanish
4610 Complete Short Stories D. H. Lawrence 1950 British English
4611 Civilisation Kenneth Clark 1969 British English
4612 Cold Heaven Brian Moore 1983 British English
4613 Gulag Anne Applebaum 2003 American English
4615 The Emperor's Snuff Box John Dickson Carr 1942 American English
4614 The Fifth Woman Henning Mankell 1996 Swedish Swedish
4616 Sociobiology E. O. Wilson 1975 American English
4617 Deacon King Kong James McBride 2020 American English
4619 Rising Tide John Barry 1997 American English
4620 Calligrammes Guillaume Apollinaire 1918 French French
4621 The Bride Of Lammermoor Sir Walter Scott 1819 Scottish English
4624 Blue Bird Maurice Maeterlinck 1908 Belgian French
4625 The Chimes Charles Dickens 1844 British English
4626 The Opium War Julia Lovell 2011 British English
4627 The Governor's Lady Thomas H. Raddall 1960 Canadian English
4628 Heartburn Nora Ephron 1983 American English
4629 De Profundis Oscar Wilde 1905 British English
4630 The Miraculous Journey Of Edward Tulane Kate DiCamillo 2006 American English
4632 Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha Roddy Doyle 1993 Irish English
4631 Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti 2001 British English
4633 The Inability To Mourn Alexander Mitscherlich, Margarete Mitscherlich 1967 German German
4634 Success Napoleon Hill 1928 American Unknown
4636 Darkmans Nicola Barker 2007 British English
4637 The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse Louise Erdrich 2001 American English
4639 Prime Evil Douglas Winter 1988 American English
4640 The Psychopathology Of Everyday Life Sigmund Freud 1901 German German
4641 Memoirs Of A Midget Walter de la Mare 1921 British English
4642 Micrographia Robert Hooke 1665 British English
4643 Midnight Plus One Gavin Lyall 1965 British English
4644 Alms For Oblivion Simon Raven 1964 British English
4644 You Only Live Twice Ian Fleming 1964 British English
4644 Friday The Rabbi Slept Late Harry Kemelman 1964 American English
4644 The Blue Room Georges Simenon 1964 French French
4644 The Valley Of Bones Anthony Powell 1964 British English
4650 Cold Hand In Mine Robert Aickman 1975 British English
4651 The Forever War Dexter Filkins 2008 American English
4652 True West Sam Shepard 1980 American English
4654 Coraline Neil Gaiman 2002 British English
4653 Tomorrow In The Battle Think On Me Javier Marias 1994 Spanish Spanish
4655 The Egyptian Cross Mystery Ellery Queen 1932 American English
4656 Man And Superman George Bernard Shaw 1903 British English
4657 Lanterns on the Levee William Alexander Percy 1941 American English
4658 The 13 1/2 Lives Of Captain Bluebear Walter Moers 1999 German German
4659 Poets Of The English Language W. H. Auden, Norman Holmes Pearson 1950 American English
4661 The Swan Book Alexis Wright 2013 Australian English
4664 Building Stories Chris Ware 2012 American English
4662 The Fan Man William Kotzwinkle 1974 American English
4665 Red Mars Kim Stanley Robinson 1992 American English
4666 Saint Joan George Bernard Shaw 1923 Irish English
4667 Allah Is Not Obliged Ahmadou Kourouma 2000 French French
4668 The Painter Of Modern Life Charles Baudelaire 1863 French French
4668 Beethoven's Letters Ludwig van Beethoven 1866 German German
4670 Rilla Ze Złotego Brzegu L. M. Montgomery 1921 Canadian English