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
5259 Cockroaches Scholastique Mukasonga 2006 French French
5262 The Exploits Of Engelbrecht Maurice Richardson 1950 British English
5263 The Great Influenza John Barry 2004 American English
5263 The Golden Key George MacDonald 1980 British English
5265 Accumulation On A World Scale Samir Amin 1970 French French
5269 Under The Feet Of Jesus Helena María Viramontes 1995 American English
5270 I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream Harlan Ellison 1967 American English
5271 Die Günderode Bettina von Arnim 1840 German German
5274 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Tennessee Williams 1955 American English
5273 Uncanny Valley Anna Wiener 2020 American English
5275 The Stone Sky N. K. Jemisin 2017 American English
5278 The Strange Ride of Rudyard Kipling Angus Wilson 1977 British English
5277 Heartbreak Soup Gilbert Hernandez 1985 American English
5279 Some Of Your Blood Theodore Sturgeon 1961 American English
5280 At Last Edward St Aubyn 2011 British English
5281 Declare Tim Powers 2000 American English
5282 The Complete Notebooks Of Henry James Henry James 1987 American English
5283 Strangers To Ourselves Rachel Aviv 2022 American English
5284 από το στόμα της παλιάς Remington Giannis Panou 1981 Greek Greek
5286 Gandhi's Truth Erik H. Erikson 1969 American English
5287 Fields Of Glory Jean Rouaud 1990 French French
5289 Cutting It Short Bohumil Hrabal 1976 Czech Czech
5291 Notes On The Cinematographer Robert Bresson 1975 French French
5292 The Terrorists Maj Sjöwall 1975 Swedish Swedish
5292 Der Mädchenkrieg Manfred Bieler 1975 German German
5292 Reflections On Language Noam Chomsky 1975 American English
5292 Tadellöser & Wolff Walter Kempowski 1975 German German
5292 Padre Padrone Gavino Ledda 1975 Italian Italian
5292 The Poisoned Kiss And Other Stories From The Portuguese Joyce Carol Oates 1975 American English
5292 Der Kleine Unterschied Und Seine Großen Folgen Alice Schwarzer 1975 German German
5292 Tante Jolesch Or The Decline Of The West In Anecdotes Friedrich Torberg 1975 Austrian German
5301 The Swarm Frank Schatzing 2004 German German
5302 A Thief Of Time Tony Hillerman 1988 American English
5303 The Love Of Learning And The Desire For God Jean Leclercq 1960 French French
5304 A Fairy Tale Of New York J. P. Donleavy 1973 Irish English
5304 My Search For Warren Harding Robert Plunket 1973 American English
5306 Lee's Lieutenants Douglas Southall Freeman 1943 American English
5307 The Devil Rides Out Dennis Wheatley 1934 British English
5309 The Emperor's Children Claire Messud 2006 American English
5310 The Adams Jefferson Letters Lester J. Cappon 1959 American English
5310 The Town House Norah Lofts 1959 British English
5310 The Unknown Ajax Georgette Heyer 1959 British English
5314 Abu Telfan, Return from the Mountains of the Moon Wilhelm Karl Raabe 1867 German German
5315 The Vampire Tapestry Suzy McKee Charnas 1980 American English
5317 Eleanor And Park Rainbow Rowell 2012 American English
5316 Faithless Joyce Carol Oates 2001 American English
5318 The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte Karl Marx 1852 German German
5318 The Leavenworth Case Anna Katharine Green 1878 American English
5318 The Goodbye Look Ross Macdonald 1969 American English
5321 My First Summer in the Sierra John Muir 1911 American English
5323 A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush Eric Newby 1958 British English
5322 The Remorseful Day Colin Dexter 1999 British English
5324 If He Hollers Let Him Go Chester Himes 1945 American English
5325 The Patient In Room 18 Mignon G. Eberhart 1929 American English
5326 A Storm Of Wings M. John Harrison 1980 British English
5326 White Light Rudy Rucker 1980 American English
5328 Pushkin Hills Sergei Dovlatov 1983 Russian Russian
5329 Grant Ron Chernow 2017 American English
5330 The Perks Of Being A Wallflower Stephen Chbosky 1999 American English
5331 Through A Glass Darkly Karleen Koen 1986 American English
5333 Starship Troopers Robert A. Heinlein 1959 American English
5334 Jernigan David Gates 1991 American English
5335 Vendetta Michael Dibdin 1990 British English
5335 Bones And Silence Reginald Hill 1990 British English
5337 Ellis Island Georges Perec 1980 French French
5339 Days Without End Sebastian Barry 2016 Irish English
5340 Lassie Come Home Eric Knight 1940 British English
5342 Plainsong Kent Haruf 1999 American English
5343 White Girls Hilton Als 2013 American English
5344 Epileptic David B 1996 French French
5346 New Seeds Of Contemplation Thomas Merton 1961 American English
5347 The Last Coyote Michael Connelly 1995 American English
5348 Collected Stories Of V. S. Pritchett V. S. Pritchett 1982 British English
5349 How the Other Half Lives Jacob A. Riis 1890 Danish English
5349 A Street In Bronzeville Gwendolyn Brooks 1945 American English
5352 Stasiland Anna Funder 2002 Australian English
5351 The Book Of Mormon Unknown 1830 American English
5353 Motherless Brooklyn Jonathan Lethem 1999 American English
5354 New Hampshire Robert Frost 1923 American English
5355 Praiseworthy Alexis Wright 2024 Australian English
5356 Tropic Of Ruislip Leslie Thomas 1974 British English
5356 52 Pick Up Elmore Leonard 1974 American English
5358 Team of Rivals Doris Kearns Goodwin 2005 American English
5360 The Portable Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker 1944 American English
5361 To Have Or To Be? The Nature Of The Psyche Erich Fromm 1976 German English
5361 Schilten Hermann Burger 1976 Swiss German
5361 Hölderlin Peter Härtling 1976 German German
5361 The Hite Report Shere Hite 1976 American English
5361 Foundations Of Christian Faith Karl Rahner 1976 German German
5368 White Jazz James Ellroy 1992 American English
5369 The Way the World Works Jude Wanniski 1978 American English
5370 Death Comes As The End Agatha Christie 1944 British English
5371 Arabian Sands Wilfred Thesiger 1959 British English
5372 Endurance Alfred Lansing 1959 American English
5374 Packing For Mars Mary Roach 2010 American English
5377 Bridge of Birds Barry Hughart 1984 American English
5378 A Midsummer Tempest Poul Anderson 1974 American English
5379 The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln 1982 British English
5381 Longitude Dava Sobel 1995 American English
5380 Bluenose Ghosts Helen Creighton 1969 Canadian English
5383 Histoire De L'afrique Noire Joseph Ki-Zerbo 1972 French French
5384 Ox Bells And Fireflies Ernest Buckler 1968 Canadian English
5385 The Tritonian Ring L. Sprague de Camp 1953 American English
5385 The Other Place And Other Stories J. B. Priestley 1953 British English
5387 In Memory Of Memory Maria Stepanova 2017 Russian Russian
5388 The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800 Lawrence Stone 1977 British English
5389 St. Urbain's Horseman Mordecai Richler 1971 Canadian English
5390 Tom Lake Ann Patchett 2023 American English
5391 The Horse Whisperer Nicholas Evans 1995 British English
5392 New Atlantis Francis Bacon 1627 British English
5392 The Poems of Emily Bronte Emily Brontë 1846 British English
5392 Devotions upon Emergent Occasions John Donne 1624 British English
5392 Jerusalem Delivered Torquato Tasso 1581 Italian Italian
5392 Complete Plays And Poems Christopher Marlowe 1587 British English
5392 Lycidas, Comus, And The Minor Poems John Milton 1637 British English
5392 Holy Dying Jeremy Taylor 1651 British English
5392 Poems Of Alexander Pope Alexander Pope 1711 British English
5392 Mademoiselle De Maupin Théophile Gautier 1835 French French
5392 Selected Prose Thomas Carlyle 1800 British English
5392 Personae Ezra Pound 1909 American English