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
7106 Technopoly Neil Postman 1992 American English
7107 Kiss The Girls James Patterson 1995 American English
7108 The Children Of The Dead Elfriede Jelinek 2024 Austrian German
7110 Journey Into The Whirlwind Eugenia Ginzburg 1967 Russian Russian
7112 Index To Science Fiction Anthologies And Collections And Supplement William G. Contento 1978 American English
7112 Blind Voices Tom Reamy 1978 American English
7112 The Inklings Humphrey Carpenter 1978 British English
7115 Seven Years Peter Stamm 2009 Swiss German
7117 The Fortunes Of Nigel Sir Walter Scott 1822 Scottish English
7117 A Legend Of Montrose Sir Walter Scott 1819 Scottish English
7120 A Louis Zukofsky 1991 American English
7122 Margot en de engelen Kristien Hemmerechts 1997 Belgian Dutch
7122 Generation Kill Evan Wright 2004 American English
7122 Why We Love Helen Fisher 2004 American English
7122 127 Hours Aaron Ralston 2004 American English
7126 Babel-17 Samuel R. Delany 1966 American English
7127 Blanche Passes Go Barbara Neely 2000 American English
7127 The Redbreast Jo Nesbø 2000 Norwegian Norwegian
7129 Knife Salman Rushdie 2024 British English
7131 Tales Of Neveryon Samuel R. Delany 1979 American English
7131 Fantastic Worlds Eric S. Rabkin 1979 American English
7133 Desolation Angels Jack Kerouac 1965 American English
7135 To All The Boys I've Loved Before Jenny Han 2014 American English
7137 Bury Your Dead Louise Penny 2010 Canadian English
7136 Chronicler Of The Winds Henning Mankell 1995 Swedish Swedish
7139 The Kitchen God's Wife Amy Tan 1991 American English
7143 Black Hole Charles Burns 1995 American English
7142 Hello Beautiful Ann Napolitano 2023 American English
7146 Dead Lagoon Michael Dibdin 1994 British English
7144 Putování Za švestkovou Vůní Ludvík Aškenazy 1992 Czech Czech
7144 Báječná Léta Pod Psa Michal Viewegh 1992 Czech Czech
7147 Captains And The Kings Taylor Caldwell 1972 American English
7148 Atomic Habits James Clear 2018 American English
7151 The Shawl Cynthia Ozick 1989 American English
7149 Magic In The Wind Christine Feehan 2003 American English
7149 Tempting The Beast Lora Leigh 2003 American English
7152 Gateway Frederik Pohl 1977 American English
7153 Poems Adrienne Rich 1975 American English
7156 The One Tree Stephen R. Donaldson 1982 American English
7157 La Horde Du Contrevent Alain Damasio 2004 French French
7158 The Wager David Grann 2023 American English
7160 The Poems Of Manolis Anagnostakis Manolis Anagnostakis 2001 Greek Greek
7159 Midnight Sun Ramsey Campbell 1990 British English
7161 Saved Edward Bond 1965 British English
8825 All The Names José Saramago 1997 Portuguese Portuguese
7162 Blind Argus Or The Fables Of The Memory Gesualdo Bufalino 1988 Italian Italian
7163 A Million Little Pieces James Frey 2003 American English
7165 A Fable William Faulkner 1954 American English
7166 The Places In Between Rory Stewart 2004 British English
7167 Timeline Michael Crichton 1999 American English
7168 The Man In Lower Ten Mary Roberts Rinehart 1909 American English
7168 Two Captains Veniamin Kaverin 1940 Russian Russian
7168 The Confession Of A Child Of The Century Alfred de Musset 1836 French French
7168 Julio Jurenito Ilya Ehrenburg 1921 Russian Russian
7168 The Life Of Klim Samgin Maxim Gorky 1930 Russian Russian
7168 The Everglades Marjory Stoneman Douglas 1947 American English
7174 Wild Cheryl Strayed 2012 American English
7175 Out Of Sheer Rage Geoff Dyer 1997 British English
7176 The Asylum Seeker Arnon Grunberg 2003 Dutch Dutch
7180 Retold African American Folktales David Haynes 1996 American Unknown
7179 The Blue Tango Eoin McNamee 2001 Irish English
7181 Joseph Vance William De Morgan 1906 British English
7182 When The Going Was Good Graydon Carter, James Fox 1946 Canadian English
7183 The Perils Of Pleasure Julie Anne Long 2008 American English
7183 The Winter Rose Jennifer Donnelly 2008 American English
7188 Pet Akwaeke Emezi 2019 American English
7189 Close To The Knives David Wojnarowicz 1991 American English
7190 The Complete Plays Of Eugene O'neill Eugene O'Neill 1959 American English
7191 Heartstopper Alice Oseman 2018 British English
7193 Jasper Jones Craig Silvey 2009 Australian English
7194 Social Theory And Social Structure Robert K. Merton 1949 American English
7197 Parallel Lives Phyllis Rose 1983 American English
7197 Hide And Seek Ian Rankin 1991 British English
7199 The Nightwalker Thomas Tessier 1979 American English
7199 Science Fiction And Fantasy Literature & Supplement R. Reginald 1979 American English
7199 The Language Of The Night Ursula K. Le Guin 1979 American English
7202 Gb84 David Peace 2004 British English
7203 The Surgeon Tess Gerritsen 2001 American English
7204 Hounded Kevin Hearne 2011 American English
7205 The Shape Of Water Andrea Camilleri 1994 Italian Italian
7205 Het Meesterstuk Anna Enquist 1994 Dutch Dutch
7205 The Pharmacist Ingrid Noll 1994 German German
7211 Boy Swallows Universe Trent Dalton 2018 Australian English
7213 Prophet Song Paul Lynch 2023 Irish English
7215 The Little Grey Men Denys Watkins-Pitchford 1942 British English
7215 The Two-Ocean War Samuel Eliot Morison 1963 American English
7215 Edmund Dulac's Fairy-Book Edmund Dulac 1916 British English
7215 Galapagos William Beebe 1924 American English
7215 The Scarlet Plague Jack London 1912 American English
7215 The Little Engine that Could Platt & Munk 1930 American English
7215 The Reason Why Cecil Woodham-Smith 1953 British English
7215 The Moon is Down John Steinbeck 1942 American English
7215 Smoky the Cowhorse Will James 1926 American English
7215 The Island Within Ludwig Lewisohn 1928 American English
7215 Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars Ellen Macgregor 1951 American English
7215 Prison Of Love Diego de San Pedro 1485 Spanish Spanish
7215 Orlando Innamorato Matteo Maria Boiardo 1483 Italian Italian
7215 Sonnets And Madrigals Michelangelo Buonarroti 1545 Italian Italian
7215 The Mandrake Niccolo Machiavelli 1518 Italian Italian
7215 Rime Gaspara Stampa 1554 Italian Italian
7215 The Expulsion Of The Triumphant Beast Giordano Bruno 1584 Italian Italian
7215 Poems Of Tommaso Campanella Tommaso Campanella 1601 Italian Italian
7215 Saul Vittorio Alfieri 1782 Italian Italian
7215 Poetry Antònio Ferreira 1558 Portuguese Portuguese
7215 Visions Francisco de Quevedo 1627 Spanish Spanish
7215 Satirical Letter Of Censure Francisco de Quevedo 1601 Spanish Spanish
7215 Poems Of Fray Luis De León Fray Luis de León 1582 Spanish Spanish
7215 The Poems Of St. John Of The Cross St. John of the Cross 1578 Spanish Spanish
7215 Sonnets Luis de Góngora 1601 Spanish Spanish
7215 La Dorotea Lope de Vega 1632 Spanish Spanish
7215 Lost In A Mirror Lope de Vega 1600 Spanish Unknown
7215 The Knight Of Olmedo Lope de Vega 1620 Spanish Spanish
7215 The Mayor Of Zalamea Pedro Calderón de la Barca 1636 Spanish Spanish
7215 The Mighty Magician Pedro Calderón de la Barca 1637 Spanish Spanish
7215 The Doctor Of His Own Honor Pedro Calderón de la Barca 1635 Spanish Spanish
7215 The Complete English Poems John Skelton 1500 British English
7215 Poems Of Henry Howard Henry Howard 1557 British English
7215 The Countess Of Pembroke's Arcadia Philip Sidney 1590 British English
7215 Astrophel And Stella Philip Sidney 1591 British English
7215 An Apology For Poetry Philip Sidney 1595 British English