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
7933 The Penguin Encyclopedia Of Horror And The Supernatural Jack Sullivan 1986 American English
7934 Mr. China Tim Clissold 2004 British English
7935 Fever And Spear Javier Marias 2002 Spanish Spanish
7936 Phantoms Dean R. Koontz 1983 American English
7937 Absolute Power David Baldacci 1996 American English
7937 Acqua Alta Donna Leon 1996 Italian English
7937 The Keys To The Street Ruth Rendell 1996 British English
7941 The Book Of Ebenezer Le Page G. B. Edwards 1981 British English
7943 The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever Stephen R. Donaldson 1977 American English
7945 The Dark Tower And Other Stories C. S. Lewis 1977 British English
7945 Death In Summer William Trevor 1998 Irish English
7945 The Hanging Garden Ian Rankin 1998 British English
7944 Lover Bertha Harris 1976 American English
7950 Woman On The Edge Of Time Marge Piercy 1976 American English
7949 George & Rue George Elliott Clarke 2005 Canadian English
7953 The Door Into Summer Robert A. Heinlein 1957 American English
7955 The Collected Ghost Stories Of M. R. James M. R. James 1931 British English
7955 A Sicilian Romance Ann Radcliffe 1790 British English
7957 Das Frühstücksei. Gesammelte Dramatische Geschichten Loriot 1997 German German
7959 La Casa De La Fuerza Angélica Liddell 2009 Spanish Spanish
7960 The Country Of The Blind H. G. Wells 1904 British English
7961 The Starr Report Kenneth W. Starr 1998 American English
7963 The Good Hope William Heinesen 1964 Danish Danish
7964 Nothing Is True And Everything Is Possible Peter Pomerantsev 2014 British English
7962 Tenderwire Claire Kilroy 2006 Irish English
7965 The Sociological Imagination C. Wright Mills 1959 American English
7967 Selected Writings Guillaume Apollinaire 1952 French French
7967 Saint Genet Jean Paul Sartre 1952 French French
7967 The Anathemata David Jones 1952 British English
7967 Complete Poems And Selected Letters And Prose Hart Crane 1952 American English
7967 The Shores Of Light Edmund Wilson 1952 American English
7967 The Long March William Styron 1952 American English
7967 Poems Of W. S. Merwin W. S. Merwin 1952 American English
7967 Balthazar Lawrence Durrell 1958 British English
7967 Mountolive Lawrence Durrell 1958 British English
7976 Kayang And Me Kim Scott 2005 Australian English
7977 Trust Exercise Susan Choi 2019 American English
7978 Anthem Ayn Rand 1938 American English
7979 Spinning Silver Naomi Novik 2018 American English
7980 Berta Isla Javier Marias 2017 Spanish Spanish
7981 The Man Who Loved Only Numbers Paul Hoffman 1998 American English
7984 The Ocean at the End of the Lane Neil Gaiman 2013 British English
7986 The History Of Pendennis William Makepeace Thackeray 1849 British English
7985 B. Proudew Irena Dousková 1998 Czech Czech
7988 The Poet Michael Connelly 1996 American English
7987 Ash Wednesday Chet Williamson 1987 American English
7990 Vie Secrète Pascal Quignard 1998 French French
7989 Sita Kate Millett 1976 American English
7994 A Relative Stranger Charles Baxter 1990 American English
7995 We The Living Ayn Rand 1936 American English
7997 Amiable With Big Teeth Claude McKay 2017 American English
7998 Magpie Murders Anthony Horowitz 2016 British English
7999 The Great Transformation Karen Armstrong 2006 British English
8001 Fragmentos De Un Libro Futuro José Ángel Valente 2000 Spanish Spanish
8003 The Dreadful Lemon Sky John D. MacDonald 1974 American English
8004 Play Their Hearts Out George Dohrmann 2010 American English
8005 There Are Little Kingdoms Kevin Barry 2007 Irish English
8006 On The Move Oliver Sacks 2015 British English
8007 The Eye Of The Storm Patrick White 1973 Australian English
8009 Poems Of Philippe Jacottet Philippe Jacottet 1953 French French
8009 Victims Of Duty Eugène Ionesco 1953 French French
8009 Poems Of Elizabeth Jennings Elizabeth Jennings 1953 British English
8009 Moles Günter Eich 1953 German German
8009 Collected Poems Conrad Aiken 1953 American English
8009 The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz Mordecai Richler 1959 Canadian English
8009 Fire And Hemlock Diana Wynne Jones 1985 British English
8009 Still Life A. S. Byatt 1985 British English
8009 The Hounds Of The Morrigan Pat O'Shea 1985 Irish English
8021 The Rise And Fall Of American Growth Robert J. Gordon 2016 American English
8023 Ancient Evenings Norman Mailer 1983 American English
8022 Loved And Missed Susie Boyt 2023 British English
8024 Cadillac Desert Marc Reisner 1986 American English
8025 Gender Outlaw Kate Bornstein 1994 American English
8026 The Dew Breaker Edwidge Danticat 2004 American English
8029 The Vagina Monologues Eve Ensler 1996 American English
8027 The Class Struggle In The Ancient Greek World G. E. M. de Ste. Croix 1981 British English
8027 Among The Believers V. S. Naipaul 1981 British English
8030 Falling Man Don DeLillo 2007 American English
8031 Walk The Blue Fields Claire Keegan 2007 Irish English
8032 I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth The Trip John Donovan 1969 American English
8032 An Area Of Darkness V. S. Naipaul 1964 British English
8032 A Barbarian In Asia Henri Michaux 1933 French French
8032 From A Chinese City Gontran de Poncins 1957 French English
8032 London Perceived V. S. Pritchett 1962 British English
8032 The Lycian Shore Freya Stark 1956 British English
8032 The Muses Are Heard Truman Capote 1956 American English
8032 Notes From The Century Before Edward Hoagland 1969 American English
8032 The Pine Barrens John McPhee 1968 American English
8032 Sea And Sardinia D. H. Lawrence 1921 British English
8032 Siren Land Norman Douglas 1911 British English
8032 Slowly Down The Ganges Eric Newby 1966 British English
8032 Two Towns In Provence M. F. K. Fisher 1964 American English
8032 A View Of The World Norman Lewis 1959 British English
8046 Masques J. N. Williamson 1984 American English
8046 Autumn Roses G. Sutton Breiding 1984 American Unknown
8046 Fantasists On Fantasy Robert H. Boyer 1984 American English
8050 Red Queen Victoria Aveyard 2015 American English
8053 Neon Gods Katee Robert 2021 American English
8054 The Urth Of The New Sun Gene Wolfe 1987 American English
8054 The Delights Of Terror Terry Heller 1987 American English
8054 The Jaguar Hunter Lucius Shepard 1987 American English
8058 Palestine Hubert Haddad 1989 French French
8059 The Dragon Republic R. F. Kuang 2019 American English
8063 The Future Is History Masha Gessen 2017 Russian English
8061 The Anarchy William Dalrymple 2019 British English
8065 Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt 2022 American English
8064 A Paradise Built In Hell Rebecca Solnit 2009 American English
8066 The Price Of A Ticket James Baldwin 1985 American English
8067 Bunny Mona Awad 2019 Canadian English
8068 All That She Carried Tiya Miles 2021 American English
8069 The Rise Of American Civilization Charles A. Beard, Mary Ritter Beard 1927 American English
8071 Gaff Topsails Patrick Kavanagh 1996 Canadian English
8069 Minor Angels Antoine Volodine 1999 French French
8072 Taipei Tao Lin 2013 American English
8073 How To Do Nothing Jenny Odell 2019 American English
8074 Chronic City Jonathan Lethem 2009 American English
8075 Coming And Going Men Paul Fleischman 1985 American English
8076 Amédée Eugène Ionesco 1954 French French
8076 Poems Of Léonie Adams Léonie Adams 1954 American English
8076 The Mighty Walzer Howard Jacobson 1999 British English