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
8076 My New York Diary Julie Doucet 1999 Canadian English
8076 The Blackwater Lightship Colm Toibin 1999 Irish English
8076 The White Nile Alan Moorehead 1960 British English
8076 The Seven Churches Miloš Urban 1999 Czech Czech
8076 The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead David Shields 2008 American English
8076 Nurture Shock Po Bronson, Ashley Merryman 2008 American English
8076 The Great Derangement Matt Taibbi 2008 American English
8076 Clea Lawrence Durrell 1960 British English
8089 Process And Reality Alfred North Whitehead 1929 British English
8092 The Messianic Idea In Judaism, And Other Essays On Jewish Spirituality Gershom Scholem 1971 German English
8091 Paris Nocturne Patrick Modiano 2003 French French
8090 Approaching The End Gerard Reve 1993 Dutch Dutch
8093 When God Was A Woman Merlin Stone 1976 American English
8094 Nixon And Mao Margaret MacMillan 2005 Canadian English
8095 The Dictionary Of Lost Words Pip Williams 2020 Australian English
8098 The Hotel New Hampshire John Irving 1981 American English
8097 The Invisible Woman Claire Tomalin 1990 British English
8096 Molly Fox’s Birthday Deirdre Madden 2008 Irish English
8099 Day A. L. Kennedy 2007 British English
8100 Selected Poems Tomas Tranströmer 1981 Swedish Swedish
8101 How Not To Die Michael Greger, Gene Stone 2015 American English
8106 O Miki Liukkonen 2017 Finnish Finnish
8107 After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie Jean Rhys 1930 British English
8107 The Amber Gods And Other Stories Harriet Prescott Spofford 1863 American English
8107 American Indian Stories Zitkala-Sa 1921 American English
8107 Thirty Years As A Slave And Four Years In The White House Elizabeth Keckley 1868 American English
8107 Call Home The Heart Olive Tilford Dargan 1932 American English
8107 The Cavalry Maiden Nadezhda Durova 1836 Russian Russian
8107 Constance Ring Amalie Skram 1885 Norwegian Norwegian
8107 The Convert Elizabeth Robins 1907 British English
8107 Coonardoo Katherine Susannah Prichard 1929 Australian English
8107 The Dangerous Age Karin Michaelis 1910 Danish Danish
8107 Daughter Of Earth Agnes Smedley 1929 American English
8107 Daughter Of The Hills Myra Page 1938 American English
8107 The District Governor's Daughters Camilla Collett 1854 Norwegian Norwegian
8107 Early Spring Tove Ditlevsen 1940 Danish Danish
8107 Hermione Hilda Doolittle 1927 American English
8107 The History Of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave Mary Prince 1831 British English
8107 The Home Maker Dorothy Canfield Fisher 1924 American English
8107 Islanders Helen R. Hull 1927 American English
8107 Kelroy Rebecca Rush 1812 American English
8107 The Land Of Little Rain Mary Austin 1903 American English
8107 The Moccasin Maker E. Pauline Johnson 1913 Canadian English
8107 Mountain Charley Elsa Jane Guerin 1861 American English
8107 My Mother's House And Sido Colette 1922 French French
8107 A New Home, Who'll Follow? Caroline M. Kirkland 1839 American English
8107 One Pair Of Hands Monica Dickens 1939 British English
8107 Pembroke Mary E. Wilkins Freeman 1894 American English
8107 Purple Springs Nellie L. McClung 1921 Canadian English
8107 Ramona Helen Hunt Jackson 1884 American English
8107 Spiritual Narratives Maria W. Stewart 1835 American English
8107 Virginia Ellen Glasgow 1913 American English
8107 Weeds Edith Summers Kelley 1923 Canadian English
8107 Winter Wheat Mildred Walker 1944 American English
8143 Mort Terry Pratchett 1987 British English
8144 Bathsheba Torgny Lindgren 1984 Swedish Swedish
8144 Jerusalem Commands Michael Moorcock 1992 British English
8144 Down Girl Kate Manne 2017 American English
8144 Suspicious River Laura Kasischke 1999 American English
8144 Simple Stories Ingo Schulze 1998 German German
8144 Vor Uns Die Sintflut Urs Widmer 1998 Swiss German
8157 Crocodile On The Sandbank Elizabeth Peters 1975 American English
8156 Crush Richard Siken 2005 American English
8160 The Devil's Arithmetic Jane Yolen 1988 American English
8162 Born Confused Tanuja Desai Hidier 2002 American English
8161 The Choirboys Joseph Wambaugh 1975 American English
8163 The Girl Who Played With Fire Stieg Larsson 2006 Swedish Swedish
8164 Loving A Lost Lord Mary Jo Putney 2009 American English
8164 To Catch A Bride Anne Gracie 2009 Australian English
8166 Child Of God Cormac McCarthy 1973 American English
8169 One Day In December Josie Silver 2018 British English
8168 Returning To Reims Didier Eribon 2009 French French
8171 A Long Way Down Nick Hornby 2005 British English
8170 The Truth Commissioner David Park 2008 Irish English
8173 Ladrón De Lunas Isaac Montero 1990 Spanish Spanish
8174 Life Keith Richards 2010 British English
8175 A Demon In My View Ruth Rendell 1976 British English
8176 Saints And Strangers Angela Carter 1985 British English
8182 Timescape Gregory Benford 1980 American English
8178 Three Novels Samuel Beckett 1955 Irish French
8178 Cards Of Identity Nigel Dennis 1955 British English
8178 Poems Of A. D. Hope A. D. Hope 1955 Australian English
8178 Lilith J.R. Salamanca 1961 American English
8184 Alberta empfängt einen Liebhaber Birgit Vanderbeke 2023 German German
8183 Dead Time Eleanor Taylor Bland 1992 American English
8185 Blacklands Belinda Bauer 2010 British English
8189 A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ But A Sandwich Alice Childress 1973 American English
8186 One Step Behind Henning Mankell 1997 Swedish Swedish
8188 Questions Of Travel Michelle de Kretser 2012 Australian English
8187 Feminist Theory bell hooks 1984 American English
8190 Experience And Nature John Dewey 1925 American English
8191 The Fisherman John Langan 2016 American English
8192 Temblor Rosa Montero 1990 Spanish Spanish
8193 The Order Of Time Carlo Rovelli 2017 Italian Italian
8194 Jesus Christ And Mythology Rudolf Bultmann 1958 German German
8196 The Living Beach Silver Donald Cameron 1998 Canadian English
8198 Fifth Chinese Daughter Jade Snow Wong 1945 American English
8203 4.48 Psychosis Sarah Kane 2000 British English
8203 The Day I Wasn't There Hélène Cixous 2000 French French
8206 Waking the Moon Elizabeth Hand, Elisabeth Hand 1994 American English
8207 My Life Bill Clinton 2004 American English
8209 Outer Dark Cormac McCarthy 1968 American English
8210 The Thirteenth Tale Diane Setterfield 2006 British English
8211 China Shakes The World James Kynge 2006 British English
8212 Dark Emu Bruce Pascoe 2014 Australian English
8213 Landscape Of Farewell Alex Miller 2007 Australian English
8214 Collected Stories Of Richard Matheson Richard Matheson 1989 American English
8215 Stories In An Almost Classical Mode Harold Brodkey 1989 American English
8216 Green Mars Kim Stanley Robinson 1993 American English
8217 Rum River Raymond Fraser 1997 Canadian English
8219 Rok Perel Zuzana Brabcová 2000 Czech Czech
8220 Rumpole Of The Bailey John Mortimer 1978 British English
8221 The Heart In Winter Kevin Barry 2024 Irish English
8223 Island Alistair MacLeod 2000 Canadian English
8224 Ordinary Human Failings Megan Nolan 2024 Irish English
8225 The Lincoln Highway Amor Towles 2021 American English
8227 Unsouled Will Wight 2016 American English
8233 The Unabomber Manifesto Theodore Kaczynski 1995 American English
8234 The Promised Land Nicholas Lemann 1991 American English
8234 U and I Nicholson Baker 1991 American English