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
8234 Beyond The Mask, Race, Gender And Identity Amina Mama 1995 British English
8237 Strange Heaven Lynn Coady 1998 Canadian English
8238 Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters J. D. Salinger 1963 American English
8239 Beach Read Emily Henry 2020 American English
8240 Nineteen Seventy Seven David Peace 2000 British English
8240 How The Dead Live Will Self 2000 British English
8243 19 Knives Mark Anthony Jarman 1997 Canadian English
8244 Bully For Brontosaurus Stephen Jay Gould 1991 American English
8247 Old Times On The Mississippi Mark Twain 1876 American English
8245 The Work Of A Common Woman Judy Grahn 1978 American English
8248 Fantastic Mr Fox Roald Dahl 1970 British English
8249 Always Unreliable Clive James 2001 British English
8251 The Sun Chemist Lionel Davidson 1976 British English
8253 The Old Curiosity Shop Charles Dickens 1841 British English
8254 Ghost Light Joseph O'Connor 2010 Irish English
8255 In The Country Of Men Hisham Matar 2006 British English
8256 The Kraken King Meljean Brook 2014 American English
8257 Someone Knows My Name Lawrence Hill 2007 Canadian English
8258 Strangers In Their Own Land Arlie Russell Hochschild 2016 American English
8259 Christine Stephen King 1983 American English
8260 Trespasses Louise Kennedy 2022 Irish English
8261 Diccionario Sánscrito Español Oscar Pujol 2011 Spanish Spanish
8261 The Poetry Of Thought George Steiner 2011 British English
8275 The Education of Little Tree Forrest Carter 1976 American English
8266 Coming Of Age In Mississippi Anne Moody 1968 American English
8267 Berlin Game Len Deighton 1983 British English
8263 Ideas Edmund Husserl 1913 German German
8264 Round Up Ring Lardner 1929 American English
8268 A Caribbean Heiress In Paris Adriana Herrera 2022 American English
8268 Before I Let Go Kennedy Ryan 2022 American English
8268 Honey And Spice Bolu Babalola 2022 British English
8268 The Dead Romantics Ashley Poston 2022 American English
8268 That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon Kimberly Lemming 2022 American English
8268 The Bodyguard Katherine Center 2022 American English
8264 Rosie Carpe & Hilda Marie NDiaye 2001 French French
8276 Tennyson Christopher Ricks 1972 British English
8277 Love And Summer William Trevor 2009 Irish English
8279 The Authoritarian Dynamic Karen Stenner 2005 American English
8278 Solace Belinda McKeon 2011 Irish English
8280 The Wind Claude Simon 1957 French French
8280 Opus Posthumous Wallace Stevens 1957 American English
8280 Selected Poems Hilda Doolittle 1957 American English
8280 Three Plays Thornton Wilder 1957 American English
8285 The Other Side Of Desire Daniel Bergner 2009 American English
8288 The Interpretation Of Cultures Clifford Geertz 1973 American English
8289 Night They Missed The Horror Show Joe R. Lansdale 1988 American English
8291 Feminism Is For Everybody bell hooks 2000 American English
8290 They Will Drown In Their Mother’s Tears Johannes Anyuru 2017 Swedish Swedish
8293 Fredman's Epistles Carl Michael Bellman 1999 Swedish Swedish
8293 Die Gesellschaft Der Gesellschaft Niklas Luhmann 1999 German German
8293 The Author Of Himself Marcel Reich-Ranicki 1999 German German
8297 Alec: The Years Have Pants Eddie Campbell 2008 British English
8299 Empire Of Pain Patrick Radden Keefe 2021 American English
8302 Darkside Dennis Etchison 1986 American English
8301 Lizard Tails Juan Marsé 2004 Spanish Spanish
8303 The Secret Life Of Bees Sue Monk Kidd 2001 American English
8304 Celý život Jan Zábrana 2001 Czech Czech
8305 The Ghost Riders Of Ordebec Fred Vargas 2011 French French
8306 When Death Comes Stealing Valerie Wilson Wesley 1994 American English
8307 The Native Air Sarah Woodhouse 1987 British English
8308 A Life In The Twentieth Century Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr 2000 American English
8310 This Present Darkness Frank Peretti 1986 American English
8309 How The Light Gets In M. J. Hyland 2003 Australian English
8311 Nixonland Rick Perlstein 2008 American English
8312 A Marriage At Sea Sophie Elmhirst 2024 British English
8317 Subterranean James Rollins 1999 American English
8315 The Bottoms Joe R. Lansdale 2000 American English
8315 Last Seen In Massilia Steven Saylor 2000 American English
8319 The Mysterious Benedict Society Trenton Lee Stewart 2007 American English
8322 The Truth Terry Pratchett 2000 British English
8321 The Living Is Easy Dorothy West 1948 American English
8320 A Brief History Of Everything Ken Wilber 1996 American English
8324 American Buffalo David Mamet 1975 American English
8326 The Night Sessions Ken MacLeod 2008 Scottish English
8326 Lush Life Richard Price 2008 American English
8330 Wizard's First Rule Terry Goodkind 1994 American English
8329 Contemporary Science Fiction, Fantasy, And Horror Poetry Scott E. Green 1989 American English
8328 This All Happened Michael Winter 2000 Canadian English
8332 The Architecture Of Fear Kathryn Cramer 1987 American English
8335 Three Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin 2006 American English
8333 The Brotherhood Of The Rose David Morrell 1984 American English
8334 The Last Days Of Socrates Plato -399 Greek Ancient greek
8336 The Grass Claude Simon 1958 French French
8336 Fable Robert Pinget 1958 French French
8336 Three Short Novels Kay Boyle 1958 American English
8336 The Rebellion Of Yale Marrat Robert H. Rimmer 1964 American English
8336 The Bat Poet Randall Jarrell 1964 American English
8336 The Light Years Elizabeth Jane Howard 1990 British English
8345 The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon Tom Spanbauer 1991 American English
8346 Swing Time Zadie Smith 2016 British English
8347 The Art Of Joy Goliarda Sapienza 1998 Italian Italian
8348 Go Ask Alice Beatrice Sparks 1971 American English
8349 Guards! Guards! Terry Pratchett 1989 British English
8350 This Cold Heaven Gretel Ehrlich 2001 American English
8351 China Road Rob Gifford 2007 British English
8353 River Thieves Michael Crummey 2001 Canadian English
8356 Chanda's Secrets Allan Stratton 2004 Canadian English
8357 Tracks Robyn Davidson 1980 Australian English
8358 Redeployment Phil Klay 2014 American English
8360 On Strike Against God Joanna Russ 1980 American English
8361 On Being A Christian Hans Kueng 1974 German German
8361 Anarchy, State And Utopia Robert Nozick 1974 American English
8368 They Used To Play On Grass Terry Venables, Gordon Williams 1972 British English
8363 Moral Man And Immoral Society Reinhold Niebuhr 1932 American English
8363 Ethics Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1949 German German
8363 Dogmatics In Outline Karl Barth 1946 German German
8363 Integral Humanism Jacques Maritain 1936 French French
8363 Christianity And Liberalism J. Gresham Machen 1923 American English
8370 Watchers Dean R. Koontz 1987 American English
8369 The Wine Dark Sea Robert Aickman 1988 British English
8371 According To Queeney Beryl Bainbridge 2001 British English
8371 The Lecturer's Tale James Hynes 2001 American English
8374 Beyond A Boundary C. L. R. James 1963 British English
8377 Beautiful Disaster Jamie McGuire 2011 American English
8377 The Perfect Play Jaci Burton 2011 American English
8377 Belong To Me Shayla Black 2011 American English
8383 Guard of Honor James Gould Cozzens 1948 American English
8382 American War Omar El Akkad 2017 Canadian English
8384 Outrageous Acts And Everyday Rebellions Gloria Steinem 1983 American English
8385 A Seditious Affair KJ Charles 2015 British English