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
8891 Chronicles Bob Dylan 2004 American English
8891 Midnight In Chernobyl Adam Higginbotham 2024 British English
8891 The Fatal Shore Robert Hughes 1987 Australian English
8888 Heat Bill Buford 2006 American English
8888 The Beautiful Fall Alicia Drake 2006 British English
8888 Cendrillon Éric Reinhardt 2007 French French
8896 Are Prisons Obsolete? Angela Davis 2003 American English
8896 Yoga For People Who Can’t Be Bothered To Do It Geoff Dyer 2003 British English
8895 Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama Alison Bechdel 2012 American English
8900 Midshipman Easy Frederick Marryat 1836 British English
8904 Left Foot, Right Nalo Hopkinson 1996 Canadian Unknown
8906 Twice Shy Dick Francis 1981 British English
8907 Unravelling Oliver Liz Nugent 2014 Irish English
8908 Carreteras Secundarias Ignacio Martínez de Pisón 1996 Spanish Spanish
8911 Spells Of Enchantment Jack Zipes 1991 American English
8910 The Night Guest Fiona McFarlane 2013 Australian English
8909 Fallen Lia Mills 2014 Irish English
8913 Paladin of Souls Lois McMaster Bujold 2003 American English
8916 All Grown Up Jami Attenberg 2017 American English
8919 A River Runs Through It Norman Maclean 1976 American English
8922 The Devil's Racetrack Mark Twain 1966 American Unknown
8922 Poems Of Louis Mac Neice Louis MacNeice 1966 Irish English
8926 How Children Succeed Paul Tough 2012 Canadian English
8926 Hidden America Jeanne Marie Laskas 2012 American English
8926 The End Of Men Hanna Rosin 2012 American English
8933 Cordelia And Other Stories Françoise Mallet-Joris 1958 French French
8933 Storm In The Village Miss Read 1958 British English
8935 The White Girl Tony Birch 2019 Australian English
8939 Queen Of The Conquered Kacen Callender 2019 American English
8939 The Rage Of Dragons Evan Winter 2019 Canadian English
8938 Memorial Drive Natasha Trethewey 2020 American English
8944 Wolf in White Van John Darnielle 2014 American English
8942 Chasing The Monsoon Alexander Frater 1987 British English
8942 Letters From Egypt Florence Nightingale 1987 British English
8949 The Hunger And Other Stories Charles Beaumont 1957 American English
8948 The Wren, The Wren Anne Enright 2023 Irish English
8957 Stardust Neil Gaiman 1999 British English
8960 Devices And Desires P. D. James 1989 British English
8956 The Vagrants Yiyun Li 2009 American English
8961 A Frolic of His Own William Gaddis 1994 American English
8969 The Shack William P. Young 2007 American English
8968 Asking For It Louise O'Neill 2015 Irish English
8970 Myths Of Gender Anne Fausto-Sterling 1987 American English
8972 A Short History Of Nearly Everything Bill Bryson 2003 American English
8971 The Society Of The Spectacle Guy Debord 1967 French French
8973 The Dean's December Saul Bellow 1982 American English
8975 The Mother Pearl S. Buck 1934 American English
8976 Clavícula Marta Sanz 2015 Spanish Spanish
8976 The Great Divide Joseph Stiglitz 2015 American English
8978 Riwan, Ou Le Chemin De Sable Ken Bugul 1999 French French
8979 Crook Manifesto Colson Whitehead 2023 American English
8981 Downhill Chance Donna Morrissey 2002 Canadian English
8982 Sailors, Slackers And Blind Pigs Stephen Kimber 2002 Canadian English
8983 Nova Scotia, Shaped By The Sea Lesley Choyce 2002 Canadian English
8986 Good Little Girls Countess of Ségur. 1857 French French
8989 Tinkers Paul Harding 2009 American English
8989 Less Andrew Sean Greer 2017 American English
8988 Falling Free Lois McMaster Bujold 1988 American English
8991 Collected Stories Frank O'Connor 1981 Irish English
8992 The Deal Of The Century Steve Coll 1986 American English
8995 Inkheart Cornelia Funke 2003 German German
8996 A Stir Of Echoes Richard Matheson 1958 American English
8996 A Scent Of New Mown Hay John Blackburn 1958 British English
9000 The Emperor Of Ocean Park Stephen L. Carter 2002 American English
8999 Haunted Joyce Carol Oates 1994 American English
8998 The Deal Elle Kennedy 2015 Canadian English
9001 Little Fadette George Sand 1849 French French
9002 Circe's Mountain Marie Luise Kaschnitz 1959 German Unknown
9002 The Flame Trees Of Thika Elspeth Huxley 1959 British English
9002 Floreana: A Woman's Pilgrimage to the Galapagos Margret Wittmer 1959 German German
9006 August Heat Andrea Camilleri 2006 Italian Italian
9006 Little Face Sophie Hannah 2006 British English
9005 Regain Jean Giono 1930 French French
9008 T Zero Italo Calvino 1967 Italian Italian
9008 Four Plays Jean Giraudoux 1967 French French
9008 That Voice Robert Pinget 1967 French French
9008 The Sense Of An Ending Frank Kermode 1967 British English
9008 Guide To The Underworld Gunnar Ekelöf 1967 Swedish Swedish
9008 The Translator Leila Aboulela 1999 British English
9017 Improvement Joan Silber 2017 American English
9019 Climbing Mount Improbable Richard Dawkins 1996 British English
9021 Kalimantaan C. S. Godshalk 1998 American English
9021 Dark Back Of Time Javier Marias 1998 Spanish Spanish
9021 The Extra Man Jonathan Ames 1998 American English
9021 The Fall Of A Sparrow Robert Hellenga 1998 American English
9021 Memories Of My Father Watching Tv Curtis White 1998 American English
9020 Love Hanne Ørstavik 1997 Norwegian Norwegian
9027 Desert Flower Waris Dirie, Cathleen Miller 1998 American English
9030 Citizen Of The Galaxy Robert A. Heinlein 1957 American English
9029 The Hunter Tana French 2024 Irish English
9028 Prodigal Summer Barbara Kingsolver 2000 American English
9032 Five Go To Smuggler's Top Enid Blyton 1945 British English
9034 The Thibaults Roger Martin du Gard 1922 French French
9035 From A To X John Berger 2008 British English
9035 Jouer Juste François Bégaudeau 2008 French French
9035 Them Old Cowboy Songs Annie Proulx 2008 American English
9035 Yama Loka Terminus Léo Henry, Jacques Mucchielli 2008 French French
9044 Blues People Leroi Jones 1963 American English
9045 L'amour, La Mer Pascal Quignard 2002 French French
9049 How I Live Now Meg Rosoff 2004 British English
9050 Charles O'malley Charles Lever 1841 Irish English
9050 The Romantic Comedians Ellen Glasgow 1926 American English
9047 The Rachel Incident Caroline O'Donoghue 2023 Irish English
9048 The Sun Walks Down Fiona McFarlane 2022 Australian English
9053 The Crossover Kwame Alexander 2014 American English
9054 Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes Billy Collins 2000 American English
9056 The Late George Apley John P. Marquand 1937 American English
9057 In The Darkroom Susan Faludi 2016 American English
9058 Challenger Adam Higginbotham 2024 British English
9058 After The Funeral And Other Stories Tessa Hadley 2023 British English
9060 Pond Claire-Louise Bennett 2015 Irish English
9061 The Book Of Records Madeleine Thien 2025 Canadian English
9065 The Tribe Michael Mohammed Ahmad 2014 Australian English
9065 A Million Windows Gerald Murnane 2014 Australian English
9067 Stormbreaker Anthony Horowitz 2000 British English
9069 The Lonely City Olivia Laing 2016 British English
9070 Old God's Time Sebastian Barry 2023 Irish English
9071 The Town That Forgot How To Breathe Kenneth J. Harvey 2003 Canadian English
9073 Billy Bathgate E. L. Doctorow 1989 American English
9073 Autumn Ali Smith 2016 British English