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
9674 Easy Reading Cristina Morales 2018 Spanish Spanish
9676 Eros Invincible Ricarda Huch 1931 German German
9675 Who Loves Yngve Frey? Stig Claesson 1983 Swedish Swedish
9677 Gone Baby Gone Dennis Lehane 1998 American English
9678 Ordesa Manuel Vilas 2018 Spanish Spanish
9681 The Shortest Way To Hades Sarah Caudwell 1985 British English
9680 Not Wanted On The Voyage Timothy Findley 1984 Canadian English
9682 The Englishwoman's Diary Harriet Blodgett 1994 American English
9682 The Oxford Book Of Comic Verse John Gross 1994 British English
9682 Broken Glass Arthur Miller 1994 American English
9686 Moominpappa At Sea Tove Jansson 1965 Finnish Swedish
9690 A Spell For Chameleon Piers Anthony 1977 American English
9687 The Code Book Simon Singh 1999 British English
9687 In Siberia Colin Thubron 1999 British English
9691 Nightshade Derek Marlowe 1968 British English
9691 Year Of The Sex Olympics Nigel Kneale 1968 British English
9695 I Heard The Owl Call My Name Margaret Craven 1967 Canadian English
9696 The Beautiful Country And The Middle Kingdom John Pomfret 2016 American English
9697 The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes Langston Hughes 1994 American English
9701 Extra Lives Tom Bissell 2010 American English
9697 The Information James Gleick 2011 American English
9699 Beasts Made Of Night Tochi Onyebuchi 2017 American English
9703 The Book Of Peace Christine De Pizan 1413 French French
9704 Address Unknown Kathrine Kressmann Taylor 1938 American English
9705 Black Skin, White Masks Frantz Fanon 1952 French French
9709 Hell Divers Nicholas Sansbury Smith 2016 American English
9706 The Etymologies Isidore of Seville 630 Spanish Latin
9709 The Dispatcher John Scalzi 2016 American English
9709 Katherine Of Aragon Alison Weir 2016 British English
9707 Society And The Holy In Late Antiquity Peter Brown 1982 British English
9713 Eros Is More Juan Antonio González Iglesias 2018 Spanish Spanish
9714 The Boys In The Band Matt Crowley 1968 American English
9715 The Crucible Arthur Miller 1953 American English
9718 Tales of H. P. Lovecraft H. P. Lovecraft 1997 American English
9720 No Enemy But Time Michael Bishop 1982 American English
9720 The Terminal Experiment Robert J. Sawyer 1995 Canadian English
9720 The Moon and the Sun Vonda N. McIntyre 1997 American English
9719 The Sunday Woman Carlo Fruttero, Franco Lucentini 1972 Italian Italian
9724 Outlaw Culture bell hooks 1994 American English
9717 Inside Kenneth J. Harvey 2006 Canadian English
9726 The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle David Wroblewski 2008 American English
9727 Gagner La Guerre Jean-Philippe Jaworski 2009 French French
9730 The Hard Way Lee Child 2006 British English
9731 Europe Central William T. Vollmann 2005 American English
9732 The Grimoire And Other Supernatural Stories Montague Summers 1936 British English
9732 Victorian Ghost Stories Montague Summers 1936 British English
9732 The Children Of The Pool And Other Stories Arthur Machen 1936 British English
9732 The Cosy Room Arthur Machen 1936 British English
9732 The Wind Blows Over Walter de la Mare 1936 British Unknown
9732 Grim Death Christine Campbell Thomson 1936 British English
9732 Mainly Victorian Stewart Marsh Ellis 1936 British English
9739 Crime Ferdinand Von Schirach 2009 German German
9749 Anti-intellectualism in American Life Richard Hofstadter 1963 American English
9741 A Fanatic Heart Edna O'Brien 1974 Irish English
9741 Something I've Been Meaning To Tell You Alice Munro 1974 Canadian English
9741 Tatlin! Guy Davenport 1974 American English
9741 My Life As A Man Philip Roth 1974 American English
9741 Alphabetical Africa Walter Abish 1974 American English
9750 800 Horseman Col Stringer 1987 Australian English
9740 The Fire Starters Jan Carson 2019 Irish English
9751 Talking From 9 To 5 Deborah Tannen 1994 American English
9752 Darkness Spoken Ingeborg Bachmann 2006 Austrian German
9753 The Denial of Death Ernest Becker 1973 American English
9754 Fire in the Lake Frances FitzGerald 1972 American English
9754 The Dragons of Eden Carl Sagan 1977 American English
9754 Annals of the Former World John McPhee 1998 American English
9754 Carry Me Home Diane McWhorter 2001 American English
9754 The Dead Hand David Hoffman 2009 American English
9761 Show Them A Good Time Nicole Flattery 2019 Irish English
9763 Shadowplay Joseph O'Connor 2019 Irish English
9762 When The Earth Was Flat Raymond Fraser 2007 Canadian English
9766 Un Attieké Pour Elgass Tierno Monenembo 2021 French French
9764 Call Me Ishmael Charles Olson 1947 American English
9767 The Narrow Land Christine Dwyer Hickey 2019 Irish English
9769 Animal Money Michael Cisco 2015 American English
9768 Blackwater Kerstin Ekman 1993 Swedish Swedish
9774 The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams 1986 American English
9774 The Garden Of Eden Ernest Hemingway 1986 American English
9770 The Night Bookmobile Audrey Niffenegger 2010 American English
9772 Democracy For Realists Christopher H. Achen, Larry Bartels 2016 American English
9772 Racial Realignment Eric Schickler 2016 American English
9774 Women Talking Miriam Toews 2018 Canadian English
9778 A Ghost In The Throat Doireann Ní Ghríofa 2020 Irish English
9779 Autumn In Peking Boris Vian 1947 French French
9780 Seeing José Saramago 2004 Portuguese Portuguese
9789 The Friends Of Meager Fortune David Adams Richards 2006 Canadian English
9790 Sassafrass, Cypress, And Indigo Ntozake Shange 1982 American English
9790 Cry To Heaven Anne Rice 1982 American English
9793 We Pierce Andrew Huebner 2002 American English
9793 Crossings Chuang Hua 1968 American English
9793 The Past Is Myself Christabel Bielenberg 1968 German English
9796 Minion L. A. Banks 2003 American English
9798 I Will Fear No Evil Robert A. Heinlein 1970 American English
9797 Ghosts Edith Wharton 1937 American Unknown
9799 Blak Work Alison Whittaker 2018 Australian English
9799 Axiomatic Maria Tumarkin 2018 Australian English
9799 The Shepherd's Hut Tim Winton 2018 Australian English
9803 Long Way Down Jason Reynolds 2017 American English
9803 Dear Martin Nic Stone 2017 American English
9805 The Obelisk Gate N. K. Jemisin 2016 American English
9810 In The Country Of Country Nicholas Dawidoff 1997 American English
9810 No Mercy Redmond O'Hanlon 1997 British English
9810 Skating To Antarctica Jenny Diski 1997 British English
9809 The Custodian Of Paradise Wayne Johnston 2006 Canadian English
9813 Possible Worlds Of The Fantastic Nancy H. Trail 1995 American Unknown
9813 The Supernatural Index Mike Ashley 1995 British English
9813 The Panic Hand Jonathan Carroll 1995 American English
9813 The Well Jack Cady 1995 American English
9819 The Precipice Toby Ord 2020 British English
9821 Alex Pierre Lemaitre 2011 French French
9821 The Frozen Dead Bernard Minier 2011 French French
9821 The Collini Case Ferdinand Von Schirach 2011 German German
9820 Mean Boy Lynn Coady 2006 Canadian English
9824 City Of Glass Cassandra Clare 2009 American English
9825 The Opposite Of A Person Lieke Marsman 2017 Dutch Dutch
9826 Tristano Dies Antonio Tabucchi 2004 Italian Italian
9827 His Family Ernest Poole 1917 American English
9828 Darkness Weaves Karl Edward Wagner 1970 American English
9829 Country Girl Edna O'Brien 2012 Irish English
9831 Barney's Version Mordecai Richler 1997 Canadian English