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
10971 That Time Of Year Marie NDiaye 2020 French French
10973 The Wall Of Storms Ken Liu 2016 American English
10975 Pornography Andrea Dworkin 1981 American English
10976 Jacob’s Ladder Ludmila Ulitskaya 2015 Russian Russian
10978 World Of Sex Henry Miller 1941 American English
10977 The Two Mile Time Machine Richard Alley 2000 American English
10979 Stalin's Meteorologist Olivier Rolin 2014 French French
10980 They Know Not What They Do Jussi Valtonen 2014 Finnish Finnish
10981 The Children Of Noisy Village Astrid Lindgren 2003 Swedish Swedish
10983 A Belfast Woman Mary Beckett 1980 Irish English
10983 The Maid Of The North Ethel Johnston Phelps 1980 American English
10983 Man Made Language Dale Spender 1980 Australian English
10983 Portrait Of An Artist Laurie Lisle 1980 American English
10990 The Eighth Day Thornton Wilder 1967 American English
10989 The Proper Study of Mankind Isaiah Berlin 1997 British English
10991 Stop Time Frank Conroy 1967 American English
10992 A Brief History Of Neoliberalism David Harvey 2005 British English
10993 Kompositionslehre Der Natur Jakob Johann von Uexküll 1980 German Unknown
10994 Happenstance Carol Shields 1980 Canadian English
10995 Not Without My Daughter Betty Mahmoody 1987 American English
10996 Love And Will Rollo May 1969 American English
10998 Portable Curiosities Julie Koh 2016 Australian English
11000 Hollywood Homicide Kellye Garrett 2017 American English
11001 The History Of Sexuality Michel Foucault 1976 French French
11003 City Of Joy Dominique Lapierre 1985 French French
11004 Bad Girls Jacqueline Wilson 1996 British English
11005 The Ghost Writer Philip Roth 1979 American English
11007 Young Men and Fire Norman Maclean 1992 American English
11007 Friend Of My Youth Alice Munro 1990 Canadian English
11007 Naturalist E. O. Wilson 1994 American English
11007 Balkan Ghosts Robert D. Kaplan 1993 American English
11007 In The Lake Of The Woods Tim O'Brien 1994 American English
11007 The Moral Animal Robert Wright 1994 American English
11007 The Island Of The Day Before Umberto Eco 1994 Italian Italian
11014 Fourth Wing Rebecca Yarros 2023 American English
11018 Camino de Perdición Luis Mateo Díez 2007 Spanish Spanish
11019 Desolation Island Adolfo García Ortega 2014 Spanish Unknown
11021 The Story Of San Michele Axel Munthe 1929 Swedish English
11022 Gifted & Talented Olivie Blake 2025 American English
11023 The War On Choice Gloria Feldt 2004 American English
11024 Follow Your Heart Susanna Tamaro 1994 Italian Italian
11025 Jerome Jean-Pierre Martinet 1978 French French
11029 Four Novels Marguerite Duras 1985 French French
11029 The Good Apprentice Iris Murdoch 1985 British English
11029 Poems Of Charles Simic Charles Simic 1985 American English
11033 Seacrow Island Astrid Lindgren 1964 Swedish Swedish
11028 Ways Of Being Alive Baptiste Morizot 2020 French French
11034 The Weird Ann VanderMeer 2011 American English
11035 American Nations Colin Woodard 2011 American English
11036 Cinema And History Marc Ferro 1977 French French
11036 This Sex Which Is Not One Luce Irigary 1977 French French
11039 Empire Of Ai Karen Hao 2025 American English
11041 The Riders Tim Winton 1994 Australian English
11040 Babylon's Ashes James S. A. Corey 2016 American English
11042 Sörgården Anna-Maria Roos 1912 Swedish Swedish
11046 The Shadow King Maaza Mengiste 2019 American English
11049 Untold Stories Alan Bennett 2005 British English
11052 The Complete Plays of T. S. Eliot T. S. Eliot 1969 British English
11053 An Imagined World June Goodfield 1981 British English
11053 The Lone Pilgrim Laurie Colwin 1981 American English
11053 The Roots Of Ticasuk Ticasuk Brown 1981 American English
11051 Black Swan Green David Mitchell 2006 British English
11056 The Hammer Of God Bo Giertz 1941 Swedish Swedish
11058 Gliff Ali Smith 2024 British English
11059 Two Years Eight Months And Twenty Eight Nights Salman Rushdie 2015 British English
11061 The Remembered Soldier Anjet Daanje 2019 Dutch Dutch
11062 Look Solmaz Sharif 2016 American English
11064 The Red Grass Boris Vian 1949 French French
11063 Full Frontal Feminism Jessica Valenti 2007 American English
11067 The Night Daddy Maria Gripe 1968 Swedish Swedish
11074 Girls In Love Jacqueline Wilson 1997 British English
11068 All The Wrong Places James Fenton 1994 British English
11068 The Complete Works Of Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft 1989 British English
11068 Fire Down Below William Golding 1989 British English
11068 The Flood John Broderick 2000 Irish English
11068 The Thatcher Decade Peter Riddell 1989 British English
11076 Your Steps On The Stairs Antonio Muñoz Molina, Curtis Bauer 2019 Spanish English
11077 Life Adjustment Center Ryan McGinley 2010 American Unknown
11077 About a Mountain John D'Agata 2010 American English
11077 The Lost Man Jane Harper 2018 Australian English
11077 London Rules Mick Herron 2018 British English
11077 Smoke And Ashes Abir Mukherjee 2018 British English
11084 How The Pro Choice Movement Saved America Cristina Page 2006 American English
11085 Praying for Sheetrock Melissa Fay Greene 1991 American English
11086 Insomniac City Bill Hayes 2017 American English
11086 The Refugees Viet Thanh Nguyen 2017 American English
11086 When I Grow Up I Want To Be A List Of Further Possibilities Chen Chen 2017 American English
11086 Mirror Sydney Vanessa Berry 2017 Australian English
11113 The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton John Milton 2007 British English
11113 Rite of Passage Alexei Panshin 1968 American English
11113 A Time of Changes Robert Silverberg 1971 American English
11113 The Falling Woman Pat Murphy 1986 American English
11113 The Healer's War Elizabeth Ann Scarborough 1988 American English
11113 Stations of the Tide Michael Swanwick 1991 American English
11113 Moving Mars Greg Bear 1993 American English
11113 Slow River Nicola Griffith 1995 British English
11113 The Quantum Rose Catherine Asaro 2000 American English
11113 The Speed of Dark Elizabeth Moon 2003 American English
11113 Camouflage Joe Haldeman 2004 American English
11113 Seeker Jack McDevitt 2005 American English
11113 Powers Ursula K. Le Guin 2007 American English
11113 2312 Kim Stanley Robinson 2012 American English
11113 A Song for a New Day Sarah Pinsker 2019 American English
11092 Mao's Last Dancer Li Cunxin 2003 Australian English
11093 The Pious Dance Klaus Mann 1926 German German
11093 Perrudja Hans Henny Jahnn 1929 German German
11093 Heeresbericht Edlef Köppen 1930 German German
11093 Berlin Childhood Around 1900 Walter Benjamin 1950 German German
11093 Effingers Gabriele Tergit 1951 German German
11093 Murke's Collected Silences Heinrich Böll 1955 German German
11093 Marriage In Philippsburg Martin Walser 1957 German German
11093 B/Moondocks Arno Schmidt 1960 German Unknown
11093 Der Herr Karl Carl Merz, Helmut Qualtinger 1961 Austrian German
11093 The Eyewitness Ernst Weiß 1930 German German
11093 Der Weg Nach Oobliadooh Fritz Rudolf Fries 1966 German German
11093 Die Palette Hubert Fichte 1968 German German
11093 Gesammelte Erzählungen Kurt Kusenberg 1961 German German
11093 Franziska Linkerhand Brigitte Reimann 1974 German German
11093 Die Mördergrube Werner Steinberg 1960 German German
11113 Měsíc Nad řekou Karel Čapek Czech Czech