Greatest Books of All Time, Ranked

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From the Beginning of Time Until 1915

1The Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri1320MedievalGruelingEpic7199784EpicItalian
2Moby-Dick or, The Whale Herman Melville1851The Age of the NovelGruelingEpic6547588NovelEnglish
3Les Misérables Victor Hugo1862The Age of the NovelEasyEpic1,2315892NovelFrench
4The Brothers Karamazov Fyodor Dostoevsky1880The Age of the NovelHardEpic9127690NovelRussian
5The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas1844RomanticismBreezyEpic1,2765797AdventureFrench
6Paradise Lost John Milton1667RenaissanceGruelingLong4539270EpicEnglish
7Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy1877The Age of the NovelEasyEpic8317692NovelRussian
8The Arabian Nights Anonymous~800MedievalBreezyEpic5956769Short FictionArabic
9David Copperfield Charles Dickens1850The Age of the NovelEasyEpic1,0246065NovelEnglish
10Oedipus Rex Sophocles~429 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick799468TragedyAncient Greek
11A Midsummer Night’s Dream William Shakespeare~1595ShakespeareGruelingQuick1182481ComedyEnglish
12The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling Henry Fielding1749EnlightenmentModerateEpic1,0246226NovelEnglish
13Hamlet William Shakespeare~1600ShakespeareGruelingQuick2189896TragedyEnglish
14Gargantua and Pantagruel François Rabelais1532RenaissanceModerateEpic1,1044026SatireFrench
15The Aeneid Virgil19 BCAncient RomeHardLong4849670EpicLatin
16Phaedo Plato~385 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick948940PhilosophyAncient Greek
17Job Unknown~500 BCBibleHardQuick1139054WisdomHebrew
18The Bhagavad Gita Vyasa~200 BCAncient EastHardMedium2948066PhilosophySanskrit
19Tess of the D’Urbervilles Thomas Hardy1891The Age of the NovelEasyLong5174464NovelEnglish
20Othello William Shakespeare~1603ShakespeareGruelingQuick1898876TragedyEnglish
21The Red and the Black Stendhal1830RomanticismEasyLong5605644NovelFrench
22The Clouds Aristophanes423 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick89684ComedyAncient Greek
23King Lear William Shakespeare~1605ShakespeareGruelingQuick1879572TragedyEnglish
24The Mahabharata Vyasa~400 BCAncient EastHardEpic8887966EpicSanskrit
25Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë1847The Age of the NovelEasyEpic5786298NovelEnglish
26Macbeth William Shakespeare~1606ShakespeareGruelingQuick1229487TragedyEnglish
27Fathers and Sons Ivan Turgenev1862The Age of the NovelEasyShort2285448NovelRussian
28The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky1869The Age of the NovelHardEpic7325449NovelRussian
29Genesis Moses~550 BCBibleGruelingQuick1289877Scripture — NarrativeHebrew
30Buddenbrooks Thomas Mann1901ModernismModerateEpic7314644NovelGerman
31Aesop’s Fables Aesop~560 BCAncient GreeceBreezyShort2626467Fable & ParableAncient Greek
32Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen1813RomanticismEasyLong4357499NovelEnglish
33Poetics Aristotle~335 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick389238PhilosophyAncient Greek
34The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne1850The Age of the NovelModerateShort2385186NovelEnglish
35The Gospels Matthew~85BibleModerateShort2759954GospelAncient Greek
36The Symposium Plato~385 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick1098840PhilosophyAncient Greek
37The Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle~330 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick2139240PhilosophyAncient Greek
38Self-Reliance and Nature Ralph Waldo Emerson1844RomanticismModerateQuick1175034EssayEnglish
39Little Women Louisa May Alcott1868The Age of the NovelBreezyLong504598NovelEnglish
40Oblomov Ivan Goncharov1859The Age of the NovelModerateLong5405242NovelRussian
41Confessions Augustine of Hippo~398Ancient RomeModerateMedium2969137Biography & MemoirLatin
42Richard II William Shakespeare~1595ShakespeareGruelingQuick1602224History PlayEnglish
43Twelfth Night William Shakespeare~1601ShakespeareGruelingQuick1422060ComedyEnglish
44The Death of Ivan Ilych Leo Tolstoy1886The Age of the NovelEasyShort2245248NovelRussian
45Thus Spoke Zarathustra Friedrich Nietzsche1883The Age of the NovelGruelingMedium3428573PhilosophyGerman
46Howards End E.M. Forster1910ModernismEasyMedium3024362NovelEnglish
47Devils Fyodor Dostoevsky1872The Age of the NovelHardEpic7045348NovelRussian
48Confessions Jean-Jacques Rousseau1782EnlightenmentModerateEpic6067038Biography & MemoirFrench
49Candide Voltaire1759EnlightenmentEasyQuick1557286SatireFrench
50The Origin of Species Charles Darwin1859The Age of the NovelGruelingLong4808455TreatiseEnglish
51Frankenstein Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley1818RomanticismBreezyShort2737498GothicEnglish
52Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare~1595ShakespeareGruelingQuick1758899TragedyEnglish
53The Oresteia Aeschylus458 BCAncient GreeceGruelingShort2869350TragedyAncient Greek
54The Tempest William Shakespeare~1611ShakespeareGruelingQuick1198762RomanceEnglish
55Letters from a Stoic Seneca~64Ancient RomeBreezyShort2543842PhilosophyLatin
56The Prince Niccolò Machiavelli1513RenaissanceModerateQuick1308678PhilosophyItalian
57Middlemarch George Eliot1872The Age of the NovelHardEpic8106066NovelEnglish
58The Republic Plato~375 BCAncient GreeceHardMedium3009672PhilosophyAncient Greek
59Love's Labour's Lost William Shakespeare~1594ShakespeareGruelingQuick153818ComedyEnglish
60War and Peace Leo Tolstoy1869The Age of the NovelEasyEpic1,4407688Historical FictionRussian
61The Iliad Homer~750 BCAncient GreeceHardEpic7049992EpicAncient Greek
62On the Nature of Things Lucretius~55 BCAncient RomeHardMedium3047210PhilosophyLatin
63The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Victor Hugo1831RomanticismEasyLong4935876Historical FictionFrench
64The Portrait of a Lady Henry James1881The Age of the NovelHardLong5604462NovelEnglish
65Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe1719EnlightenmentEasyMedium3047482AdventureEnglish
66The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain1876The Age of the NovelBreezyShort2314989AdventureEnglish
67The Golden Ass Apuleius~170Ancient RomeModerateShort272368NovelLatin
68Leviathan Thomas Hobbes1651EnlightenmentGruelingEpic6888336PhilosophyEnglish
69All's Well That Ends Well William Shakespeare~1604ShakespeareGruelingQuick1641518ComedyEnglish
70The Analects Confucius~450 BCAncient EastModerateShort2797857PhilosophyClassical Chinese
71Phaedrus Plato~370 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick1763239PhilosophyAncient Greek
72Much Ado About Nothing William Shakespeare~1598ShakespeareGruelingQuick1511860ComedyEnglish
73Antigone Sophocles441 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick758668TragedyAncient Greek
74The Epic of Gilgamesh Anonymous~1200 BCAncient EastBreezyMedium3048471EpicSumerian/Akkadian
75Dracula Bram Stoker1897The Age of the NovelEasyLong4664694GothicEnglish
76Notes from Underground Fyodor Dostoevsky1864The Age of the NovelHardQuick1365278NovelRussian
77Julius Caesar William Shakespeare~1599ShakespeareGruelingQuick1412161TragedyEnglish
78King Henry IV, Part 1 William Shakespeare~1596ShakespeareGruelingQuick1762224History PlayEnglish
79The Works of Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero~50 BCAncient RomeGruelingShort2728011PhilosophyLatin
80The Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare~1596ShakespeareGruelingQuick1522060ComedyEnglish
81Measure for Measure William Shakespeare~1604ShakespeareGruelingQuick1561818ComedyEnglish
82The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer~1400MedievalHardLong5289076Short FictionMiddle English
83Beowulf Unknown~1000MedievalHardQuick2136672EpicOld English
84My Ántonia Willa Cather1918ModernismBreezyShort2904255NovelEnglish
85Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky1866The Age of the NovelHardLong5607794NovelRussian
86The Odyssey Homer~725 BCAncient GreeceHardLong5419894EpicAncient Greek
87The Satyricon Petronius~65Ancient RomeModerateQuick208358SatireLatin
88Emma Jane Austen1815RomanticismEasyLong5124186NovelEnglish
89Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert1856The Age of the NovelEasyLong3847880NovelFrench
90Common Sense Thomas Paine1776EnlightenmentBreezyQuick1034757EssayEnglish
91The Pilgrim's Progress John Bunyan1678EnlightenmentBreezyMedium3526453AllegoryEnglish
92The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas1844RomanticismBreezyEpic7365790AdventureFrench
93Faust, First Part Johann Wolfgang von Goethe1808RomanticismGruelingShort2367245TragedyGerman
94As You Like It William Shakespeare~1599ShakespeareGruelingQuick1551958ComedyEnglish
95Celestina Fernando de Rojas1499RenaissanceEasyShort2403914NovelSpanish
96The Tale of Genji 紫式部 (Lady Murasaki)~1010MedievalHardEpic1,1846570NovelJapanese
97The Nibelungenlied Unknown~1200MedievalHardLong4036430EpicMiddle High German
98Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray1847The Age of the NovelEasyEpic9124264SatireEnglish
99Sappho's Poems Sappho~600 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick443212LyricAncient Greek
100Medea Euripides431 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick966951TragedyAncient Greek
101Praise of Folly Erasmus1511RenaissanceModerateQuick1884033SatireLatin
102The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle1902The Age of the NovelBreezyQuick196285NovelEnglish
103The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin1791EnlightenmentBreezyMedium3514856Biography & MemoirEnglish
104Metamorphoses Ovid8Ancient RomeHardEpic5769668EpicLatin
105Pensées Blaise Pascal1670EnlightenmentGruelingMedium3337034PhilosophyFrench
106Meditations on First Philosophy René Descartes1641EnlightenmentGruelingQuick598236PhilosophyLatin
107Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne1870The Age of the NovelBreezyLong440478Science FictionFrench
108An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding David Hume1748EnlightenmentGruelingQuick1427136PhilosophyEnglish
109Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra1605RenaissanceHardEpic9409488NovelSpanish
110A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens1859The Age of the NovelEasyLong4065991Historical FictionEnglish
111Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass1845RomanticismBreezyQuick1764856Biography & MemoirEnglish
112Antony and Cleopatra William Shakespeare~1606ShakespeareGruelingQuick1782032TragedyEnglish
113The Decameron Giovanni Boccaccio~1351MedievalEasyEpic1,0248252Short FictionItalian
114The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain1884The Age of the NovelBreezyMedium3275096AdventureEnglish
115The Complete Essays Michel de Montaigne1580RenaissanceModerateEpic9088634EssayFrench
116The Jungle Upton Sinclair1906ModernismBreezyLong464274NovelEnglish
117Apology Plato~399 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick399041PhilosophyAncient Greek
118Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad1899The Age of the NovelGruelingQuick1924883NovelEnglish
119The Art of War Sun Tzu~500 BCAncient EastBreezyQuick303190TreatiseClassical Chinese
120Richard III William Shakespeare~1593ShakespeareGruelingQuick2092258History PlayEnglish
121Wasps Aristophanes422 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick91252ComedyAncient Greek
122Dr. Faustus Christopher Marlowe1588RenaissanceGruelingQuick1753832TragedyEnglish
123Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass Lewis Carroll1871The Age of the NovelBreezyMedium357693Fable & ParableEnglish
124Eugene Onegin Alexander Pushkin1833RomanticismModerateShort2405546NovelRussian
125The Consolation of Philosophy Boethius~524Ancient RomeHardQuick1543228PhilosophyLatin
126Lysistrata Aristophanes411 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick796652ComedyAncient Greek
127The Odes of Horace Horatius23 BCAncient RomeGruelingMedium3683410LyricLatin
128Theogony/Works and Days Hesiod~700 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick793312Didactic VerseAncient Greek
129Henry V William Shakespeare~1599ShakespeareGruelingQuick1872350History PlayEnglish
130The Georgics Virgil29 BCAncient RomeHardQuick1093410Didactic VerseLatin
131Around the World in Eighty Days Jules Verne1872The Age of the NovelBreezyShort248475AdventureFrench
132Dead Souls Nikolai Gogol1842RomanticismModerateLong4645546SatireRussian
133Meditations Marcus Aurelius~175Ancient RomeModerateShort2563780PhilosophyAncient Greek
134The Charterhouse of Parma Stendhal1839RomanticismEasyLong5325643NovelFrench
135The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde1890The Age of the NovelModerateShort2524496GothicEnglish
136The Frogs Aristophanes405 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick114684ComedyAncient Greek
137The Winter's Tale William Shakespeare~1610ShakespeareGruelingQuick1781616RomanceEnglish
138The Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare~1591ShakespeareGruelingQuick1501659ComedyEnglish
139Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë1847The Age of the NovelEasyMedium3536195NovelEnglish
140Tao Te Ching Lao Tzu~350 BCAncient EastEasyQuick1137879PhilosophyClassical Chinese
141Plutarch's Lives Plutarch~110Ancient GreeceModerateLong4833628Biography & MemoirAncient Greek
142Troilus and Cressida William Shakespeare~1602ShakespeareGruelingQuick1861817SatireEnglish
143Prometheus Bound Aeschylus~460 BCAncient GreeceGruelingQuick64308TragedyAncient Greek
144Oedipus at Colonus Sophocles401 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick132307TragedyAncient Greek
145The Interpretation of Dreams Sigmund Freud1900ModernismGruelingLong5128256TreatiseGerman
146Canzoniere Francesco Petrarca~1374MedievalEasyQuick171813LyricItalian
147Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson1882The Age of the NovelBreezyQuick2104582AdventureEnglish
148The Lusiads Luís de Camões1572RenaissanceHardShort258712EpicPortuguese
149Philoctetes Sophocles409 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick94286TragedyAncient Greek
150The Comedy of Errors William Shakespeare~1594ShakespeareGruelingQuick1051620ComedyEnglish
151Women of Trachis Sophocles~450 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick68285TragedyAncient Greek
152Coriolanus William Shakespeare~1608ShakespeareGruelingQuick1971732TragedyEnglish
153Ajax Sophocles~440 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick79296TragedyAncient Greek
154Alcestis Euripides438 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick64284TragedyAncient Greek
155Lord Jim Joseph Conrad1900The Age of the NovelGruelingLong400142NovelEnglish
156King John William Shakespeare~1596ShakespeareGruelingQuick1481422History PlayEnglish
157The Seven Against Thebes Aeschylus467 BCAncient GreeceGruelingQuick58261TragedyAncient Greek
158Uncle Tom’s Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe1852The Age of the NovelBreezyEpic6296284NovelEnglish
159Walden or, Life in the Woods Henry David Thoreau1854The Age of the NovelEasyLong4645074EssayEnglish
160Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne1864The Age of the NovelBreezyShort234374Science FictionFrench
161Persuasion Jane Austen1817RomanticismEasyShort2504080NovelEnglish
162The Eclogues Virgil~37 BCAncient RomeHardQuick41349PastoralLatin
163Timon of Athens William Shakespeare~1606ShakespeareGruelingQuick1301014TragedyEnglish
164Personal Memoirs Ulysses S. Grant1885The Age of the NovelBreezyEpic674124Biography & MemoirEnglish
165The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman Laurence Sterne1759EnlightenmentGruelingEpic7356346NovelEnglish
166The Song of Roland Unknown~1100MedievalHardShort2246630EpicOld French
167Le Morte d'Arthur Thomas Malory1469RenaissanceModerateLong5283852RomanceEnglish
168Gulliver’s Travels Jonathan Swift1726EnlightenmentModerateMedium3367384SatireEnglish
169The Acharnians Aristophanes425 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick75242ComedyAncient Greek
170The Bacchae Euripides405 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick866850TragedyAncient Greek
171Bleak House Charles Dickens1853The Age of the NovelEasyEpic9456064NovelEnglish
172The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion Ford Madox Ford1915ModernismHardShort256226NovelEnglish
173The Two Gentlemen of Verona William Shakespeare~1590ShakespeareGruelingQuick122819ComedyEnglish
174Henry IV, Part Two William Shakespeare~1597ShakespeareGruelingQuick1831422History PlayEnglish
175The Book of Five Rings Miyamoto Musashi1645Ancient EastBreezyQuick192131TreatiseJapanese
176Titus Andronicus William Shakespeare~1592ShakespeareGruelingQuick1481214TragedyEnglish
177Sons and Lovers D.H. Lawrence1913ModernismEasyLong5444647NovelEnglish
178The Merry Wives of Windsor William Shakespeare~1597ShakespeareGruelingQuick1561220ComedyEnglish
179Cymbeline William Shakespeare~1610ShakespeareGruelingQuick1971116RomanceEnglish
180Pericles William Shakespeare~1607ShakespeareGruelingQuick1321016RomanceEnglish
181The Two Noble Kinsmen William Shakespeare~1613ShakespeareGruelingQuick181915RomanceEnglish
182The Communist Manifesto Karl Marx1848RomanticismBreezyQuick438482PhilosophyGerman
183The Histories Herodotus~430 BCAncient GreeceHardEpic8808129HistoryAncient Greek
184Ethics Baruch Spinoza1677EnlightenmentGruelingQuick2087035PhilosophyLatin
185The Annals of Imperial Rome Publius Cornelius Tacitus~117Ancient RomeGruelingLong4553627HistoryLatin
186History of the Peloponnesian War Thucydides~411 BCAncient GreeceGruelingEpic6488028HistoryAncient Greek
187Electra Sophocles~410 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick84306TragedyAncient Greek
188Henry VI, Part 1 William Shakespeare~1592ShakespeareGruelingQuick1541422History PlayEnglish
189King Henry VI, Part 2 William Shakespeare~1591ShakespeareGruelingQuick1821321History PlayEnglish
190King Henry VI, Part 3 William Shakespeare~1591ShakespeareGruelingQuick1741220History PlayEnglish
191The Persians Aeschylus472 BCAncient GreeceGruelingQuick57271TragedyAncient Greek
192A Sentimental Education Gustave Flaubert1869The Age of the NovelEasyLong4795625NovelFrench
193The Woman in White Wilkie Collins1859The Age of the NovelEasyEpic671438NovelEnglish
194Faust, Part Two Johann Wolfgang von Goethe1832RomanticismGruelingLong400644AllegoryGerman
195The Suppliants Aeschylus463 BCAncient GreeceGruelingQuick58261TragedyAncient Greek
196The Poetic Edda Unknown~1270MedievalHardMedium382630EpicOld Norse
197The Turn of the Screw Henry James1898The Age of the NovelHardQuick1344263GothicEnglish
198The Birds Aristophanes414 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick104263ComedyAncient Greek
199Henry VIII William Shakespeare~1613ShakespeareGruelingQuick1761023History PlayEnglish
200Peace Aristophanes421 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick80242ComedyAncient Greek

The Western canon, ranked and reviewed

A ranked list of the greatest books of all time: the major works of Western literature from the first written epics through 1900, read in full and ranked by Groblé. Not averaged from other lists. Not crowd-voted. One reader's judgment, argued straight and open to being wrong.

Every book gets its own page: what it is like to read, why it matters, where to start, which translation to choose, and the honest take on what works, what drags, and what still hits. The table above sorts and filters by era, difficulty, length, influence, and popularity, so you can find something worth reading instead of just obeying a syllabus.

Start at number one, or jump to the era you care about. The canon is a three-thousand-year argument. This is the map.