Greatest Books of All Time, Ranked

According to

From the Beginning of Time Until 1915

1The Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri1320MedievalHardLong4609784epic poemItalian
2Moby-Dick or, The Whale Herman Melville1851—EasyEpic8367487novelEnglish
3Les Misérables Victor Hugo1862French 19th CenturyEasyEpic2,2635792novelFrench
4The Brothers Karamazov Fyodor Dostoevsky1880Russian 19th CenturyEasyEpic1,4017690novelRussian
5The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas1844French 19th CenturyBreezyEpic1,8365697novelFrench
6Paradise Lost John Milton1667RenaissanceHardLong3199269epic poemEnglish
7Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy1877Russian 19th CenturyEasyEpic1,4007591novelRussian
8The Arabian Nights Anonymous~800MedievalEasyEpic8406669story collectionArabic
9David Copperfield Charles Dickens1850VictorianBreezyEpic1,4325864novelEnglish
10Oedipus Rex Sophocles~429 BCAncient GreeceModerateQuick449368tragedyAncient Greek
11A Midsummer Night’s Dream William Shakespeare~1595ShakespeareGruelingShort662481comedyEnglish
12The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling Henry Fielding1749EnlightenmentEasyEpic1,3866127novelEnglish
13Hamlet William Shakespeare~1600ShakespeareGruelingMedium1229795tragedyEnglish
14Gargantua and Pantagruel François Rabelais1532RenaissanceEasyEpic1,5204127satirical novelFrench
15The Aeneid Virgil19 BCAncient RomeHardLong4729670epic poemLatin
16Phaedo Plato~385 BCAncient GreeceHardMedium1058941philosophical dialogueAncient Greek
17Job Unknown~500 BCBibleModerateShort729054wisdom literatureHebrew
18The Bhagavad Gita Vyasa~200 BCAncient WorldModerateShort847966philosophical poetrySanskrit
19Tess of the D’Urbervilles Thomas Hardy1891VictorianBreezyEpic6004463novelEnglish
20Othello William Shakespeare~1603ShakespeareGruelingMedium1068875tragedyEnglish
21The Red and the Black Stendhal1830French 19th CenturyEasyEpic7605544novelFrench
22The Clouds Aristophanes423 BCAncient GreeceModerateShort50664comedyAncient Greek
23King Lear William Shakespeare~1605ShakespeareGruelingMedium1059572tragedyEnglish
24The Mahabharata Vyasa~400 BCAncient WorldModerateEpic2,1607865epic poemSanskrit
25Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë1847VictorianBreezyEpic7356098novelEnglish
26Macbeth William Shakespeare~1606ShakespeareGruelingShort689487tragedyEnglish
27Confessions Augustine of Hippo~398Ancient RomeModerateLong4009138autobiography/theologyLatin
28Aesop’s Fables Aesop~560 BCAncient GreeceBreezyMedium1526366fable collectionAncient Greek
29Fathers and Sons Ivan Turgenev1862Russian 19th CenturyEasyLong2605347novelRussian
30The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky1869Russian 19th CenturyEasyEpic9675249novelRussian
31Genesis Moses~550 BCBibleModerateMedium1539877narrativeHebrew
32Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen1813RomanticsBreezyLong4897499novelEnglish
33Poetics Aristotle~335 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick429140literary criticismAncient Greek
34The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne1850TranscendentalistsBreezyLong3325086novelEnglish
35The Gospels Matthew~85BibleModerateLong3309954gospelAncient Greek
36The Symposium Plato~385 BCAncient GreeceHardShort798842philosophical dialogueAncient Greek
37The Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle~330 BCAncient GreeceHardLong3589241philosophical treatiseAncient Greek
38Self-Reliance and Nature Ralph Waldo Emerson1844TranscendentalistsEasyMedium1544935essayEnglish
39Little Women Louisa May Alcott1868TranscendentalistsBreezyEpic739597novelEnglish
40Richard II William Shakespeare~1595ShakespeareGruelingShort902225history playEnglish
41Twelfth Night William Shakespeare~1601ShakespeareGruelingShort792059comedyEnglish
42The Death of Ivan Ilych Leo Tolstoy1886Russian 19th CenturyEasyMedium1005148novellaRussian
43Thus Spoke Zarathustra Friedrich Nietzsche1883—HardLong4008573philosophical novelGerman
44Devils Fyodor Dostoevsky1872Russian 19th CenturyEasyEpic1,0185248novelRussian
45Confessions Jean-Jacques Rousseau1782EnlightenmentModerateEpic1,0806939autobiographyFrench
46Candide Voltaire1759EnlightenmentBreezyMedium1357186satirical novellaFrench
47The Origin of Species Charles Darwin1859VictorianHardEpic6028455treatiseEnglish
48Frankenstein Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley1818RomanticsBreezyLong2967398novelEnglish
49Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare~1595ShakespeareGruelingShort988799tragedyEnglish
50The Oresteia Aeschylus458 BCAncient GreeceHardMedium1609350tragedyAncient Greek
51The Tempest William Shakespeare~1611ShakespeareGruelingShort678761romanceEnglish
52Letters from a Stoic Seneca~64Ancient RomeEasyLong2543943epistolary philosophyLatin
53The Prince Niccolò Machiavelli1513RenaissanceEasyMedium1248678political treatiseItalian
54Middlemarch George Eliot1872VictorianEasyEpic1,2645965novelEnglish
55Phaedrus Plato~370 BCAncient GreeceHardShort883340philosophical dialogueAncient Greek
56Love's Labour's Lost William Shakespeare~1594ShakespeareGruelingShort86818comedyEnglish
57War and Peace Leo Tolstoy1869Russian 19th CenturyEasyEpic2,2607588historical novelRussian
58The Iliad Homer~750 BCAncient GreeceHardLong4599992epic poemAncient Greek
59On the Nature of Things Lucretius~55 BCAncient RomeHardLong3007111philosophical poemLatin
60The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Victor Hugo1831French 19th CenturyBreezyEpic7005776novelFrench
61The Portrait of a Lady Henry James1881Late 19th-Century AmericanEasyEpic7424462novelEnglish
62Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe1719EnlightenmentBreezyLong4867381novelEnglish
63The Republic Plato~375 BCAncient GreeceHardLong4729672philosophical dialogueAncient Greek
64The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain1876Late 19th-Century AmericanBreezyLong2824889novelEnglish
65The Golden Ass Apuleius~170Ancient RomeEasyLong360379novelLatin
66Leviathan Thomas Hobbes1651EnlightenmentHardEpic7368238political philosophyEnglish
67All's Well That Ends Well William Shakespeare~1604ShakespeareGruelingShort921519comedyEnglish
68The Analects Confucius~450 BCAncient WorldModerateMedium1307857philosophical dialogueClassical Chinese
69Much Ado About Nothing William Shakespeare~1598ShakespeareGruelingShort851960comedyEnglish
70Antigone Sophocles441 BCAncient GreeceModerateQuick428568tragedyAncient Greek
71The Epic of Gilgamesh Anonymous~1200 BCAncient WorldModerateShort808371epic poemSumerian/Akkadian
72Dracula Bram Stoker1897VictorianBreezyEpic6464594novelEnglish
73Notes from Underground Fyodor Dostoevsky1864Russian 19th CenturyEasyMedium1525177novellaRussian
74The Odyssey Homer~725 BCAncient GreeceHardLong4859894epic poemAncient Greek
75Julius Caesar William Shakespeare~1599ShakespeareGruelingShort792261tragedyEnglish
76King Henry IV, Part 1 William Shakespeare~1596ShakespeareGruelingShort982324history playEnglish
77The Works of Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero~50 BCAncient RomeHardLong3927911oratory/philosophyLatin
78The Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare~1596ShakespeareGruelingShort852160comedyEnglish
79Measure for Measure William Shakespeare~1604ShakespeareGruelingShort871919comedyEnglish
80The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer~1400MedievalModerateEpic5759076story collectionMiddle English
81Beowulf Unknown~1000MedievalModerateMedium1126571epic poemOld English
82Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky1866Russian 19th CenturyEasyEpic8447693novelRussian
83The Satyricon Petronius~65Ancient RomeEasyMedium240368satireLatin
84Emma Jane Austen1815RomanticsBreezyEpic6444285novelEnglish
85Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert1856French 19th CenturyEasyLong4647780novelFrench
86Common Sense Thomas Paine1776EnlightenmentBreezyShort804657political pamphletEnglish
87The Pilgrim's Progress John Bunyan1678EnlightenmentBreezyLong4336253allegoryEnglish
88The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas1844French 19th CenturyBreezyEpic9805689novelFrench
89Faust, First Part Johann Wolfgang von Goethe1808RomanticsHardMedium1327245verse dramaGerman
90As You Like It William Shakespeare~1599ShakespeareGruelingShort872058comedyEnglish
91Celestina Fernando de Rojas1499RenaissanceEasyLong2644014dramatic novelSpanish
92The Tale of Genji 紫式部~1010MedievalModerateEpic1,6006470novelJapanese
93The Nibelungenlied Unknown~1200MedievalModerateLong4036331epic poemMiddle High German
94Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray1847VictorianBreezyEpic7964363novelEnglish
95Sappho's Poems Sappho~600 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick283412lyric poetryAncient Greek
96Medea Euripides431 BCAncient GreeceModerateShort546851tragedyAncient Greek
97Praise of Folly Erasmus1511RenaissanceEasyLong2564134satireLatin
98The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle1902ModernBreezyMedium238385novelEnglish
99The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin1791EnlightenmentBreezyMedium1804656autobiographyEnglish
100Metamorphoses Ovid8Ancient RomeHardEpic6009567epic poemLatin
101Pensées Blaise Pascal1670EnlightenmentHardLong3336936philosophical fragmentsFrench
102Meditations on First Philosophy René Descartes1641EnlightenmentHardShort888237philosophical treatiseLatin
103Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne1870French 19th CenturyBreezyEpic528478science fiction novelFrench
104An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding David Hume1748EnlightenmentHardMedium2007037philosophical treatiseEnglish
105Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra1605RenaissanceModerateEpic1,4779488novelSpanish
106A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens1859VictorianBreezyEpic5425891historical novelEnglish
107Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass1845—BreezyMedium1454756autobiographyEnglish
108Antony and Cleopatra William Shakespeare~1606ShakespeareGruelingShort1002133tragedyEnglish
109The Decameron Giovanni Boccaccio~1351MedievalEasyEpic1,0248153story collectionItalian
110The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain1884Late 19th-Century AmericanBreezyLong4434896novelEnglish
111The Complete Essays Michel de Montaigne1580RenaissanceEasyEpic2,0408635essayFrench
112The Jungle Upton Sinclair1906ModernBreezyEpic597274novelEnglish
113Apology Plato~399 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick448942philosophical dialogueAncient Greek
114Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad1899VictorianEasyMedium1524782novellaEnglish
115The Art of War Sun Tzu~500 BCAncient WorldBreezyQuick403290military treatiseClassical Chinese
116Richard III William Shakespeare~1593ShakespeareGruelingMedium1172358history playEnglish
117Wasps Aristophanes422 BCAncient GreeceModerateShort51263comedyAncient Greek
118Dr. Faustus Christopher Marlowe1588RenaissanceModerateShort983934tragedyEnglish
119Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass Lewis Carroll1871VictorianBreezyMedium212693fantasy novelEnglish
120Eugene Onegin Alexander Pushkin1833Russian 19th CenturyHardMedium1605447novel in verseRussian
121The Consolation of Philosophy Boethius~524Ancient RomeModerateMedium1543228philosophical dialogueLatin
122Lysistrata Aristophanes411 BCAncient GreeceModerateQuick446552comedyAncient Greek
123The Odes of Horace Horatius23 BCAncient RomeHardMedium1083510lyric poetryLatin
124Theogony/Works and Days Hesiod~700 BCAncient GreeceHardShort763412didactic poemAncient Greek
125Henry V William Shakespeare~1599ShakespeareGruelingMedium1042451history playEnglish
126The Georgics Virgil29 BCAncient RomeHardShort883510didactic poemLatin
127Around the World in Eighty Days Jules Verne1872French 19th CenturyBreezyLong248475adventure novelFrench
128Dead Souls Nikolai Gogol1842Russian 19th CenturyEasyLong5005346novelRussian
129Meditations Marcus Aurelius~175Ancient RomeEasyMedium1463879philosophical journalAncient Greek
130The Charterhouse of Parma Stendhal1839French 19th CenturyEasyEpic7525544novelFrench
131The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde1890VictorianBreezyLong3144596novelEnglish
132The Frogs Aristophanes405 BCAncient GreeceModerateShort64674comedyAncient Greek
133The Winter's Tale William Shakespeare~1610ShakespeareGruelingShort1001717romanceEnglish
134The Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare~1591ShakespeareGruelingShort841659comedyEnglish
135Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë1847VictorianBreezyLong4326095novelEnglish
136Tao Te Ching Lao Tzu~350 BCAncient WorldModerateQuick247779philosophical poetryClassical Chinese
137Plutarch's Lives Plutarch~110Ancient GreeceEasyEpic2,9763829biographyAncient Greek
138Troilus and Cressida William Shakespeare~1602ShakespeareGruelingMedium1041818tragedyEnglish
139Prometheus Bound Aeschylus~460 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick36318tragedyAncient Greek
140Oedipus at Colonus Sophocles401 BCAncient GreeceModerateShort74317tragedyAncient Greek
141The Interpretation of Dreams Sigmund Freud1900—HardEpic6808155treatiseGerman
142Canzoniere Francesco Petrarca~1374MedievalHardMedium224813lyric poetryItalian
143The Lusiads Luís de Camões1572RenaissanceHardLong282713epic poemPortuguese
144Philoctetes Sophocles409 BCAncient GreeceModerateShort53296tragedyAncient Greek
145The Comedy of Errors William Shakespeare~1594ShakespeareHardShort591620comedyEnglish
146Women of Trachis Sophocles~450 BCAncient GreeceModerateQuick38295tragedyAncient Greek
147Coriolanus William Shakespeare~1608ShakespeareGruelingMedium1101832tragedyEnglish
148Ajax Sophocles~440 BCAncient GreeceModerateQuick44306tragedyAncient Greek
149Alcestis Euripides438 BCAncient GreeceModerateQuick36285tragedyAncient Greek
150Lord Jim Joseph Conrad1900VictorianEasyLong521143novelEnglish
151King John William Shakespeare~1596ShakespeareGruelingShort831423history playEnglish
152The Seven Against Thebes Aeschylus467 BCAncient GreeceHardQuick32271tragedyAncient Greek
153Uncle Tom’s Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe1852—BreezyEpic7306183novelEnglish
154Walden or, Life in the Woods Henry David Thoreau1854TranscendentalistsEasyLong4594973memoir/philosophyEnglish
155Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne1864French 19th CenturyBreezyLong288374science fiction novelFrench
156Persuasion Jane Austen1817RomanticsBreezyLong3434280novelEnglish
157The Eclogues Virgil~37 BCAncient RomeHardQuick26369pastoral poetryLatin
158Timon of Athens William Shakespeare~1606ShakespeareGruelingShort731014tragedyEnglish
159Personal Memoirs Ulysses S. Grant1885Late 19th-Century AmericanBreezyEpic1,088125memoirEnglish
160The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman Laurence Sterne1759EnlightenmentGruelingEpic7526246novelEnglish
161The Song of Roland Unknown~1100MedievalModerateMedium2246431chanson de gesteOld French
162Le Morte d'Arthur Thomas Malory1469RenaissanceModerateEpic1,4004052romanceEnglish
163Gulliver’s Travels Jonathan Swift1726EnlightenmentBreezyLong4187284satireEnglish
164The Acharnians Aristophanes425 BCAncient GreeceModerateQuick42252comedyAncient Greek
165The Bacchae Euripides405 BCAncient GreeceModerateShort486849tragedyAncient Greek
166Bleak House Charles Dickens1853VictorianBreezyEpic1,4445964novelEnglish
167The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion Ford Madox Ford1915ModernEasyLong268226novelEnglish
168The Two Gentlemen of Verona William Shakespeare~1590ShakespeareGruelingShort69920comedyEnglish
169Henry IV, Part Two William Shakespeare~1597ShakespeareGruelingMedium1031523history playEnglish
170The Book of Five Rings Miyamoto Musashi1645—BreezyMedium120132martial arts treatiseJapanese
171Titus Andronicus William Shakespeare~1592ShakespeareGruelingShort831215tragedyEnglish
172The Merry Wives of Windsor William Shakespeare~1597ShakespeareGruelingShort871221comedyEnglish
173Cymbeline William Shakespeare~1610ShakespeareGruelingMedium1101116romanceEnglish
174Pericles William Shakespeare~1607ShakespeareGruelingShort741116romanceEnglish
175The Two Noble Kinsmen William Shakespeare~1613ShakespeareGruelingMedium102915romanceEnglish
176The Communist Manifesto Karl Marx1848—EasyShort488482political treatiseGerman
177The Histories Herodotus~430 BCAncient GreeceEasyEpic9808030historyAncient Greek
178Ethics Baruch Spinoza1677EnlightenmentHardLong2607036philosophical treatiseLatin
179The Annals of Imperial Rome Publius Cornelius Tacitus~117Ancient RomeHardEpic6603728historyLatin
180History of the Peloponnesian War Thucydides~411 BCAncient GreeceHardEpic6408029historyAncient Greek
181Electra Sophocles~410 BCAncient GreeceModerateShort47307tragedyAncient Greek
182Henry VI, Part 1 William Shakespeare~1592ShakespeareGruelingShort861422history playEnglish
183King Henry VI, Part 2 William Shakespeare~1591ShakespeareGruelingMedium1021322history playEnglish
184King Henry VI, Part 3 William Shakespeare~1591ShakespeareGruelingShort971321history playEnglish
185The Persians Aeschylus472 BCAncient GreeceModerateQuick32281tragedyAncient Greek
186A Sentimental Education Gustave Flaubert1869French 19th CenturyEasyEpic6885426novelFrench
187The Woman in White Wilkie Collins1859VictorianBreezyEpic671539novelEnglish
188Faust, Part Two Johann Wolfgang von Goethe1832RomanticsHardMedium224745verse dramaGerman
189The Suppliants Aeschylus463 BCAncient GreeceModerateQuick32271tragedyAncient Greek
190The Poetic Edda Unknown~1270MedievalModerateLong360630mythological poetryOld Norse
191The Turn of the Screw Henry James1898Late 19th-Century AmericanEasyMedium1694362novellaEnglish
192The Birds Aristophanes414 BCAncient GreeceModerateShort58263comedyAncient Greek
193Henry VIII William Shakespeare~1613ShakespeareGruelingShort991024history playEnglish
194Peace Aristophanes421 BCAncient GreeceModerateShort45252comedyAncient Greek

The Western canon — ranked, read, and reviewed

This is a ranked list of the greatest books of all time: every major work of Western literature from the beginning of recorded writing through 1900, read in full and placed in order by Groblé. It isn't aggregated from a hundred other “best of” lists or crowd-voted — it's one reader's judgment, argued for and willing to be wrong.

Every book has its own page: what it's actually like to read, why it matters, where to start, which translation to pick, and an honest take — what landed, what dragged, what surprised. The table above sorts and filters by era, difficulty, length, influence, and popularity, so you can find the book you should read next — not the one a syllabus insists on.

Start at number one and work down, or filter to the era you're curious about. The canon is a three-thousand-year conversation; this is a map of it.