The 31 Best Selling Books of All Time
Have you ever wondered what were the most popular books in history? This article shows the 31 best-selling books of all time, their authors, and how many books were sold.
But it’s not a complete list. It excludes religious texts, as it's difficult to tell how many were actually sold versus given away. It also excludes political books like Quotations from Chairman Mao, which has no credible sales numbers and was widely distributed (not sold) in China in the 1960s.
Lastly, many insanely popular novels were sold as book series throughout history, often numbering in the hundreds of millions. This list only looks at individual books with credible sources of sales history.
Some TLDR Stats About the List of Best Selling Books
- Only 2 of the 31 best selling books were nonfiction
- J.K. Rowling’s books dominated the list, with all of her Harry Potter series novels placing within the top 15
- The highest-rated book on Amazon was The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, with almost 75,000 reviews giving it a 4.7 star rating
- Books aimed at a younger audience or children take up the majority of the list, with fantasy being the main genre
- Many books on the list, especially the older ones, have a surprisingly low number of reviews on Amazon, with some even under 1,000
The Most Popular Selling Books of All Time
#1. A Tale of Two Cities
Author: Charles Dickens
Genre: Historical Fiction
Number of Sales: 200 million copies sold
Year Published: 1859
Book Summary:
“A Tale of Two Cities tells the story of Dr Manette’s release from imprisonment in the Bastille and his reunion with daughter, Lucie. A French aristocrat Darnay and English lawyer Carton compete in their love for Lucie and the ensuing tale plays out against the menacing backdrop of the French Revolution and the shadow of the guillotine.”
Where to read it?
#2. The Little Prince
Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Genre: Young Adult Fiction (originally published in French)
Number of Sales: 200 million copies sold
Year Published: 1943
Book Summary:
“A pilot crashes in the Sahara Desert and encounters a strange young boy who calls himself the Little Prince. The Little Prince has traveled there from his home on a lonely, distant asteroid with a single rose. The story that follows is a beautiful and at times heartbreaking meditation on human nature.”
Where to read it?
#3. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Author: J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy
Number of Sales: 120 million copies sold
Year Published: 1997
Book Summary:
“Harry Potter has no idea how famous he is. That’s because he’s being raised by his miserable aunt and uncle who are terrified Harry will learn that he’s really a wizard, just as his parents were. But everything changes when Harry is summoned to attend an infamous school for wizards, and he begins to discover some clues about his illustrious birthright. From the surprising way he is greeted by a lovable giant, to the unique curriculum and colorful faculty at his unusual school, Harry finds himself drawn deep inside a mystical world he never knew existed and closer to his own noble destiny.”
Where to read it?
#4. And Then There Were None
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Mystery
Number of Sales: 100 million copies sold
Year Published: 1939
Book Summary:
“Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to an isolated mansion on Indian Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear. On the island they are cut off from everything but each other and the inescapable shadows of their own past lives. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts. And one by one, they die…
Which among them is the killer and will any of them survive?”
Where to read it?
#5. Dream of the Red Chamber
Author: Cao Xueqin (Tsao Hsueh-Chin)
Genre: Family Saga (originally published in Chinese)
Number of Sales: 100 million copies sold
Year Published: 1791, officially, but was written until the author’s death in 1763 or 1764
Book Summary:
“For more than a century and a half, Dream of the Red Chamber has been recognized in China as the greatest of its novels, a Chinese Romeo-and-Juliet love story and a portrait of one of the world’s great civilizations. Chi-chen Wang’s translation is skillful, accurate and fascinating.”
Where to read it?
#6. The Hobbit
Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Fantasy
Number of Sales: 100 million copies sold
Year Published: 1937
Book Summary:
“Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon.
Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.
Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, The Hobbit has sold many millions of copies worldwide and established itself as a modern classic.”
Where to read it?
#7. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Author: C. S. Lewis
Genre: Children’s Fantasy
Number of Sales: 85 million copies sold
Year Published: 1950
Book Summary:
“Four adventurous siblings — Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie — step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . . . and a great sacrifice.
Open the door and enter a new world! The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the second book in C. S. Lewis’s classic fantasy series, which has been captivating readers of all ages with a magical land and unforgettable characters for over sixty years.”
Where to read it?
#8. She: A History of Adventure
Author: H. Rider Haggard
Genre: Adventure
Number of Sales: 83 million copies sold
Year Published: 1887
Book Summary:
“Follow the journey of Horace Holly and his ward, Leo Vincey, to a lost kingdom in the African interior. There they encounter a primitive race of natives and a mysterious white queen named Ayesha who reigns as the all-powerful “She”, or “She-who-must-be-obeyed”. In this work, Rider Haggard developed the conventions of the Lost World subgenre, which many later authors emulated.
This is the blueprint for the Indiana Jones series.”
Where to read it?
#9. The Da Vinci Code
Author: Dan Brown
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Number of Sales: 80 million copies sold
Year Published: 2003
Book Summary:
“While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci — clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.
Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion — a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci — and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle — while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move — the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever.”
Where to read it?
#10. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Author: J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy
Number of Sales: 77 million copies sold
Year Published: 1998
Book Summary:
“The Dursleys were so mean that hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he’s packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.
And strike it does. For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockheart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls’ bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley’s younger sister, Ginny.
But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone — or something — starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects…Harry Potter himself?”
Where to read it?
#11. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Author: J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy
Number of Sales: 65 million copies sold
Year Published: 1999
Book Summary:
“For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort.Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter’s defeat of You-Know-Who was Black’s downfall as well. And the Azkaban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, “He’s at Hogwarts… he’s at Hogwarts.”Harry Potter isn’t safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may be a traitor in their midst.”
Where to read it?
#12. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Author: J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy
Number of Sales: 65 million copies sold
Year Published: 2000
Book Summary:
“The Triwizard Tournament is to be held at Hogwarts. Only wizards who are over seventeen are allowed to enter — but that doesn’t stop Harry dreaming that he will win the competition. Then at Hallowe’en, when the Goblet of Fire makes its selection, Harry is amazed to find his name is one of those that the magical cup picks out. He will face death-defying tasks, dragons, and dark wizards, but with the help of his best friends, Ron and Hermione, he might just make it through — alive!”
Where to read it?
#13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Author: J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy
Number of Sales: 65 million copies sold
Year Published: 2003
Book Summary:
“Dark times have come to Hogwarts. After the Dementors’ attack on his cousin Dudley, Harry Potter knows that Voldemort will stop at nothing to find him. There are many who deny the Dark Lord’s return, but Harry is not alone: a secret order gathers at Grimmauld Place to fight against the dark forces. Harry must allow Professor Snape to teach him how to protect himself from Voldemort’s savage assaults on his mind. But they are growing stronger by the day and Harry is running out of time….”
Where to read it?
#14. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Author: J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy
Number of Sales: 65 million copies sold
Year Published: 2005
Book Summary:
“When Dumbledore arrives at Privet Drive one summer night to collect Harry Potter, his wand hand is blackened and shrivelled, but he does not reveal why. Secrets and suspicion are spreading through the wizarding world, and Hogwarts itself is not safe. Harry is convinced that Malfoy bears the Dark Mark: there is a Death Eater amongst them. Harry will need powerful magic and true friends as he explores Voldemort’s darkest secrets, and Dumbledore prepares him to face his destiny….”
Where to read it?
#15. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy
Number of Sales: 65 million copies sold
Year Published: 2007
Book Summary:
“As he climbs into the sidecar of Hagrid’s motorbike and takes to the skies, leaving Privet Drive for the last time, Harry Potter knows that Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters are not far behind. The protective charm that has kept Harry safe until now is broken, but he cannot keep hiding. The Dark Lord is breathing fear into everything Harry loves and to stop him Harry will have to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes. The final battle must begin — Harry must stand and face his enemy….”
Where to read it?
#16. The Alchemist (O Alquimista)
Author: Paulo Coelho
Genre: Fantasy (originally published in Portuguese)
Number of Sales: 65 million copies sold
Year Published: 1988
Book Summary:
“Paulo Coelho’s masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different — and far more satisfying — than he ever imagined. Santiago’s journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.”
Where to read it?
#17. The Catcher in the Rye
Author: J. D. Salinger
Genre: Coming of age
Number of Sales: 65 million copies sold
Year Published: 1951 (previously in serial form in 1945-1946)
Book Summary:
“The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caufield. Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days.”
Where to read it?
#18. The Bridges of Madison County
Author: Robert James Waller
Genre: Romance
Number of Sales: 60 million copies sold
Year Published: 1992
Book Summary:
“When Robert Kincaid drives through the heat and dust of an Iowa summer and turns into Francesca Johnson’s farm lane looking for directions, the world-class photographer and the Iowa farm wife are joined in an experience of uncommon truth and stunning beauty that will haunt them forever.”
Where to read it?
#19. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Author: Lew Wallace
Genre: Historical Fiction
Number of Sales: 50 million copies sold
Year Published: 1880
Book Summary:
“Ben-Hur is one of the best-selling books of all time. This poignant novel intertwines the life stories of a Jewish charioteer named Judah Ben-Hur and Jesus Christ. It explores the themes of betrayal and redemption. Ben-Hur’s family is wrongly accused and convicted of treason during the time of Christ. Ben-Hur fights to clear his family’s name and is ultimately inspired by the rise of Jesus Christ and his message. A powerful, compelling novel.”
Where to read it?
#20. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad)
Author: Gabriel García Márquez
Genre: Magical Realism
Number of Sales: 50 million copies sold
Year Published: 1967
Book Summary:
“One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia family. It is a rich and brilliant chronicle of life and death and the tragicomedy of man. In the noble, ridiculous, beautiful, and tawdry story of the Buendia family one sees all mankind, just as in the history, myths, growth, and decay of Macondo one sees all of Latin America. Love and lust, war and revolution, riches and poverty, youth and senility — the variety of life, the endlessness fo death, the search for peace and truth — these, the universal themes, dominate the novel.”
Where to read it?
#21. Lolita
Author: Gabriel García Márquez
Genre: Magical Realism
Number of Sales: 50 million copies sold
Year Published: 1955
Book Summary:
“Savagely funny and hauntingly sad, Lolita is Nabokov’s most famous and controversial novel. It is the story of tortured college professor Humbert Humbert and his dangerous obsession with honey-skinned schoolgirl Dolores Haze.
Determined to possess his “Lolita”, Humbert embarks on a disastrous journey across an American landscape littered with fast-food diners, gas stations and lonely motels. Brilliantly evocative and bitingly satirical in its depiction of postwar America, Lolita still has the power to shock and beguile.”
Where to read it?
#22. Heidi
Author: Johanna Spyri
Genre: Children’s Fiction (originally published in Swiss German)
Number of Sales: 50 million copies sold
Year Published: 1881
Book Summary:
“At the age of five, little orphan Heidi is sent to live with her grandfather in the Alps. Everyone in the village is afraid of him, but Heidi is fascinated by his long beard and bushy grey eyebrows. She loves her life in the mountains, playing in the sunshine and growing up amongst the goats and birds. But one terrible day, Heidi is collected by her aunt and is made to live with a new family in town. Heidi can’t bear to be away from her grandfather; can she find a way back up the mountain, where she belongs?”
Where to read it?
#23. The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care
Author: Benjamin Spock
Genre: Nonfiction Manual
Number of Sales: 50 million copies sold
Year Published: 1946
Book Summary:
“Generations of parents have relied on the influential bestseller Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care as the most authoritative and reliable guide for child care.”
Where to read it?
#24. Anne of Green Gables
Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery
Genre: Children’s Fiction
Number of Sales: 50 million copies sold
Year Published: 1908
Book Summary:
“Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert are expecting a young orphan boy to help them with farmwork at Green Gables. But when a skinny, red-haired girl turns up instead, immediately certain she’s home, they get much more than they bargained for. Spirited, adventurous and imaginative, Anne Shirley quickly charms her way into the hearts of the Cuthberts, the entire town of Avonlea and, over 100 years later, the hearts of generations of readers.”
Where to read it?
#25. Black Beauty
Author: Anna Sewell
Genre: Children’s Fiction
Number of Sales: 50 million copies sold
Year Published: 1877
Book Summary:
“The story is narrated in the first person as an autobiographical memoir told by the titular horse named Black Beauty — beginning with his carefree days as a colt on an English farm with his mother, to his difficult life pulling cabs in London, to his happy retirement in the country. Along the way, he meets with many hardships and recounts many tales of cruelty and kindness. Each short chapter recounts an incident in Black Beauty’s life containing a lesson or moral typically related to the kindness, sympathy, and understanding treatment of horses, with Anna Sewell’s detailed observations and extensive descriptions of horse behaviour lending the novel a good deal of verisimilitude.”
Where to read it?
#26. The Name of the Rose (Il Nome della Rosa)
Author: Umberto Eco
Genre: Historical Fiction (originally published in Italian)
Number of Sales: 50 million copies sold
Year Published: 1980
Book Summary:
“The year is 1327. Benedictines in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. When his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William turns detective. His tools are the logic of Aristotle, the theology of Aquinas, the empirical insights of Roger Bacon — all sharpened to a glistening edge by wry humor and a ferocious curiosity. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey, where “the most interesting things happen at night.””
Where to read it?
#27. The Eagle Has Landed
Author: Jack Higgins
Genre: War Thriller
Number of Sales: 50 million copies sold
Year Published: 1975
Book Summary:
“In the early morning hours of 6 November 1943, SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler receives the coded message he has been waiting for: ‘The Eagle has landed’.
It was to become known as the most daring enemy mission of the entire war: Operation Eagle, Himmler’s audacious plan to kidnap Winston Churchill on British soil.
But, despite spectacular secrecy, there was to be no surrender without a fight . . .
For in that remote corner of Norfolk, an elite unit is gathered together. Ready to do battle for a nation against the most ruthless task force ever assembled.”
Where to read it?
#28. Watership Down
Author: Richard Adams
Genre: Fantasy
Number of Sales: 50 million copies sold
Year Published: 1972
Book Summary:
“Richard Adams’s Watership Down is a timeless classic and one of the most beloved novels of all time. Set in the Hampshire Downs in Southern England, an idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale follows a band of rabbits in flight from the incursion of man and the destruction of their home. Led by a stouthearted pair of brothers, they travel forth from their native Sandleford warren through harrowing trials to a mysterious promised land and a more perfect society.”
Where to read it?
#29. The Hite Report
Author: Shere Hite
Genre: Sexology Nonfiction
Number of Sales: 50 million copies sold
Year Published: 1976
Book Summary:
“The Hite Report, first published in 1976, was a sexual revolution in six hundred pages. To answer sensitive questions dealing with the most intimate details of women’s sexuality, Hite’s innovation was simple: she asked women, a lot of them, everything — and published the results.
One hundred thousand women, ages fourteen to seventy-eight, were asked what they do and don’t like about sex; how orgasm really feels, with and without intercourse; how it feels not to have an orgasm during sex; the importance of clitoral stimulation and masturbation; and to name the greatest pleasures and frustrations of their sexual lives, among many other questions.”
Where to read it?
#30. Charlotte’s Web
Author: E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams
Genre: Children’s Fiction
Number of Sales: 50 million copies sold
Year Published: 1952
Book Summary:
“Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte’s Web, high up in Zuckerman’s barn. Charlotte’s spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur’s life when he was born the runt of his litter.”
Where to read it?
#31. The Ginger Man
Author: J. P. Donleavy
Genre: Fiction
Number of Sales: 50 million copies sold
Year Published: 1955
Book Summary:
“First published in Paris in 1955, and originally banned in the United States, J. P. Donleavy’s first novel is now recognized the world over as a masterpiece and a modern classic of the highest order. Set in Ireland just after World War II, The Ginger Man is J. P. Donleavy’s wildly funny, picaresque classic novel of the misadventures of Sebastian Dangerfield, a young American ne’er-do-well studying at Trinity College in Dublin. He barely has time for his studies and avoids bill collectors, makes love to almost anything in a skirt, and tries to survive without having to descend into the bottomless pit of steady work. Dangerfield’s appetite for women, liquor, and general roguishness is insatiable — and he satisfies it with endless charm.”
Where to read it?
Related Reading
- Banned Books You Should Definitely Read Because Screw Censorship
- Best Dystopian Books
- Best History Books
- Best Historical Fiction Books
- Best Political Satire Cartoon Books
- Best Biographies
Or, click here to see all book recommendations
For a full list of sources, please see this curated collection on Wikipedia.
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