THE TOP EIGHT BEST SELLING BOOKS IN HISTORY

THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE

85 MILLION

Starting a line of primarily British author domination for the top

eight places on our list, C.S. Lewis and his fantasy novel

“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” with 85 million copies sold.

Present in many a high school English class, the novel follows

the story of four English children completing their destiny in the

land of talking animals and mythical beings. Though the book is

only one (the first) in a seven-novel series, it is by far

the best-selling.

DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER

100 MILLION

The only Chinese book on our list is Cao Xueqin’s “Dream of the

Red Chamber”. Such a major hit in China, the book even has its

own named field of study: Redology. Considered to be one of

China’s Four Great Classical Novels, “Dream of the Red Chamber”

is one of the most complex novels ever written with almost

40 major characters and nearly 500 minor characters. Written

during the Qing dynasty, the book often employs poetry as it

follows the life of two aristocratic families and their declining

wealth and status.

SHE: A HISTORY OF ADVENTURE

100 MILLION

So influential that it has been cited by psychoanalysts Sigmund

Freud and Carl Jung in their writings, “She: A History of Adventure”

is H. Rider Haggard’s most famous work. One of the finest

examples of imaginative and imperialist literature, this novel

tells the story of two men’s trek to a lost kingdom deep in the

African continent. The men come across a savage native tribe

and their white queen: “She-who-must-be-obeyed”. A bedrock

of the Lost World subgenre, “She” purports many Victorian

ideas of race and evolution.

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE

100 MILLION

Legendary English mystery novelist Agatha Christie wrote the

Thrilling “And Then There Were None”, the fifth best-selling book

in history with over 100 million copies to date. Originally titled

“Ten Little Niggers” after the British blackface song which plays

a major role in the story’s plot, the book was released in the

United States as “And Then There Were None”: the final five

words in the original American version of the song. The story

goes that ten people who have all killed another person in some

way are invited to an island where they are slowly killed off

themselves. Christie’s masterpiece, this novel is the

bestselling mystery book in history.

HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE

107 MILLION

Though the other Harry Potter books all made the list, they have

been omitted to keep the list from being monotonous. (At

positions 11 and 14-18, they sold between 50-65 million copies each.)

The first book in this seven-part fantasy series, “Harry Potter and

the Philosopher’s Stone” (“…Sorcerer’s Stone” in the U.S.) was

J.K. Rowling’s first published novel. (Twelve publishing houses

turned the book down before one finally accepted it.) Rowling’s

writing in this first book has been compared to Ancient Greek

poet Homer, children’s author Roald Dahl, and romance writer

Jane Austen. As a series, Harry Potter is the best-selling

book series in history.

THE LITTLE PRINCE

140 MILLION

“Le Petit Prince” – known in English as “The Little Prince” – is the

1943 novella of French aristocrat Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The

third most-translated book in the world (it’s in over 250 languages

and dialects), this novella tells the story of a lonely young alien

prince who fell to Earth. Though geared towards children,

“Le Petit Prince” has adult themes, especially related to the

bizarreness of the adult world, which make it a joy for

anyone to read.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS

150 MILLION

The second bestselling book (though sold as a series) of all time is

“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy pack of “The Fellowship of the Ring”,

“The Two Towers”, and “The Return of the King”. (Published

individually, “The Hobbit” sold 140.6 million copies but is omitted

from the list just as the remainder of the Harry Potter books were).

Selling over 150 million copies, J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels

follow the hobbit Frodo, wizard Gandalf, and their compatriots

as they set about to save their land of Middle-Earth. The book

series is so popular in Great Britain it was voted by the people

as the “Nation’s Best-Loved Novel” in the BBC’s “The Big Read”

competition. (Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”

was number two).

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

200 MILLION

“The bestselling novel in history is “”A Tale of Two Cities”” by

English author Charles Dickens. Written as a critique of English

society, the novel largely takes place in Paris before and during

the French Revolution. Depicting the French peasantry’s

dissatisfaction with French aristocrats in the years leading up

to the revolution and then their dissatisfaction with the

revolutionaries’ brutality towards said aristocrats, Dickens

wrote the book as a parallel of British society in the

mid-19th century.