Travel Movies Books Food Other
Sign In
Trending
New
Popular
type to search

100 Stories That Shaped the World

"I rarely find someone, really anyone, who doesn't know some part of this story – the idea of the lost man who can't get home after the war… the woman at home with the suitors. Everyone can tell me some version of it, which is to say, it lives in them." – Tess Taylor, poet, on Homer's Odyssey
In April 2018, BBC Culture polled experts around the world to nominate up to five fictional stories they felt had shaped mindsets or influenced history. We received answers from 108 authors, academics, journalists, critics and translators in 35 countries – their choices took in novels, poems, folk tales and dramas in 33 different languages, including Sumerian, K'iche and Ge'ez.
The list was determined via ranked ballots and first placed into descending order by number of critic votes, then into descending order by total critic points, then alphabetically (for 73 to 100, the titles listed are tied).
4,067 users · 17,530 views
 
from bbc.com · made by Vera Rossakoff
avg. score: 24 of 100 (24%)
required scores: 1, 14, 19, 25, 33 

How many have you read?

Page 1 of 3
1
The Odyssey (Homer)
The Odyssey
Homer
2
Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe)
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe
3
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
4
Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell)
Nineteen Eighty-Four
George Orwell
5
Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe
6
One Thousand and One Nights (Anonymous)
One Thousand and One Nights
Anonymous
7
Don Quixote (Miguel De Cervantes)
Don Quixote
Miguel De Cervantes
8
Hamlet (William Shakespeare)
Hamlet
William Shakespeare
9
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
10
The Iliad (Homer)
The Iliad
Homer
11
Beloved (Toni Morrison)
Beloved
Toni Morrison
12
The Divine Comedy (Dante Alighieri)
The Divine Comedy
Dante Alighieri
13
Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare)
Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare
14
The Epic of Gilgamesh (Anonymous)
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Anonymous
15
Harry Potter Series (J.K. Rowling)
Harry Potter Series
J.K. Rowling
16
The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood
17
Ulysses (James Joyce)
Ulysses
James Joyce
18
Animal Farm (George Orwell)
Animal Farm
George Orwell
19
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte
20
Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert)
Madame Bovary
Gustave Flaubert
21
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Luo Guanzhong)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Luo Guanzhong
22
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
23
Journey to the West
Journey to the West
24
Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
Crime and Punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky
25
Water Margin: Outlaws of the Marsh (Shi Naian)
Water Margin: Outlaws of the Marsh
Shi Naian
26
War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy
27
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
28
Wide Sargasso Sea (Jean Rhys)
Wide Sargasso Sea
Jean Rhys
29
Aesop's Fables (Aesop)
Aesop's Fables
Aesop
30
Candide (Voltaire)
Candide
Voltaire
31
Medea (Euripides)
Medea
Euripides
32
The Mahabharata by Vyasa
The Mahabharata by Vyasa
33
King Lear (William Shakespeare)
King Lear
William Shakespeare
34
The Tale of Genji (Murasaki Shikibu)
The Tale of Genji
Murasaki Shikibu
35
The Sorrows of Young Werther (Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe)
The Sorrows of Young Werther
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
36
The Trial (Franz Kafka)
The Trial
Franz Kafka
37
Remembrance of Things Past
Remembrance of Things Past
38
Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë)
Wuthering Heights
Emily Brontë
39
Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)
Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison
40
Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
Moby Dick
Herman Melville
Page 1 of 3
Click books you've read
Lists Similar to '100 Stories That Shaped the World'
All Similar Lists
Newsletter · Help/Contact · Privacy · Copyright Claim   © 2025 App Spring, Inc. · This product uses the TMDb API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDb.
Seen It - Movies & TV 
Android & iOS
Seen It is a new app from the creators of List Challenges. You can view movies and shows in one place and filter by streaming provider, genre, release year, runtime, and rating (Rotten Tomatoes, Imdb, and/or Metacritic). Also, you can track what you've seen, want to see, like, or dislike, as well as track individual seasons or episodes of shows. In addition, you can see the most watched/liked stuff amongst your friends. Learn more at SEENIT.FUN