Have you ever wondered which book is the world’s best selling book? If you’re a new reader and you don’t know where to begin, then the list of 10 best-sellers books below is for you. These books are ranked based on their volume sales, not by our own ratings.
It’s worth knowing that we’re not going to include religious and political books like The Bible, Little Red Book, and Quran in the list, although they are believed to have sold more than a billion copies. Because it’s hard to track the exact volume sales of them, and a wide array of copies printed by different publishers was unreported. However, we can totally agree that these books are among the best selling books in the world.
1st – Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (500 million)
- Name: Don Quixote
- Author: Miguel de Cervantes
- Volume sales: 500 million
- Rating: ⭐4.6
- Genre: Romantic novel
The highest selling book in the world is “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes. It follows the adventures of an old nobleman living in Mancha named Alonso Quixano. Due to reading chivalric romances too much, he lost his mind and decided to become a knight-errant in order to revive the spirit of chivalry and serve the country. He used another name, Don Quixote de la Mancha for his adventures.
He also chose a farmer, Sancho Panza as his squire, who often used unique, earthy cleverness to deal with Don Quixote’s questions about knighthood, which was considered old-fashioned at that time.
2nd – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (200 million)
- Name: A Tale of Two Cities
- Author: Charles Dickens
- Volume sales: 200 million
- Rating: ⭐4.5
- Genre: Historical fiction
The second most sold book of all time in the world is “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens. The story was set before and during the first French Bourgeois Revolution (beginning with the breaking of the Bastille in 1789). The book is considered one of the works that reflect closest to the inner nature of the French Revolution.
The Revolution marked an important turning point in the history of France and Europe. Uppermost, “A Tale of Two Cities” is also a story of love, sacrifice, humanity, and humanity in the midst of a period that, as Dickens wrote, was both Enlightened and Dark. It described a period of turmoil that witnessed so much bloodshed and madness, chaos, death and terror.
3rd – The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (150 million)
- Name: The Lord of the Rings
- Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
- Volume sales:150 million copies
- Rating: ⭐4.8
- Genre: epic high-fantasy novel
“The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien is another most selling book in the world. It is an outstanding novel that was about an imaginary world called Middle Earth with many different species such as The Man, Hobbit, Dwarf, Elf, Wizard, Goblin, Orc,…
The story is the journey to find and destroy the One Ring that belongs to the Dark Lord Sauron, who died thousands of years ago but he still exists. He always wants to take the ring back. However, under Sauron’s cruelty, the Humans and the Elves formed an alliance to stand up against Sauron’s empire.
After the war, the ring was missing and wandering for a long time until it was passed into the hands of the Hobbit Frodo Baggins. Then, the responsibility of destroying the ring rests on his shoulders along with eight friends.
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4th – The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (142 million)
- Name: The Little Prince
- Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- Volume sales: 142 million
- Rating: ⭐4.8
- Genre: Fantasy, Parable (allegory), Fable
The 4th place in the list of most popular books in the world is “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The story is about a boy living on the asteroid B612 with a rose. One day, he left his planet and went to see what the rest of the universe was like. Then, he recognised that the adults living in other asteroids were all weird people.
After he landed on Earth, he saw a garden full of roses. His rose had told that she was unique among her kind throughout the universe, yet here there were five thousand identical ones. Then he met several friends who helped him a lot during his journey to the Earth.
5th – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (107 million)
- Name: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- Author: J.K. Rowling
- Volume sales: 107 million
- Rating: ⭐4.8
- Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Children’s Literature, Quest
When it comes to the best-seller book of all time, we couldn’t skip “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling. The book is about the most evil and powerful dark wizard in history, Lord Voldemort, who assassinated a married couple of James Potter and Lily Potter, but he mysteriously disappeared after failing to kill their young son, Harry.
While the wizarding world celebrates the fall of Voldemort’s empire, Professor Albus Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and half-giant Rubeus Hagrid send a one-year-old orphan to a Muggle family of Vernon and Petunia Dursley and their son Dudley. During the ten years he lived with the Dursley family, Harry was repeatedly abused by the Vernons and their son Dudley.
Harry’s life changed on the night of his 11th birthday when he received a letter of admission to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, hand-delivered to him by the half-giant Rubeus Hagrid, marking the beginning of his adventures.
6th – And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (100 million)
- Name: And Then There Were None
- Author: Agatha Christie
- Volume sales: 100 million copies
- Rating: ⭐4.5
- Genre: Mystery, crime, psychological thriller
The 6th place in the list of most bought books in the world is “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie.
The story follows ten strangers who were invited to a remote British island for a weekend retreat, but when they arrived at the villa on the island, the owner was nowhere to be found, only the housekeeper and his wife welcomed the guests.
In the room of ten guests, there was a rhyme about the deaths of ten soldiers. After dinner, they gathered in the living room, where they were forced to hear an accusation against them. And they realized, someone had tricked them onto this island to pay for their sins.
And in the days that followed, the series of tragedies began. Ten people were killed one after another, and their deaths were similar to those described in the rhyme, and it was strange that after a person died, the number of statues in the living room also decreased accordingly.
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7th – The Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin (100 million)
- Name: The Dream of the Red Chamber
- Author: Cao Xueqin
- Volume sales: 100 million copies
- Rating: ⭐4.3
- Genre: Novel, Family saga
“Dream of the Red Chamber” is a story about the ups and downs of a famous family in the Qing Dynasty. It is included in the four masterpieces of classical Chinese literature. With 100 million copies sold, the novel became one of the top selling books in the world.
The work was composed around the middle of the 18th century by Cao Xueqin during the Qing dynasty. The book was published along with other popular works, namely Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West,…
8th – The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (100 million)
- Name: The Hobbit
- Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
- Volume sales: 100 million
- Rating: ⭐4.8
- Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic
One of the world’s best selling books is “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien. The story is set in Middle-earth and follows the journey of a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins to reclaim the Dwarf treasure guarded by the dragon Smaug.
The story is divided into 19 chapters – through each chapter, Bilbo becomes more mature, competent and wise. The story reaches the climax with the Battle of the Five Armies, which features many characters and creatures from previous chapters.
9th – She: A History of Adventure by H. Rider Haggard (100 million)
- Name: She: A History of Adventure
- Author: H. Rider Haggard
- Volume sales: 100 million copies sold
- Rating: ⭐3.9
- Genre: Adventure Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Romantic Fiction, Knight Romance
One of the most selling books of all time is “She: A History of Adventure” by H. Rider Haggard. This adventure novel is about the journey of Horace Holly and his friend Leo Vincey to a mysterious kingdom in Africa.
Prior to the publication in 1887, “She: A History of Adventure” was published in “The Graphics” magazine from October 1886 to January 1887. The feminist voice of the work created many debates in the English literature and the world at that time.
Apart from religious and political books, Don Quixote is obviously the world’s best selling book, which has the most volume sales. Follow us to update the newest information about books!
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