Perpetua Series (58 books)

Perpetua is a series published by the Dutch literary publishers: Athenaeum—Polak & Van Gennep since October 2007.

It contains the best 100 books in the world. 80 of which were chosen by a jury consisting of Dutch authors and literary scholars: Maarten Asscher, Kees Fens, Arnon Grunberg, Piet Gerbrandy, Hella S. Haasse en Kristien Hemmerechts.

A further 20 titles were chosen in a public poll.

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All Votes Add Books To This List

1	The Waning of the Middle Ages by Johan Huizinga 4.03 avg rating — 4,330 ratings score: 290, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
2	Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë 4.16 avg rating — 2,315,849 ratings score: 259, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
3	The Garden Where the Brass Band Played by Simon Vestdijk 3.55 avg rating — 698 ratings score: 247, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
4	Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin 4.10 avg rating — 70,663 ratings score: 245, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
5	The Histories by Herodotus 4.01 avg rating — 55,511 ratings score: 241, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
6	The Complete Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen 4.29 avg rating — 108,487 ratings score: 195, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
7	Chapel Road by Louis Paul Boon 3.83 avg rating — 1,157 ratings score: 193, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
8	Auto-da-Fé by Elias Canetti 4.02 avg rating — 6,724 ratings score: 190, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
9	Liefdesliederen by Hadewijch 3.72 avg rating — 29 ratings score: 189, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
10	Verzen by Herman Gorter 3.52 avg rating — 118 ratings score: 188, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
10	Het Gilgamesj-epos by Anonymous 3.75 avg rating — 118,703 ratings score: 188, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
12	Kaas by Willem Elsschot 3.59 avg rating — 8,483 ratings score: 186, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
13	Praise of Folly by Erasmus 3.83 avg rating — 20,324 ratings score: 185, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
14	Van oude menschen, de dingen, die voorbij gaan... by Louis Couperus 3.64 avg rating — 2,584 ratings score: 183, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
15	Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky 4.29 avg rating — 1,074,141 ratings score: 179, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
16	Utopia by Thomas More 3.55 avg rating — 82,819 ratings score: 177, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
17	Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert 3.71 avg rating — 373,755 ratings score: 176, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
18	Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche 4.07 avg rating — 175,738 ratings score: 174, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
19	De goddelijke komedie by Dante Alighieri 4.08 avg rating — 171,822 ratings score: 173, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
20	1984 by George Orwell 4.20 avg rating — 5,432,306 ratings score: 171, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
21	Schaaknovelle by Stefan Zweig 4.27 avg rating — 171,337 ratings score: 169, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
22	Metamorphosen by Ovid 4.10 avg rating — 78,140 ratings score: 167, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
23	De Vertellingen van de Pelgrims naar Kantelberg by Geoffrey Chaucer 3.53 avg rating — 237,606 ratings score: 164, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
24	L'Œuvre au noir by Marguerite Yourcenar 4.02 avg rating — 6,140 ratings score: 162, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
25	De kant van Swann (Op zoek naar de verloren tijd, #1) by Marcel Proust 4.16 avg rating — 68,137 ratings score: 160, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
26	Ulysses by James Joyce 3.76 avg rating — 137,613 ratings score: 158, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
27	Moby-Dick by Herman Melville 3.57 avg rating — 614,526 ratings score: 156, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
28	Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 3.43 avg rating — 557,173 ratings score: 154, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
29	Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 3.89 avg rating — 50,353 ratings score: 151, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
30	Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë 3.90 avg rating — 2,036,149 ratings score: 149, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
31	Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 3.80 avg rating — 872,084 ratings score: 147, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
32	The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu 3.72 avg rating — 14,735 ratings score: 145, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
32	Decamerone by Giovanni Boccaccio 3.88 avg rating — 43,507 ratings score: 145, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
34	De avonturen van Alice in Wonderland & Achter de spiegel en wat Alice daar aantrof by Lewis Carroll 4.06 avg rating — 607,942 ratings score: 143, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
35	Aeneis by Virgil 3.87 avg rating — 143,089 ratings score: 141, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
36	De geestrijke ridder Don Quichot van de Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 3.91 avg rating — 304,457 ratings score: 139, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
37	Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 4.29 avg rating — 4,781,235 ratings score: 137, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
38	Max Havelaar, of de Koffieveilingen der Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij by Multatuli 3.53 avg rating — 10,549 ratings score: 134, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
39	Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence 3.66 avg rating — 33,458 ratings score: 131, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
40	Bekentenissen van Zeno by Italo Svevo 3.77 avg rating — 32,373 ratings score: 129, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
41	Candide of het optimisme by Voltaire 3.76 avg rating — 300,825 ratings score: 127, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
42	Verzamelde gedichten by Federico García Lorca 4.45 avg rating — 3,474 ratings score: 121, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
43	De heerser by Niccolò Machiavelli 3.84 avg rating — 382,043 ratings score: 119, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
44	Het Leven en de Opvattingen van de heer Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne 3.73 avg rating — 23,014 ratings score: 116, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
45	Oidipous & Antigone by Sophocles 3.75 avg rating — 2,866 ratings score: 100, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
46	Het verhaal van Orestes / Agamemnom / Dodenoffer / Goede geesten by Aeschylus 4.02 avg rating — 46,682 ratings score: 99, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
47	Lazarillo van Tormes : een schelmenroman by Anonymous 3.51 avg rating — 35,449 ratings score: 98, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
48	The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson 4.28 avg rating — 106,610 ratings score: 96, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
49	Medea & Bakchanten by Euripides 4.05 avg rating — 109 ratings score: 92, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
50	Sappho by Sappho 4.20 avg rating — 7,179 ratings score: 86, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
51	Ethics by Baruch Spinoza 4.10 avg rating — 21,189 ratings score: 84, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
51	Hamlet by William Shakespeare 4.03 avg rating — 1,047,315 ratings score: 84, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
53	Rood en zwart by Stendhal 3.86 avg rating — 83,343 ratings score: 82, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
54	The Selected Poems of Po Chü-i by Bai Juyi 4.38 avg rating — 137 ratings score: 81, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
55	Dode zielen by Nikolai Gogol 3.98 avg rating — 96,008 ratings score: 77, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
56	Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf 3.78 avg rating — 355,365 ratings score: 68, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
57	De Klokkenluider van de Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo 4.02 avg rating — 217,762 ratings score: 59, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
58	Verloren illusies by Honoré de Balzac 4.16 avg rating — 12,505 ratings score: 56, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars