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The Bestselling Books of the Last One Hundred Years: 1951

We started at 1918, bringing you the bestselling books of the last one hundred years. We’re moving along now with more than thirty years covered but it may be a while yet before we’ve completed the entire list.

We’re covering each year at a time and as we make headway into the 1950s today we’re covering 1951. In 1951 Joseph Stalin proclaimed that the Soviet Union had the atomic bomb, Jo DiMaggio retired from baseball on the same year as the first televised baseball games in colour appeared on screens across the US, Robin Williams was born, and Harry Truman served as the 33rd President of the United States.

Among all that, there were plenty of books published and read too, and today we’re featuring the bestselling novels of 1951, and some that didn’t make the list but have stood the test of time.

From Here to Eternity – James Jones

Buy

The Caine Mutiny – Herman Wouk

Buy

Moses – Sholem Asch

Buy

The Cardinal – Henry Morton Robinson

Buy

A Woman Called Fancy – Frank Yerby

Buy

The Cruel Sea – Nicholas Monsarrat

Buy

Melville Goodwin, USA – John P Marquand

Buy

Return to Paradise – James Michener

Buy

The Foundling – Cardinal Francis Spellman

Buy

The Wanderer – Mika Waltari

Buy

1951 also saw the release of Hermann Hesse’s,  Siddhartha, and J. D Salinger’s iconic The Catcher in the Rye

We’ll continue this series right through to 2018, keep an eye out for 1952, coming soon!

If you’d like to see all the lists so far, try this search 

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