Which of the following is the world's best-selling book?

The story behind the answer

The Lord of the Rings is the best-selling book among these options, with estimated sales of 150–200 million copies worldwide. That outpaces The Little Prince (~140 million), Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (~120 million), and The Da Vinci Code (~80 million). These figures refer to novels; religious and political texts are typically counted separately.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1954–55 epic reshaped modern fantasy with its richly built Middle-earth, languages, and mythology. Translated into dozens of languages and boosted by the Oscar-winning film trilogy (2001–2003), its global reach and enduring fandom keep sales high. Memory tip: “One Ring to rule them all—and the sales charts.”