62 UMBERTO ECO BOOKS - GEOGRAFÍA - 2026

Today I come with a list of the best books by Umberto Eco, one of the most outstanding writers of the last century on an international level. Umberto Eco has been one of the most important personalities in recent years.

This Italian philosopher and writer has produced a multitude of works; essays and several novels of great significance for the humanistic world. Born in Alessandria, his passion for letters led him to study and doctorate in Philosophy at the University of Turin, ending up as a professor in that city, and later in Florence.

In 1971 he held the chair of semiotics at the University of Bologna and years later, in 2001 he created the Higher School of Humanistic Studies. All this alternating his life as a teacher and his passion for research and creation, producing numerous texts to become a reference author of both the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

His death came in 2016, when a cancer that he had been suffering from for some time took his life in the month of February. You may also be interested in these recommended titles.

Novels

1- The name of the rose, 1980

One of the best novels of recent times and that has even been brought to the big screen in 1986. It is a mix between a detective and historical novel. Reading it, we will find ourselves in a Franciscan abbey in the Middle Ages.

The story begins with a series of crimes inside the building that one of the monks, Guillermo de Baskerville, decides to investigate. His actions will lead him to discover heresies and make friends with other characters such as Melk, his teacher.

2- Foucault's pendulum, 1988

Unlike his first novel, Umberto Eco places the action today. In it, it is told how the game that Casaubon and two more friends play will become something more important when they realize that they have attracted nothing more and nothing less than different lucrative circles.

Magic, conspiracy and sects will be the main themes of this book framed under a style that sometimes borders on satire.

3- The island from the day before, 1994

Do you want to know how a shipwreck can happen in the 17th century? In this work, Umberto describes how Roberto de la Grive, an English nobleman, is shipwrecked for several days on a raft and tries to survive until he finds a ship.

Now, at this point, if you want to know what happens next, it is up to you to read it or not.

4- Baudolino, 2000

Piedmont is a young man who has been adopted by Federico I de Barbarroja. It is here that they begin to live a series of adventures that take place in the 12th century in the city of Constantinople.

Among them, they will attend the creation of the Holy Grail and even the discovery of the murderer of the protagonist's adoptive father among many others.

Its writing is peculiar for this one made in a way that it seems that Piedmont himself relates it in the form of a medieval manuscript.

5- The mysterious flame of Queen Loana, 2004

Title of the play taken from an episode of Tim Tyler's Luck.

When Giambattista Yambo wakes up after suffering a heart attack, he finds that he has lost part of his episodic memory. For his recovery, he will decide to reside in the country house of his childhood. There you will find your old memories like notebooks, books or even music records.

15- The definition of art, 1968

Compilation of different texts, divided into three parts, which presents and describes the existing problem in the definition of art, aided by the ideas of renowned philosophers.

16- The absent structure, analysis of semiotics in buildings oriented to architectural design, 1968

Defines and studies semiotics as a discipline from different aspects of man's life. It is one of the most prominent and recognized writings in the field.

17- Socialism and consolation, 1970

An essay that brings together a common thought of five recognized characters in history. This thought is socialism, and its function as a consolation for the less favored.

18- The forms of content, 1971

19- Il segno, 1973

20- The customs of home, 1973

21- The Blessed of Liébana, 1973

22- The horror made a wall, 1974

23- Sociology against psychoanalysis, 1974

24- Treatise on General Semiotics, 1977

25- Introduction to structuralism, 1976

26- The mass superman, 1976

27- From the periphery of the empire, 1977

28- How to do a thesis, research, study and writing techniques and procedures, 1977

29- Reader in fabula. Interpretive cooperation in the narrative text, 1981

30- Function and sign: the semiotics of architecture, 1980

31- De Bibliotheca, 1981

32- Seven Years of Desire, 1983

33- Semiotics and Philosophy of Language, 1984

34- Of mirrors and other essays, 1985

35- Essays on The Name of the Rose, 1987

36- The sign of the three, 1989

37- The strange case of the Hanau 1609, 1990

39- The limits of interpretation, 1990

40- Second minimum daily, collection of short writings, 1990

41- The Search for the Perfect Language, 1993

42- Six Walks Through Narrative Forests, 1994

43- In what do those who do not believe ?, Epistolary dialogue on ethics with Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, 1996

44- Interpretation and overinterpretation, 1997

45- Kant and the platypus, 1997

46- Five Moral Writings, 1997

47- The strategy of illusion, 1999

48- Minerva's bustina, 2000

49- Apostille to The name of the rose and translation of the Latin texts, 2000

50- The Rediscovery of America, 2002

51- On literature, 2005

52- The story of beauty, 2007

53- The story of ugliness, 2007

54- A Crab Step: Articles, Reflections and Disappointments, 2007

55- Say almost the same. Translation experiences, 2008

56- The vertigo of the lists, 2009

57- Culture and semiotics, 2009

58- The new Middle Ages, 2010

59- No one will end the books, 2010

60- Confessions of a young novelist, 2011

61- Build the enemy, selection of essays, 2013

62- History of legendary lands and places, 2013