The Guardian's Top 100 Non-Fiction Books

1.
The Diary of a Young Girl
The Diary of a Young Girl 4.20 avg rating β€” 4,072,737 ratings
2.
In Cold Blood
In Cold Blood 4.09 avg rating β€” 710,306 ratings
3.
Walden
Walden 3.78 avg rating β€” 200,834 ratings
4.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
by: Dee Brown
4.26 avg rating β€” 99,671 ratings
5.
The Origin of Species
The Origin of Species 4.01 avg rating β€” 120,185 ratings
6.
The Prince
The Prince 3.84 avg rating β€” 371,369 ratings
7.
A Brief History of Time
A Brief History of Time 4.21 avg rating β€” 466,959 ratings
8.
The Histories
The Histories
by: Herodotus
4.01 avg rating β€” 54,680 ratings
9.
The Art of War
The Art of War
by: Sun Tzu
3.95 avg rating β€” 550,534 ratings
10.
Silent Spring
Silent Spring 4.05 avg rating β€” 53,310 ratings
11.
Essays
Essays 4.23 avg rating β€” 21,557 ratings
12.
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 4.02 avg rating β€” 15,255 ratings
13.
The Communist Manifesto
The Communist Manifesto
by: Karl Marx
3.67 avg rating β€” 189,221 ratings
14.
Homage to Catalonia
Homage to Catalonia 4.09 avg rating β€” 68,310 ratings
15.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman 3.92 avg rating β€” 26,296 ratings
16.
The Symposium
The Symposium
by: Plato
4.09 avg rating β€” 85,838 ratings
17.
The Life of Samuel Johnson
The Life of Samuel Johnson 3.80 avg rating β€” 5,264 ratings
18.
The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956
The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956 4.33 avg rating β€” 33,403 ratings
19.
A Room of One’s Own
A Room of One’s Own 4.22 avg rating β€” 246,406 ratings
20.
Ways of Seeing
Ways of Seeing 3.93 avg rating β€” 418,771 ratings
21.
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
by: Tom Wolfe
3.92 avg rating β€” 78,158 ratings
22.
Rights of Man
Rights of Man 4.02 avg rating β€” 10,355 ratings
23.
The Second Sex
The Second Sex 4.18 avg rating β€” 45,860 ratings
24.
The Medium is the Massage
The Medium is the Massage 3.98 avg rating β€” 17,305 ratings
25.
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil 4.20 avg rating β€” 31,549 ratings
26.
The Interpretation of Dreams
The Interpretation of Dreams 3.84 avg rating β€” 79,553 ratings
27.
The Golden Bough
The Golden Bough 4.02 avg rating β€” 8,610 ratings
28.
On Liberty
On Liberty 3.96 avg rating β€” 41,821 ratings
29.
The Diary of Samuel Pepys
The Diary of Samuel Pepys 3.96 avg rating β€” 3,301 ratings
30.
An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth
An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth 4.10 avg rating β€” 73,817 ratings
31.
Goodbye to All That
Goodbye to All That 3.93 avg rating β€” 15,315 ratings
32.
The Double Helix
The Double Helix 3.84 avg rating β€” 19,749 ratings
33.
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas 3.54 avg rating β€” 13,200 ratings
34.
Leviathan
Leviathan 3.70 avg rating β€” 51,346 ratings
35.
The Selfish Gene
The Selfish Gene 4.16 avg rating β€” 189,043 ratings
36.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph
Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph 3.91 avg rating β€” 11,814 ratings
37.
Meditations
Meditations 4.28 avg rating β€” 320,636 ratings
38.
Orientalism
Orientalism 4.13 avg rating β€” 28,508 ratings
39.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave 4.12 avg rating β€” 131,986 ratings
40.
The Revenge of Gaia
The Revenge of Gaia 3.81 avg rating β€” 1,882 ratings
41.
The Souls of Black Folk
The Souls of Black Folk 4.31 avg rating β€” 44,282 ratings
42.
GΓΆdel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
GΓΆdel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid 4.29 avg rating β€” 51,676 ratings
43.
The Innocents Abroad, Or, the New Pilgrims' Progress
The Innocents Abroad, Or, the New Pilgrims' Progress 3.84 avg rating β€” 14,583 ratings
44.
The Book of the City of Ladies
The Book of the City of Ladies 3.80 avg rating β€” 4,254 ratings
45.
Confessions
Confessions 3.59 avg rating β€” 9,158 ratings
46.
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families 4.22 avg rating β€” 35,952 ratings
47.
The Anatomy of Melancholy
The Anatomy of Melancholy 4.11 avg rating β€” 1,840 ratings
48.
The Periodic Table
The Periodic Table 4.14 avg rating β€” 18,740 ratings
49.
Mythologies
Mythologies 4.08 avg rating β€” 16,795 ratings
50.
De Profundis
De Profundis 4.22 avg rating β€” 24,395 ratings
51.
Eminent Victorians
Eminent Victorians 3.76 avg rating β€” 2,584 ratings
52.
Critique of Pure Reason
Critique of Pure Reason 3.96 avg rating β€” 40,910 ratings
53.
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945
by: Tony Judt
4.38 avg rating β€” 13,387 ratings
54.
Against Interpretation and Other Essays
Against Interpretation and Other Essays 4.14 avg rating β€” 9,993 ratings
55.
The Female Eunuch
The Female Eunuch 3.68 avg rating β€” 7,401 ratings
56.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Thus Spoke Zarathustra 4.07 avg rating β€” 169,507 ratings
57.
The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales
The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales 3.83 avg rating β€” 6,185 ratings
58.
The Feminine Mystique
The Feminine Mystique 3.87 avg rating β€” 30,213 ratings
59.
The Lives of the Artists
The Lives of the Artists 3.77 avg rating β€” 32,493 ratings
60.
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
Slouching Towards Bethlehem 4.19 avg rating β€” 78,726 ratings
61.
The Age of Extremes, 1914-1991
The Age of Extremes, 1914-1991 4.29 avg rating β€” 7,609 ratings
62.
Shah of Shahs
Shah of Shahs 4.23 avg rating β€” 7,707 ratings
62.
Dispatches
Dispatches 4.22 avg rating β€” 21,212 ratings
62.
News of a Kidnapping
News of a Kidnapping 3.91 avg rating β€” 15,711 ratings
65.
Speak, Memory
Speak, Memory 4.08 avg rating β€” 17,393 ratings
66.
The Varieties of Religious Experience
The Varieties of Religious Experience really liked it 4.00 avg rating β€” 12,769 ratings
67.
The Making of the English Working Class
The Making of the English Working Class 4.21 avg rating β€” 3,644 ratings
68.
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men 3.97 avg rating β€” 3,971 ratings
69.
The Shock of the New
The Shock of the New 3.74 avg rating β€” 35,751 ratings
70.
Letters Concerning the English Nation
Letters Concerning the English Nation
by: Voltaire
3.67 avg rating β€” 2,788 ratings
71.
The Travels of Ibn Battuta: in the Near East, Asia and Africa, 1325-1354 (Dover Books on Travel, Adventure)
The Travels of Ibn Battuta: in the Near East, Asia and Africa, 1325-1354 (Dover Books on Travel, Adventure) 3.91 avg rating β€” 2,693 ratings
72.
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media 4.24 avg rating β€” 23,234 ratings
72.
A Time of Gifts (Trilogy, #1)
A Time of Gifts (Trilogy, #1) 4.04 avg rating β€” 9,322 ratings
74.
The Lives of the Poets
The Lives of the Poets 4.05 avg rating β€” 102 ratings
75.
An Image of Africa / The Trouble with Nigeria
An Image of Africa / The Trouble with Nigeria 3.95 avg rating β€” 730 ratings
76.
Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison
Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison 4.24 avg rating β€” 35,772 ratings
77.
Meditations on First Philosophy
Meditations on First Philosophy 3.74 avg rating β€” 28,664 ratings
78.
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion 3.97 avg rating β€” 5,954 ratings
79.
The History of England
The History of England 3.94 avg rating β€” 258 ratings
80.
On Suicide
On Suicide 3.85 avg rating β€” 4,382 ratings
81.
Venice
Venice 4.03 avg rating β€” 1,838 ratings
82.
Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology
Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology
by: Max Weber
4.12 avg rating β€” 1,566 ratings
83.
Bad Blood
Bad Blood 3.66 avg rating β€” 2,498 ratings
84.
The Man Died: The Prison Notes of Wole Soyinka
The Man Died: The Prison Notes of Wole Soyinka 3.94 avg rating β€” 434 ratings
85.
The Story of Art
The Story of Art 3.96 avg rating β€” 448,871 ratings
86.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions 4.03 avg rating β€” 29,121 ratings
87.
Praise of Folly
Praise of Folly
by: Erasmus
3.83 avg rating β€” 19,731 ratings
88.
The Phenomenology of Mind
The Phenomenology of Mind 3.96 avg rating β€” 19,984 ratings
89.
The Romantic Generation (The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures)
The Romantic Generation (The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures) 4.34 avg rating β€” 211 ratings
90.
The Character of Physical Law
The Character of Physical Law 4.30 avg rating β€” 7,712 ratings
90.
Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression
Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression 4.19 avg rating β€” 2,895 ratings
92.
Letters to a Young Novelist
Letters to a Young Novelist 3.87 avg rating β€” 3,928 ratings
93.
The Journalist and the Murderer
The Journalist and the Murderer 3.80 avg rating β€” 5,579 ratings
94.
The Rings of Saturn
The Rings of Saturn 4.23 avg rating β€” 16,858 ratings
95.
China Along the Yellow River: Reflections on Rural Society
China Along the Yellow River: Reflections on Rural Society 4.60 avg rating β€” 10 ratings
96.
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon 4.22 avg rating β€” 2,622 ratings
97.
Walden or, Life in the Woods
Walden or, Life in the Woods 3.78 avg rating β€” 200,834 ratings
98.
Danube: A Sentimental Journey from the Source to the Black Sea
Danube: A Sentimental Journey from the Source to the Black Sea 3.89 avg rating β€” 1,836 ratings
99.
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
Slouching Towards Bethlehem 4.19 avg rating β€” 78,726 ratings
100.
The Wretched of the Earth
The Wretched of the Earth 4.34 avg rating β€” 30,596 ratings
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