The Guardian: The 100 best nonfiction books of all time

1.
A Brief History of Time
A Brief History of Time 4.21 avg rating — 467,075 ratings
2.
Silent Spring
Silent Spring 4.05 avg rating — 53,326 ratings
3.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman 3.92 avg rating — 26,302 ratings
4.
The Year of Magical Thinking
The Year of Magical Thinking 3.93 avg rating — 285,053 ratings
5.
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History 4.15 avg rating — 77,302 ratings
6.
Orientalism
Orientalism 4.13 avg rating — 28,517 ratings
7.
The Elements of Style
The Elements of Style 4.18 avg rating — 86,241 ratings
8.
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot 3.84 avg rating — 217,134 ratings
9.
A Room of One’s Own
A Room of One’s Own 4.22 avg rating — 246,524 ratings
10.
The Origin of Species
The Origin of Species 4.01 avg rating — 120,198 ratings
11.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass 4.12 avg rating — 132,011 ratings
12.
The Holy Bible: King James Version
The Holy Bible: King James Version
by: Anonymous
4.44 avg rating — 308,898 ratings
13.
The Selfish Gene
The Selfish Gene 4.16 avg rating — 189,069 ratings
14.
The Double Helix
The Double Helix 3.84 avg rating — 19,755 ratings
15.
The Female Eunuch
The Female Eunuch 3.68 avg rating — 7,401 ratings
16.
The Feminine Mystique
The Feminine Mystique 3.87 avg rating — 30,224 ratings
17.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions 4.03 avg rating — 29,126 ratings
18.
Black Boy
Black Boy 4.09 avg rating — 55,310 ratings
19.
Testament of Youth
Testament of Youth 4.11 avg rating — 12,165 ratings
20.
Ten Days that Shook the World
Ten Days that Shook the World
by: John Reed
3.94 avg rating — 7,552 ratings
21.
Goodbye to All That
Goodbye to All That 3.93 avg rating — 15,319 ratings
22.
The Souls of Black Folk
The Souls of Black Folk 4.31 avg rating — 44,288 ratings
23.
Personal Memoirs
Personal Memoirs 4.13 avg rating — 9,497 ratings
24.
The Life of Charlotte Brontë
The Life of Charlotte Brontë 3.85 avg rating — 8,902 ratings
25.
Life on the Mississippi
Life on the Mississippi 3.87 avg rating — 15,347 ratings
26.
Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands
Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands 3.44 avg rating — 1,733 ratings
26.
Walden or, Life in the Woods
Walden or, Life in the Woods 3.78 avg rating — 200,864 ratings
28.
Tales from Shakespeare
Tales from Shakespeare 3.94 avg rating — 6,797 ratings
29.
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 4.02 avg rating — 15,257 ratings
30.
Common Sense
Common Sense really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 38,570 ratings
31.
No Logo
No Logo 3.89 avg rating — 32,436 ratings
31.
Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete
Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete 3.96 avg rating — 3,302 ratings
33.
Birthday Letters
Birthday Letters 3.89 avg rating — 10,288 ratings
34.
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance 3.94 avg rating — 229,616 ratings
35.
The Right Stuff
The Right Stuff
by: Tom Wolfe
4.23 avg rating — 54,862 ratings
36.
Dispatches
Dispatches 4.22 avg rating — 21,219 ratings
37.
North
North 4.07 avg rating — 2,543 ratings
38.
Awakenings
Awakenings 4.09 avg rating — 13,804 ratings
39.
Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock
Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock
by: Nik Cohn
3.75 avg rating — 564 ratings
40.
Against Interpretation and Other Essays
Against Interpretation and Other Essays 4.14 avg rating — 10,000 ratings
41.
Ariel
Ariel 4.19 avg rating — 86,773 ratings
42.
The Making of the English Working Class
The Making of the English Working Class 4.21 avg rating — 3,644 ratings
43.
A Grief Observed
A Grief Observed 4.22 avg rating — 91,695 ratings
44.
The Affluent Society
The Affluent Society really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3,046 ratings
45.
The Uses of Literacy (Classics in Communication and Mass Culture Series)
The Uses of Literacy (Classics in Communication and Mass Culture Series) 3.80 avg rating — 439 ratings
46.
Notes of a Native Son
Notes of a Native Son 4.37 avg rating — 23,285 ratings
47.
The Nude
The Nude 4.07 avg rating — 603 ratings
48.
The Hedgehog and the Fox: An Essay on Tolstoy's View of History
The Hedgehog and the Fox: An Essay on Tolstoy's View of History 4.03 avg rating — 2,294 ratings
49.
A Book of Mediterranean Food
A Book of Mediterranean Food 4.18 avg rating — 407 ratings
50.
The Great Tradition: George Eliot, Henry James, Joseph Conrad
The Great Tradition: George Eliot, Henry James, Joseph Conrad 3.39 avg rating — 142 ratings
51.
The Last Days of Hitler
The Last Days of Hitler 4.06 avg rating — 1,759 ratings
52.
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care 3.80 avg rating — 2,212 ratings
53.
Hiroshima
Hiroshima 4.04 avg rating — 86,450 ratings
54.
The Open Society and Its Enemies
The Open Society and Its Enemies 4.22 avg rating — 2,503 ratings
55.
How to Cook a Wolf
How to Cook a Wolf 4.15 avg rating — 2,993 ratings
56.
Enemies of Promise
Enemies of Promise 3.81 avg rating — 218 ratings
57.
The Road to Wigan Pier
The Road to Wigan Pier 3.91 avg rating — 27,352 ratings
58.
The Road to Oxiana
The Road to Oxiana 3.90 avg rating — 3,327 ratings
59.
How to Win Friends & Influence People
How to Win Friends & Influence People 4.22 avg rating — 1,110,985 ratings
60.
My Early Life, 1874-1904
My Early Life, 1874-1904 4.26 avg rating — 4,744 ratings
61.
The Waste Land
The Waste Land 4.11 avg rating — 57,833 ratings
62.
The Economic Consequences of the Peace
The Economic Consequences of the Peace 3.98 avg rating — 1,941 ratings
63.
The American Language
The American Language 4.12 avg rating — 545 ratings
64.
Eminent Victorians
Eminent Victorians 3.75 avg rating — 2,586 ratings
65.
De Profundis
De Profundis 4.22 avg rating — 24,403 ratings
66.
The Varieties of Religious Experience
The Varieties of Religious Experience really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 12,770 ratings
67.
Brief Lives
Brief Lives 3.88 avg rating — 307 ratings
68.
Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes
Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes 3.62 avg rating — 2,841 ratings
69.
Nonsense Song
Nonsense Song 3.77 avg rating — 137 ratings
70.
Culture and Anarchy
Culture and Anarchy 3.41 avg rating — 1,071 ratings
71.
On Liberty
On Liberty 3.96 avg rating — 41,829 ratings
72.
Roget's International Thesaurus
Roget's International Thesaurus 4.44 avg rating — 1,009 ratings
73.
London Labour and the London Poor
London Labour and the London Poor 4.04 avg rating — 842 ratings
74.
Household Education
Household Education 3.77 avg rating — 13 ratings
75.
Essays and Poems
Essays and Poems 4.01 avg rating — 13,494 ratings
76.
Domestic Manners of the Americans
Domestic Manners of the Americans 3.71 avg rating — 509 ratings
77.
American Dictionary of the English Language
American Dictionary of the English Language 4.63 avg rating — 262 ratings
78.
Confessions of an English Opium Eater
Confessions of an English Opium Eater 3.28 avg rating — 10,822 ratings
79.
Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa
Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa 3.89 avg rating — 698 ratings
80.
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin 3.85 avg rating — 89,888 ratings
81.
The Life of Samuel Johnson
The Life of Samuel Johnson 3.80 avg rating — 5,264 ratings
82.
Reflections on the Revolution in France
Reflections on the Revolution in France 3.74 avg rating — 7,117 ratings
83.
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 3.74 avg rating — 14,420 ratings
84.
The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne
The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne 3.97 avg rating — 557 ratings
85.
The Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers 4.10 avg rating — 41,560 ratings
86.
The Diary of Fanny Burney
The Diary of Fanny Burney 4.08 avg rating — 61 ratings
87.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations 3.88 avg rating — 34,382 ratings
88.
A Dictionary of the English Language: An Anthology
A Dictionary of the English Language: An Anthology 4.22 avg rating — 116 ratings
89.
A Treatise of Human Nature
A Treatise of Human Nature 3.95 avg rating — 12,540 ratings
90.
A Modest Proposal
A Modest Proposal 4.02 avg rating — 48,435 ratings
91.
A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain
A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain 3.69 avg rating — 125 ratings
92.
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding 3.86 avg rating — 17,029 ratings
93.
Book of Common Prayer (1552 & 1662)
Book of Common Prayer (1552 & 1662) 3.83 avg rating — 6 ratings
94.
Religio Medici: To Which Is Added Hydriotaphia, Or Urn-Burial; a Discourse On Sepulchral Urns
Religio Medici: To Which Is Added Hydriotaphia, Or Urn-Burial; a Discourse On Sepulchral Urns 4.16 avg rating — 411 ratings
95.
Leviathan
Leviathan 3.70 avg rating — 51,364 ratings
96.
Areopagitica
Areopagitica 3.85 avg rating — 2,546 ratings
97.
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions 3.94 avg rating — 165 ratings
98.
The First Folio of Shakespeare: 1623
The First Folio of Shakespeare: 1623 4.78 avg rating — 272 ratings
99.
The Anatomy of Melancholy
The Anatomy of Melancholy 4.11 avg rating — 1,841 ratings
100.
The Historie of the World. In five bookes by Sir Walter Ralegh, Knight
The Historie of the World. In five bookes by Sir Walter Ralegh, Knight 3.20 avg rating — 10 ratings