National Book Award Nonfiction Winners and Finalists 2000-2019

1.
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief 4.04 avg rating — 44,513 ratings
2.
At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years 1965-68
At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years 1965-68 4.43 avg rating — 1,899 ratings
3.
Master of the Senate (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #3)
Master of the Senate (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #3) 4.42 avg rating — 23,637 ratings
4.
The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke
The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke 4.03 avg rating — 310 ratings
5.
The Indian World of George Washington: The First President, the First Americans, and the Birth of the Nation
The Indian World of George Washington: The First President, the First Americans, and the Birth of the Nation 4.06 avg rating — 384 ratings
6.
American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic
American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic 4.03 avg rating — 1,191 ratings
7.
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth 3.76 avg rating — 16,288 ratings
8.
We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights
We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights 4.17 avg rating — 1,388 ratings
9.
The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia
The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia 4.19 avg rating — 6,914 ratings
10.
Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge
Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge 3.83 avg rating — 10,182 ratings
11.
The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America
The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America 4.16 avg rating — 1,818 ratings
12.
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI 4.14 avg rating — 426,017 ratings
13.
Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America
Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America 4.29 avg rating — 4,898 ratings
14.
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America 4.53 avg rating — 37,884 ratings
15.
Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War
Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War 4.05 avg rating — 1,327 ratings
16.
Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right
Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right 4.12 avg rating — 17,563 ratings
17.
The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America
The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America 4.06 avg rating — 2,061 ratings
18.
Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy
Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy 4.45 avg rating — 4,804 ratings
19.
Between the World and Me
Between the World and Me 4.40 avg rating — 357,409 ratings
20.
Ordinary Light
Ordinary Light 3.94 avg rating — 2,026 ratings
21.
If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran
If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran 4.11 avg rating — 2,021 ratings
22.
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness 3.94 avg rating — 57,046 ratings
23.
Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs
Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs 4.07 avg rating — 8,086 ratings
24.
The Meaning of Human Existence
The Meaning of Human Existence 3.85 avg rating — 4,908 ratings
25.
Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh
Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh
by: John Lahr
4.23 avg rating — 941 ratings
26.
Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?
Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?
by: Roz Chast
4.16 avg rating — 31,597 ratings
27.
No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes
No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes 4.47 avg rating — 4,017 ratings
28.
Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China
Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China 4.25 avg rating — 8,717 ratings
29.
The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America
The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America 4.13 avg rating — 12,371 ratings
30.
Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin
Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin 3.67 avg rating — 4,735 ratings
31.
Hitler's Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields
Hitler's Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields 3.59 avg rating — 5,807 ratings
32.
The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772–1832
The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772–1832 4.16 avg rating — 765 ratings
33.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity 3.98 avg rating — 114,821 ratings
34.
Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956
Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956 4.08 avg rating — 7,066 ratings
35.
The Passage of Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #4)
The Passage of Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #4) 4.40 avg rating — 19,289 ratings
36.
Boy Kings of Texas: A Memoir
Boy Kings of Texas: A Memoir 3.65 avg rating — 3,513 ratings
37.
House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East
House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East 3.63 avg rating — 2,539 ratings
38.
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern 3.87 avg rating — 34,488 ratings
39.
The Convert: A Tale of Exile and Extremism
The Convert: A Tale of Exile and Extremism 3.18 avg rating — 637 ratings
40.
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention 4.19 avg rating — 19,915 ratings
41.
Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution
Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution 4.27 avg rating — 808 ratings
42.
Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout
Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout 4.02 avg rating — 6,059 ratings
43.
Just Kids
Just Kids 4.21 avg rating — 333,709 ratings
44.
Every Man in This Village is a Liar: An Education in War
Every Man in This Village is a Liar: An Education in War 3.85 avg rating — 1,318 ratings
45.
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea 4.45 avg rating — 96,071 ratings
46.
Cultures of War: Pearl Harbor / Hiroshima / 9-11 / Iraq
Cultures of War: Pearl Harbor / Hiroshima / 9-11 / Iraq 3.86 avg rating — 277 ratings
47.
Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist, and Sexual Renegade
Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist, and Sexual Renegade 4.07 avg rating — 1,791 ratings
48.
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt 3.90 avg rating — 8,806 ratings
49.
Following the Water: A Hydromancer's Notebooks
Following the Water: A Hydromancer's Notebooks 3.93 avg rating — 105 ratings
50.
Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origin of Species
Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origin of Species 4.11 avg rating — 1,443 ratings
51.
Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City
Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City 3.65 avg rating — 4,033 ratings
52.
The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy
The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy 3.95 avg rating — 2,198 ratings
53.
The Suicide Index: Putting My Father's Death in Order
The Suicide Index: Putting My Father's Death in Order 4.05 avg rating — 1,635 ratings
54.
Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives
Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives 4.37 avg rating — 1,050 ratings
55.
The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals
The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals 4.18 avg rating — 4,569 ratings
56.
This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War
This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War 4.04 avg rating — 7,249 ratings
57.
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family 4.02 avg rating — 6,800 ratings
58.
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA 3.95 avg rating — 14,509 ratings
59.
Brother, I'm Dying
Brother, I'm Dying 4.16 avg rating — 7,577 ratings
60.
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything 3.96 avg rating — 111,011 ratings
61.
Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution
Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution 3.65 avg rating — 503 ratings
62.
Ralph Ellison: A Biography
Ralph Ellison: A Biography 4.18 avg rating — 223 ratings
63.
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl 4.06 avg rating — 60,126 ratings
64.
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 4.36 avg rating — 36,107 ratings
65.
Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone
Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone 4.04 avg rating — 6,601 ratings
66.
Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present
Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present 4.22 avg rating — 7,536 ratings
67.
The Year of Magical Thinking
The Year of Magical Thinking 3.93 avg rating — 284,984 ratings
68.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genius
Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genius 4.15 avg rating — 221 ratings
69.
Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion
Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion 3.82 avg rating — 417 ratings
70.
Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves
Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves 4.31 avg rating — 2,344 ratings
71.
102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers
102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers
by: Jim Dwyer
4.30 avg rating — 12,178 ratings
72.
Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age
Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age 4.08 avg rating — 2,992 ratings
73.
Washington's Crossing
Washington's Crossing 4.16 avg rating — 15,170 ratings
74.
The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States 3.65 avg rating — 4,628 ratings
75.
Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett
Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett 4.04 avg rating — 677 ratings
76.
Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare
Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare 3.87 avg rating — 10,656 ratings
77.
Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy
Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy 3.81 avg rating — 7,574 ratings
78.
The Devil in the White City
The Devil in the White City really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 739,821 ratings
79.
Gulag: A History
Gulag: A History 4.28 avg rating — 12,841 ratings
80.
The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home
The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home 3.78 avg rating — 3,981 ratings
81.
Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin
Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin 4.24 avg rating — 791 ratings
82.
When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales Of Environmental Deception And The Battle Against Pollution
When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales Of Environmental Deception And The Battle Against Pollution 4.03 avg rating — 352 ratings
83.
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science 4.28 avg rating — 51,628 ratings
84.
The Last American Man
The Last American Man 3.80 avg rating — 11,509 ratings
85.
Mapping Human History: Genes, Race, and Our Common Origins
Mapping Human History: Genes, Race, and Our Common Origins 3.94 avg rating — 1,054 ratings
86.
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression 4.19 avg rating — 15,444 ratings
87.
American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood
American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood 3.72 avg rating — 910 ratings
88.
My Story as told by Water: Confessions, Druidic Rants, Reflections, Bird-watchings, Fish-stalkings, Visions, Songs and Prayers Refracting Light, from Living Rivers, in the Age of the Industrial Dark
My Story as told by Water: Confessions, Druidic Rants, Reflections, Bird-watchings, Fish-stalkings, Visions, Songs and Prayers Refracting Light, from Living Rivers, in the Age of the Industrial Dark 4.12 avg rating — 886 ratings
89.
The Lost Children of Wilder: The Epic Struggle to Change Foster Care
The Lost Children of Wilder: The Epic Struggle to Change Foster Care 4.16 avg rating — 488 ratings
90.
Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland
Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland 4.02 avg rating — 3,203 ratings
91.
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex 4.16 avg rating — 115,984 ratings
92.
W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963
W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963 4.13 avg rating — 559 ratings
93.
From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present
From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present 4.13 avg rating — 4,605 ratings
94.
The Collaborator: The Trial and Execution of Robert Brasillach
The Collaborator: The Trial and Execution of Robert Brasillach 3.87 avg rating — 125 ratings
95.
Darkness in El Dorado: How Scientists and Journalists Devastated the Amazon
Darkness in El Dorado: How Scientists and Journalists Devastated the Amazon 3.38 avg rating — 161 ratings
96.
The Yellow House
The Yellow House 3.89 avg rating — 25,004 ratings
97.
Thick: And Other Essays
Thick: And Other Essays 4.43 avg rating — 18,145 ratings
98.
What You Have Heard Is True: A Memoir of Witness and Resistance
What You Have Heard Is True: A Memoir of Witness and Resistance 4.42 avg rating — 3,266 ratings
99.
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present 4.23 avg rating — 6,454 ratings
100.
Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement
Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement 4.42 avg rating — 4,017 ratings