The Economist - Books of the Year 2008
1. 
Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America
by:
Rick Perlstein
4.25 avg rating — 10,669 ratings 
3. 
Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521 - 1580
by:
Roger Crowley
4.29 avg rating — 6,711 ratings 4. 
The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict
by:
Linda J. Bilmes
3.76 avg rating — 422 ratings 5. 
The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World
by:
Tim Harford
3.81 avg rating — 5,814 ratings 6. 
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
by:
Richard Holmes
3.97 avg rating — 9,816 ratings 
8. 
Masters and Commanders: The Military Geniuses Who Led the West to Victory in World War II
by:
Andrew Roberts
4.19 avg rating — 616 ratings 9. 
Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China
by:
Philip P. Pan
4.10 avg rating — 1,577 ratings 
11. 
The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915 - 1919
by:
Mark Thompson
3.99 avg rating — 1,106 ratings 12. 
Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics: Entrepreneurship and the State
by:
Yasheng Huang
3.91 avg rating — 226 ratings 13. 
The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English
by:
Henry Hitchings
3.71 avg rating — 540 ratings 14. 
18. 
The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals
by:
Jane Mayer
4.18 avg rating — 4,570 ratings 19. 
Law and the Long War: The Future of Justice in the Age of Terror
by:
Benjamin Wittes
3.79 avg rating — 52 ratings 20. 
Dinner With Mugabe: The Untold Story Of A Freedom Fighter Who Became A Tyrant
by:
Heidi Holland
3.64 avg rating — 710 ratings 21. 
The Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash 3.72 avg rating — 1,209 ratings
22. 
When Markets Collide: Investment Strategies for the Age of Global Economic Change
by:
EL-ERIAN
3.52 avg rating — 787 ratings 23. 
The Venturesome Economy: How Innovation Sustains Prosperity in a More Connected World
by:
Amar Bhide
3.64 avg rating — 28 ratings 24. 
Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World
by:
Don Tapscott
3.80 avg rating — 1,170 ratings 25. 
Globality: Competing with Everyone from Everywhere for Everything
by:
Harold L. Sirkin
3.21 avg rating — 78 ratings 
27. 
Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment
by:
Anthony Lewis
3.86 avg rating — 703 ratings 28. 
The Penguin History of Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850-2008
by:
Jonathan Fenby
3.92 avg rating — 744 ratings 29. 
The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum
by:
Sarah Wise
3.98 avg rating — 380 ratings 
31. 
The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V. S. Naipaul
by:
Patrick French
4.17 avg rating — 513 ratings 32. 
Soul of the Age: A Biography of the Mind of William Shakespeare
by:
Jonathan Bate
4.10 avg rating — 547 ratings 33. 
White Heat: The Friendship of Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson
by:
Brenda Wineapple
3.98 avg rating — 548 ratings 
35. 
The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters
by:
Rose George
4.02 avg rating — 2,604 ratings 
37. 
39. 
Fatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population
by:
Matthew Connelly
3.64 avg rating — 119 ratings 40. 
Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
by:
Sudhir Venkatesh
4.07 avg rating — 25,135 ratings 41. 
Artists in Exile: How Refugees from Twentieth-Century War and Revolution Transformed the American Performing Arts
by:
Joseph Horowitz
3.44 avg rating — 54 ratings 42. 
Salon to Biennial: Exhibitions That Made Art History, Volume 1: 1863-1959
by:
Bruce Altshuler
4.19 avg rating — 27 ratings 
44. 
Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music
by:
Ted Gioia
4.30 avg rating — 753 ratings 
51. 
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran
by:
Hooman Majd
3.77 avg rating — 2,189 ratings 52. 
Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape
by:
Raja Shehadeh
4.26 avg rating — 2,185 ratings