Pulitzer Prize General Nonfiction Winners and Finalists

1.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies 4.04 avg rating — 445,098 ratings
2.
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History 4.15 avg rating — 77,303 ratings
3.
Empire of the Summer Moon
Empire of the Summer Moon 4.24 avg rating — 64,228 ratings
4.
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 — 36,113 ratings
5.
Master of the Senate (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #3)
Master of the Senate (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #3) 4.42 avg rating — 23,638 ratings
6.
The Guns of August
The Guns of August 4.18 avg rating — 82,615 ratings
7.
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster 4.26 avg rating — 551,078 ratings
8.
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer 4.34 avg rating — 111,157 ratings
9.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil 3.92 avg rating — 289,257 ratings
10.
Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation
Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation
by: Dan Fagin
4.09 avg rating — 4,620 ratings
11.
Chaos: Making a New Science
Chaos: Making a New Science 4.03 avg rating — 40,243 ratings
12.
Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 4.31 avg rating — 18,331 ratings
13.
Anti-Intellectualism in American Life
Anti-Intellectualism in American Life 4.11 avg rating — 3,515 ratings
14.
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression 4.19 avg rating — 15,444 ratings
15.
Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45
Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45 4.16 avg rating — 3,678 ratings
16.
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945
by: Tony Judt
4.38 avg rating — 13,388 ratings
17.
Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America
Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America 4.16 avg rating — 8,536 ratings
18.
The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature
The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature 4.24 avg rating — 4,225 ratings
19.
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid 4.29 avg rating — 51,685 ratings
20.
Basin and Range (Annals of the Former World, 1)
Basin and Range (Annals of the Former World, 1) 4.19 avg rating — 4,060 ratings
21.
Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America 4.40 avg rating — 15,754 ratings
22.
Gulag: A History
Gulag: A History 4.28 avg rating — 12,845 ratings
23.
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory 4.10 avg rating — 101,041 ratings
23.
On Human Nature
On Human Nature 4.14 avg rating — 3,566 ratings
25.
The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence
The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence 4.19 avg rating — 21,191 ratings
26.
The Making of the Atomic Bomb
The Making of the Atomic Bomb 4.40 avg rating — 23,890 ratings
27.
The Assassins’ Gate: America in Iraq
The Assassins’ Gate: America in Iraq 4.05 avg rating — 3,181 ratings
27.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek 4.08 avg rating — 29,054 ratings
29.
The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel, The Novel as History
The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel, The Novel as History 3.61 avg rating — 3,394 ratings
30.
Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam
Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam 4.08 avg rating — 2,382 ratings
30.
Gandhi's Truth: On the Origins of Militant Nonviolence
Gandhi's Truth: On the Origins of Militant Nonviolence 3.91 avg rating — 259 ratings
32.
The Rising Sun: The Decline & Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-45
The Rising Sun: The Decline & Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-45 4.30 avg rating — 5,936 ratings
33.
Rousseau and Revolution (The Story of Civilization, #10)
Rousseau and Revolution (The Story of Civilization, #10) 4.29 avg rating — 948 ratings
34.
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature 4.09 avg rating — 25,079 ratings
34.
Annals of the Former World
Annals of the Former World 4.36 avg rating — 4,300 ratings
36.
The Age of Napoleon (The Story of Civilization, #11)
The Age of Napoleon (The Story of Civilization, #11) 4.36 avg rating — 1,038 ratings
37.
Rising from the Plains (Annals of the Former World, 3)
Rising from the Plains (Annals of the Former World, 3) 4.24 avg rating — 1,933 ratings
38.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius 3.69 avg rating — 182,719 ratings
39.
War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton and the Generals
War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton and the Generals 3.93 avg rating — 818 ratings
40.
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern 3.87 avg rating — 34,489 ratings
41.
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 — 8,718 ratings
42.
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains 3.89 avg rating — 32,242 ratings
42.
The Soul of a New Machine
The Soul of a New Machine 4.12 avg rating — 9,242 ratings
44.
The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945
The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945 4.24 avg rating — 1,618 ratings
45.
Endless Enemies
Endless Enemies 4.18 avg rating — 66 ratings
46.
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 — 114,830 ratings
47.
Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families
Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families 4.32 avg rating — 2,729 ratings
48.
The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide
The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide 4.36 avg rating — 2,512 ratings
49.
Children of Crisis, Volume 2: Migrants, Sharecroppers, Mountaineers
Children of Crisis, Volume 2: Migrants, Sharecroppers, Mountaineers 4.30 avg rating — 20 ratings
50.
Children of Crisis, Volume 3: South Goes North
Children of Crisis, Volume 3: South Goes North 4.36 avg rating — 11 ratings
51.
The Denial of Death
The Denial of Death 4.05 avg rating — 15,168 ratings
52.
The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy
The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy 4.16 avg rating — 5,432 ratings
53.
Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II
Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II 4.38 avg rating — 7,035 ratings
54.
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam 4.24 avg rating — 12,399 ratings
55.
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century
by: Alex Ross
4.10 avg rating — 15,704 ratings
56.
Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq
Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq 4.09 avg rating — 7,790 ratings
57.
The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture (The Problem of Slavery, #1)
The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture (The Problem of Slavery, #1) 4.02 avg rating — 165 ratings
58.
The Ants
The Ants 4.60 avg rating — 834 ratings
59.
Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris
Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris 3.93 avg rating — 291 ratings
60.
"A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide
"A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide 4.26 avg rating — 10,878 ratings
61.
Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution
Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution 4.21 avg rating — 1,042 ratings
62.
Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan 3.86 avg rating — 3,267 ratings
63.
Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History
Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History 4.14 avg rating — 10,151 ratings
64.
Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II
Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II 4.15 avg rating — 5,020 ratings
64.
Looking for a Ship
Looking for a Ship 4.16 avg rating — 1,575 ratings
66.
The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power
The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power 4.43 avg rating — 12,044 ratings
67.
Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire
Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire 4.26 avg rating — 5,209 ratings
68.
Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History
Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History 4.14 avg rating — 10,151 ratings
68.
Pinckney's Treaty
Pinckney's Treaty 3.57 avg rating — 14 ratings
68.
Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives
Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives 4.36 avg rating — 14,156 ratings
71.
The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time
The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time 4.17 avg rating — 9,808 ratings
71.
History of the American Frontier - 1763-1893
History of the American Frontier - 1763-1893 3.84 avg rating — 242 ratings
73.
A History of the United States: The War for Southern Independence 1849-1865 Vol VI
A History of the United States: The War for Southern Independence 1849-1865 Vol VI 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings
74.
Mrs. Harris: The Death of the Scarsdale Diet Doctor
Mrs. Harris: The Death of the Scarsdale Diet Doctor 3.11 avg rating — 47 ratings
75.
The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism
The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism 4.04 avg rating — 562 ratings
76.
How the Mind Works
How the Mind Works 3.99 avg rating — 20,874 ratings
76.
The Fate of the Earth
The Fate of the Earth 3.93 avg rating — 297 ratings
78.
Terrorists & Novelists
Terrorists & Novelists 2.75 avg rating — 4 ratings
79.
The Medusa and the Snail: More Notes of a Biology Watcher
The Medusa and the Snail: More Notes of a Biology Watcher 4.08 avg rating — 1,854 ratings
79.
The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination
The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination 4.21 avg rating — 4,063 ratings
79.
Is There No Place on Earth for Me?
Is There No Place on Earth for Me? 3.85 avg rating — 1,282 ratings
82.
Wild Justice: The Evolution of Revenge
Wild Justice: The Evolution of Revenge 3.60 avg rating — 10 ratings
83.
Conversations With the Enemy: The Story of PFC Robert Garwood
Conversations With the Enemy: The Story of PFC Robert Garwood 4.07 avg rating — 43 ratings
84.
The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry
The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry 4.17 avg rating — 1,378 ratings
85.
Dawn to the West: Japanese Literature of the Modern Era; Fiction
Dawn to the West: Japanese Literature of the Modern Era; Fiction 4.32 avg rating — 90 ratings
86.
The Evolution of God
The Evolution of God 3.94 avg rating — 7,926 ratings
86.
The Good War: An Oral History of World War II
The Good War: An Oral History of World War II 4.30 avg rating — 4,771 ratings
88.
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
89.
Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay
Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay 4.14 avg rating — 1,520 ratings
90.
The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War
The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War 4.08 avg rating — 730 ratings
90.
Why Survive?: Being Old in America
Why Survive?: Being Old in America 3.30 avg rating — 20 ratings
92.
One Hundred Names for Love: A Memoir
One Hundred Names for Love: A Memoir 3.85 avg rating — 1,777 ratings
93.
Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men
Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men 3.83 avg rating — 1,439 ratings
93.
Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land
Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land 4.05 avg rating — 816 ratings
95.
How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities
How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities 4.06 avg rating — 2,931 ratings
96.
Gandhi and Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age
Gandhi and Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age 4.12 avg rating — 1,398 ratings
97.
The Bitter Road to Freedom: A New History of the Liberation of Europe
The Bitter Road to Freedom: A New History of the Liberation of Europe 3.90 avg rating — 446 ratings
97.
So Human an Animal: How We are Shaped by Surroundings and Events
So Human an Animal: How We are Shaped by Surroundings and Events 3.92 avg rating — 208 ratings
99.
The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America
The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America 4.08 avg rating — 489 ratings
100.
Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness
Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness 4.27 avg rating — 3,993 ratings
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