The Greatest Books of All Time on Activism

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
306 The Autobiography of Malcolm X Alex Haley 1965 American English
764 Mother Maxim Gorky 1906 Russian Russian
838 The Book of Daniel E. L. Doctorow 1971 American English
938 Burger's Daughter Nadine Gordimer 1979 South African English
1110 The Overstory Richard Powers 2018 American English
1573 The Story Of My Experiments With Truth Mahatma Gandhi 1927 Indian Gujarati
1620 Sister Outsider Audre Lorde 1984 American English
1632 The Roots of Heaven Romain Gary 1956 French French
1666 Zami Audre Lorde 1982 American English
1771 Stone Butch Blues Leslie Feinberg 1993 American English
1849 Z Vassilis Vassilikos 1967 Greek Greek
1873 And the Band Played On Randy Shilts 1987 American English
2183 No Logo Naomi Klein 1999 Canadian English
2350 The Salt Eaters Toni Cade Bambara 1980 American English
2633 Tripmaster Monkey Maxine Hong Kingston 1989 American English
2750 Satyagraha in South Africa Gandhi 1928 Indian Gujarati
2750 My Fight for Birth Control Margaret Sanger 1931 American English
2844 Sisterhood Is Powerful Robin Morgan 1970 American English
2990 Frederick Douglass David W. Blight 2018 American English
3071 The Armies of the Night Norman Mailer 1968 American English
3087 I, Rigoberta Menchú Rigoberta Menchú Tum 1983 Guatemalan Spanish
3093 Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers Tom Wolfe 1970 American English
3098 Why We Can't Wait Martin Luther King 1964 American English
3218 The Long Loneliness Dorothy Day 1952 American English
3230 This Bridge Called My Back Cherríe Moraga, Gloria Anzaldúa 1981 American English
3236 The Man Died Wole Soyinka 1972 Nigerian English
3280 The Hate U Give Angie Thomas 2017 American English
3300 The Red Record Ida B. Wells 1895 American English
3553 The Revolt Of The Cockroach People Oscar Zeta Acosta 1973 American English
3638 Woman Suffrage and Politics Carrie Chapman Catt 1923 American English
3638 Memoirs Of A Revolutionist Vera Figner 1920 Russian Russian
4783 The Princess Casamassima Henry James 1886 British English
4933 Exile And Pride Eli Clare 1999 American English
5285 Gandhi's Truth Erik H. Erikson 1969 American English
5435 Communism In Spain In The Franco Era Jorge Semprún 1980 Spanish Spanish
5576 Women, Race, And Class Angela Davis 1981 American English
5605 The Imperative Of Responsibility Hans Jonas 1979 German German
5684 The Constant Gardener John le Carré 2001 British English
5925 Hope in the Dark Rebecca Solnit 2004 American English
6210 Doppelganger Naomi Klein 2023 Canadian English
6212 The Monkey Wrench Gang Edward Abbey 1975 American English
6246 Parting the Waters Taylor Branch 1988 American English
6248 Assata Assata Shakur 1987 American English
6331 The Night Watchman Louise Erdrich 2020 American English
6491 Living My Life Emma Goldman 1931 American English
6730 Eat the Document Dana Spiotta 2006 American English
6754 I Hotel Karen Tei Yamashita 2010 American English
6764 Odd Girls And Twilight Lovers Lillian Faderman 1991 American English
6937 Century Of Struggle Eleanor Flexner 1959 American English
7189 Close To The Knives David Wojnarowicz 1991 American English
7647 Hitch 22 Christopher Hitchens 2010 British English
7811 Shrill Lindy West 2016 American English
7899 The Gentrification of the Mind Sarah Schulman 2012 American English
7996 Amiable With Big Teeth Claude McKay 2017 American English
8024 Gender Outlaw Kate Bornstein 1994 American English
8056 Cutting The Rose Efua Doorkenoo 1994 Ghanaian English
8105 The Convert Elizabeth Robins 1907 British English
8105 Daughter Of Earth Agnes Smedley 1929 American English
8264 Coming Of Age In Mississippi Anne Moody 1968 American English
8289 Feminism Is For Everybody bell hooks 2000 American English
8381 Outrageous Acts And Everyday Rebellions Gloria Steinem 1983 American English
8453 March John Lewis 2013 American English
8498 Soul of a Citizen Paul Rogat Loeb 1999 American English
8515 Into The Woods Anna Krien 2010 Australian English
8542 Whipping Girl Julia Serano 2007 American English
8634 Other Russias Victoria Lomasko 2017 Russian Russian
8700 W.E.B. Du Bois David Levering Lewis 2000 American English
8739 Biko Donald Woods 1978 South African English
8873 How To Survive A Plague David France 2016 American English
9024 Desert Flower Waris Dirie, Cathleen Miller 1998 American English
9235 Ella Baker And The Black Freedom Movement Barbara Ransby 2003 American English
9258 Malcolm X Manning Marable 2011 American English
9528 Black Water Rising Attica Locke 2009 American English
9565 Custer Died For Your Sins Vine DeLoria, Jr. 1969 American English
9615 Give Us The Ballot Ari Berman 2015 American English
9673 Easy Reading Cristina Morales 2018 Spanish Spanish
9753 Carry Me Home Diane McWhorter 2001 American English
9802 Dear Martin Nic Stone 2017 American English
9889 Bhimayana Srividya Natarajan, S. Anand 2011 Indian English
9938 Crusade For Justice Ida B. Wells 1970 American English
9944 An Apartment On Uranus Paul B. Preciado 2019 Spanish French
10089 Manifesta Jennifer Baumgardner, Amy Richards 2000 American English
10157 The Darling Russell Banks 2004 American English
10188 Che Guevara Jon Lee Anderson 1997 American English
10415 Eleanor and Franklin Joseph P. Lash 1971 American English
10437 Women In The Resistance And In The Holocaust Vera Laska 1975 Czech English
10437 The Words Of César Chávez César Chávez 2002 American English
10448 What The Eyes Don't See Mona Hanna-Attisha 2018 American English
10448 The Life Of Langston Hughes Arnold Rampersad 1986 American English
10493 Dekada '70 Lualhati Bautista 1984 Filipino Filipino
10542 Rat Bohemia Sarah Schulman 1995 American English
10615 Girls To The Front Sara Marcus 2010 American English
10704 Black Folk Blair L.M. Kelley 2023 Unknown English
10782 The Dead Are Arising Les Payne 2020 American English
10831 Ants Among Elephants Sujatha Gidla 2017 American English
10870 Women, Culture & Politics Angela Davis 1989 American English
10898 Rising Out Of Hatred Eli Saslow 2018 American English
10966 This Machine Kills Secrets Andy Greenberg 2012 Unknown English
11016 The War On Choice Gloria Feldt 2004 American English
11039 My Seditious Heart Arundhati Roy 2019 Indian English
11056 Full Frontal Feminism Jessica Valenti 2007 American English
11077 How The Pro Choice Movement Saved America Cristina Page 2006 American English
11078 Praying for Sheetrock Melissa Fay Greene 1991 American English
11134 A Problem from Hell Samantha Power 2002 American English
11134 Devil in the Grove Gilbert King 2012 American English
11134 Toms River Dan Fagin 2013 American English
11134 His Name Is George Floyd Robert Samuels, Toluse Olorunnipa 2022 American English
11208 Yes Means Yes Jessica Valenti, Jaclyn Friedman 2008 American English
11216 The Color Of Violence INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence 2006 Unknown English
11250 Look Me In The Eye Barbara Macdonald, Cynthia Rich 1983 American English
11250 Loving In The War Years Cherríe Moraga 1983 American English
11311 Private Citizens Tony Tulathimutte 2016 American English
11318 Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race Reni Eddo-Lodge, Ana Camallonga 2017 British English
11330 Memoirs From The Women’s Prison Nawal El Saadawi 1983 Egyptian Arabic
11339 Yours In Struggle Barbara Smith, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Elly Bulkin 1984 American English
11385 This Common Secret Susan Wicklund 2007 Unknown English
11439 Later The Same Day Grace Paley 1985 American English
11496 Azadi Arundhati Roy 2020 Indian English
11660 The Association Of Small Bombs Karan Mahajan 2016 Indian English
11660 A Short History Of Women Kate Walbert 2009 American English