The Greatest Nonfiction Books of All Time Set in Africa

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 488 '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
216 Out of Africa Isak Dinesen 1937 Danish Danish
401 The Second World War Winston Churchill 1948 British English
705 The African Child Camara Laye 1953 Guinean French
803 Black Boy Richard Wright 1945 American English
895 Down Second Avenue Es'kia Mphahlele 1959 South African English
991 The Wretched of the Earth Frantz Fanon 1961 Algerian French
1001 West With the Night Beryl Markham 1942 British English
1060 Long Walk To Freedom Nelson Mandela 1994 South African English
1301 Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond 1997 American English
1475 We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families Philip Gourevitch 1998 American English
1765 Facing Mount Kenya Jomo Kenyatta 1938 Kenyan English
1997 The History Of The Yorubas Reverend Samuel Johnson 1921 Nigerian English
1997 Native Life In South Africa Sol Plaatje 1916 South African English
2091 Antériorité Des Civilisations Nègres Cheikh Anta Diop 1954 Senegalese French
2469 Os Nacionalismos Africanos Mario de Andrade 1961 Brazilian Portuguese
2520 The Rise of the West William H. McNeill 1963 American English
2549 The Travels of Ibn Battutah Ibn Battúta 1355 Moroccan Arabic
2594 Indaba, My Children Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa 1964 South African English
2993 Histoire De L'afrique Noire Joseph Ki-Zerbo 1972 French French
3105 Ake Wole Soyinka 1981 Nigerian English
3266 Sur La Philosophie Africaine Paulin Hountondji 1976 French French
3407 Decolonising The Mind Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o 1986 Kenyan English
3409 Kaffir Boy Mark Mathabane 1986 South African English
3755 Travels With Myself And Another Martha Gellhorn 1978 American English
3790 Boyhood J. M. Coetzee 1997 South African English
3987 Second World War John Keegan 1989 British English
4149 Male Daughters, Female Husbands Ifi Amadiume 1987 Nigerian English
4321 The Invention Of Africa V. Y. Mudimbe 1988 Congolese English
4517 The Black Atlantic Paul Gilroy 1993 British English
4635 The Age Of Extremes Eric Hobsbawm 1994 British English
4701 Citizen And Subject Mahmood Mamdani 1996 Ugandan English
4892 The Emperor Ryszard Kapuscinski 1978 Polish Polish
4977 In My Father's House Anthony Appiah 1992 Ghanaian English
5362 Kosmos. Entwurf Einer Physischen Weltbeschreibung Alexander von Humboldt 1845 German German
5424 Beyond The Mask, Race, Gender And Identity Amina Mama 1995 British English
5599 Exterminate All The Brutes Sven Lindqvist 1992 Swedish Swedish
5610 The Seed Is Mine Charles Van Onselen 1996 South African English
5617 Dark Star Safari Paul Theroux 2002 American English
5859 The Dragon's Gift Deborah Brautigam 2009 Unknown English
5915 No Mercy Redmond O'Hanlon 1997 British English
6427 Empire Of Cotton Sven Beckert 2014 American English
6594 China's Second Continent Howard W. French 2014 American English
6677 The History Of White People Nell Irvin Painter 2010 American English
7539 Gorillas In The Mist Dian Fossey 1983 American English
7574 Move Your Shadow Joseph Lelyveld 1986 American English
8051 Black and Blur Fred Moten 2017 American English
8079 Praying for Sheetrock Melissa Fay Greene 1991 American English
8155 Stranglehold On Africa René Dumont 1980 French French
8348 Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa Mungo Park 1799 British English
8809 The Rebel's Clinic Adam Shatz 2024 Unknown English
9304 The Fate Of The Elephant Douglas H. Chadwick 1992 American English
9635 Fi Alexandra Fuller 2024 Unknown English
9732 The Discoverers Daniel J. Boorstin 1983 American English
10373 Desert Flower Waris Dirie, Cathleen Miller 1998 American English
10379 All The Worst Humans Phil Elwood 2024 Unknown English
10434 The Last Colony Philippe Sands 2024 Unknown English
10527 How To Write About Africa Binyavanga Wainaina 2005 Kenyan English
10770 The Hot Zone Richard Preston 1994 American English
11011 Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight Alexandra Fuller 2001 British English
11514 The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture David Brion Davis 1966 American English
11867 The Making Of A Tropical Disease Randall M. Packard 2007 American English
11983 Warriors Gerald Hanley 1971 British English
12197 Poverty And Famines Amartya Sen 1981 Indian English
12223 Poor Numbers Morten Jerven 2013 Norwegian English
12550 The Missionary Movement In Christian History Andrew Walls 1996 Scottish English
13010 The Big Sea Langston Hughes 1940 American English
13139 Bones Of Contention Roger Lewin 1987 British English
13209 No Picnic on Mount Kenya Felice Benuzzi 1947 Italian Italian
13350 Travels in West Africa Mary Kingsley 1897 British English
13371 Through the Dark Continent Henry M. Stanley 1878 British English
13403 Catiline's War, The Jugurthine War, Histories Sallust -40 Roman Latin
13410 The Travels And Researches Of Alexander Von Humboldt William MacGillivray 1832 German English
14195 Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile John Hanning Speke 1863 British English
14205 The Principal Navigations Richard Hakluyt 1589 British English
14371 The Fearful Void Geoffrey Moorhouse 1974 British English
14354 I Married Adventure Osa Johnson 1940 American English
14371 Plagues And People William H. McNeill 1976 American English
14371 Story Of Mankind Hendrik Willem van Loon 1921 American English
14371 Men Of The Old Stone Age Henry Fairfield Osborn 1915 American English
14371 The Shadow Of The Sun Ryszard Kapuscinski 1998 Polish Polish
14371 Whole Earth Discipline Stewart Brand 2009 American English
14371 Mukiwa Peter Godwin 1996 British English
14371 Virtual War Michael Ignatieff 2000 Canadian English
14371 Season Of Blood Fergal Keane 1996 British English
14371 Frantz Fanon David Macey 2001 Unknown English