The Greatest Autobiography Books of All Time

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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
15563 From The Ground Up Howard Schultz 2019 American English
15563 Prepared Diane Tavenner 2019 American English
15602 Steeplejack James Huneker 1920 American English
15606 The Days Before Yesterday Lord Frederick Spencer Hamilton 1920 British English
15612 Play Nice But Win Michael Dell 2021 American English
15638 Surrender Bono 2022 Irish English
15645 Up Stream Ludwig Lewisohn 1922 American English
15647 The Days Of A Man David Starr Jordan 1922 American English
15679 Life And Confessions Of A Psychologist G. Stanley Hall 1923 American English
15682 The Making Of A Surgeon William A. Nolen, M.D. American English
15747 South Ernest Shackleton 1919 British English
15756 Travels in West Africa Mary Kingsley 1897 British English
15831 Autobiografija Branislav Nušić 1924 Serbian Serbian
15835 First Footsteps in East Africa Richard Burton 1856 British English
15903 A Sense of Where You Are John McPhee 1965 American English
15879 Endurance F. A. Worsley 1931 British English
16488 Scott's Last Expedition Apsley Cherry-Garrard 1922 British English
16501 Journey Without Maps Graham Greene 1936 British English
16510 Starlight and Storm Gaston Rébuffat 1954 French French
15903 A Walker in the City Alfred Kazin 1951 American English
15903 The life and letters of Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin 1817 American English
15903 Boswell's London Journal, 1762-1763 James Boswell 1950 British English
15903 The Hasheesh Eater Fitz Hugh Ludlow 1857 American English
15903 My Own Story Emmeline Pankhurst 1914 British English
15903 The Autobiography Of Margaret Sanger Margaret Sanger 1938 American English
15903 Grace Abounding To The Chief Of Sinners John Bunyan 1666 British English
15903 The Memoirs Of Hector Berlioz Hector Berlioz 1870 French French
15903 Slightly Out Of Focus Robert Capa 1947 American English
15903 The Journal Of A Disappointed Man W. N. P. Barbellion 1919 British English
15903 A Personal Record Joseph Conrad 1912 American English
15903 Memoirs Of Lorenzo Da Ponte Lorenzo Da Ponte 1823 Italian Italian
15903 Act One Moss Hart 1959 American English
15903 The Perfect Stranger P. J. Kavanagh 1966 British English
15903 Between Meals A. J. Liebling 1962 American English
15903 Anybody Can Do Anything Betty MacDonald 1950 American English
15903 Hons And Rebels Jessica Mitford 1960 British English
15903 Period Piece Gwen Raverat 1952 British English
15903 The Walls Came Tumbling Down Henriette Roosenburg 1957 Dutch English
15903 Berlin Diary William L. Shirer 1941 British English
15903 The Memoirs Of George Sherston Siegfried Sassoon 1928 British English
15903 Three Days To See Helen Keller 1933 American English
15903 You Can’t Win Jack Black 1926 American English
15903 I, Claud Claud Cockburn 1962 Irish English
15903 Sister Of The Road Bertha Thompson 1937 American English
15903 America Is In The Heart Carlos Bulosan 1946 Filipino English
15903 Memoirs De Vidocq Francois Eugene Vidocq 1828 French French
15903 My Left Foot Christy Brown 1954 Irish English
15903 Amiel's Journal Henri-Frédéric Amiel 1883 Swiss French
15903 Commando Deneys Reitz 1930 South African English
15903 Childhood, Youth And Exile Alexander Herzen 1852 Russian Russian
15903 Father And Son Edmund Gosse 1907 British English
16522 My Life as an Explorer Sven Hedin 1925 Swedish Swedish
16592 The Diary Of Anne Frank Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich 1955 American English
16536 Notes On A Cowardly Lion John Lahr 1969 American English
16536 My Son's Father Dom Moraes 1968 Indian English
16523 A Noite Elie Wiesel 1956 French Yiddish
16610 The Royal Road to Romance Richard Halliburton 1925 American English
16739 My Life As an Explorer (Amundsen) Roald Amundsen 1927 Norwegian Norwegian
16620 Another Self James Lees-Milne 1970 British English
16765 Sun And Steel Yukio Mishima 1968 Japanese Japanese
16741 Las Confesiones Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1782 Genevan French
17130 The Broken Cord Michael Dorris 1989 American English
17130 Newjack Ted Conover 2000 American English
17130 Becoming a Man Paul Monette 1992 American English
17130 Peeling the Onion Günter Grass 2006 German German
17130 Under the Eye of the Clock Christopher Nolan 1987 Irish English
17130 Unfinished Business Stephen Bonsal 1944 American English
17130 Everest Thomas Hornbein 1965 American English
17130 In Trouble Again Redmond O'Hanlon 1988 British English
16810 Castaways Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca 1542 Spanish Spanish
16911 Journal of a Trapper Osborne Russell 1921 American English
16957 Kabloona Gontran de Poncins 1941 French French
17130 Conquistadors of the Useless Lionel Terray 1961 French French
17130 The Mountains of My Life Walter Bonatti 1998 Italian Italian
17017 Journal of the Voyage to the Pacific Alexander Mackenzie 1801 Canadian English
17067 I Married Adventure Osa Johnson 1940 American English
17130 The Crystal Horizon Reinhold Messner 1989 Italian German
17101 Narrative of a Journey Across the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River John Kirk Townsend 1839 American English
17130 One Man's Mountains Tom Patey 1971 British English
17130 Comfort Me with Apples Ruth Reichl 2001 American English
17130 Take It Or Leave It Raymond Federman 1976 American English
17130 Little Wilson and Big God Anthony Burgess 1987 British English
17130 Farewell to Manzanar Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, James D. Houston 1973 American English
17130 Whoredom in Kimmage Rosemary Mahoney 1993 American English
17130 The Names N. Scott Momaday 1976 American English
17130 Self-Consciousness John Updike 1989 American English
17130 Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching Mychal Denzel Smith 2016 American English
17130 The Book Of Joy Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho 2016 Tibetan English
17130 10% Happier Dan Harris 2014 American English
17130 No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference Greta Thunberg 2019 Swedish English
17130 Lighter Than My Shadow Katie Green 2013 British English
17130 The Heart Of A Woman Maya Angelou 1981 American English
17130 Kingbird Highway Kenn Kaufman 1997 American English
17130 And Away… Bob Mortimer 2021 British English
17130 Behind The Mask Tyson Fury 2019 British English
17130 Red Notice Bill Browder 2015 American English
17130 The Salt Path Raynor Winn 2018 British English
17130 Pele Pele 2006 Brazilian English
17130 Lady In Waiting Anne Glenconner 2019 British English
17130 Airhead Emily Maitlis 2019 British English
17130 Adventures Of A Young Naturalist Sir David Attenborough 2017 British English
17130 Mudlarking Lara Maiklem 2019 British English
17130 The Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen 2014 British English
17130 This Much Is True Miriam Margolyes 2021 British English
17130 That Bird Has My Wings Jarvis Jay Masters 2009 American English
17130 Somebody's Daughter Ashley C. Ford 2021 American English
17130 Finding Me Viola Davis 2022 American English
16933 Jammers Minde Leonora Christina 1869 Danish Danish
17130 My Body Emily Ratajkowski 2021 American English
17130 Redefining Realness Janet Mock 2014 American English
17130 The Cancer Journals Audre Lorde 1980 American English
17130 My Life Golda Meir 1975 Israeli English
17130 The Terrible Yrsa Daley-Ward 2018 British English
17130 Singin’ Swingin’ And Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas Maya Angelou 1976 American English
17130 Hollywood Park Mikel Jollett 2020 American English
17130 Slow Getting Up Nate Jackson 2013 American English
17130 Those Guys Have All The Fun James Andrew Miller 2011 American English
17130 Swimming Studies Leanne Shapton 2012 Canadian English
17130 Black Bolshevik Harry Haywood 1978 American English
17130 Born Again Charles W. Colson 1976 British English