The Greatest Biography 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
6937 Century Of Struggle Eleanor Flexner 1959 American English
6974 Origins Reconsidered Roger Lewin, Richard Leakey 1992 Multiple English
7020 Albert Murray Albert Murray 2016 American Unknown
7104 Māori Michael King 2003 New Zealand English
7112 The Inklings Humphrey Carpenter 1978 British English
7183 When The Going Was Good Graydon Carter, James Fox 1946 Canadian English
7198 Parallel Lives Phyllis Rose 1983 American English
7213 Question 7 Richard Flanagan 2023 Unknown English
7216 The Journals Of James Boswell James Boswell 1791 British English
7216 The Works Of Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson 1787 British English
7216 Reminiscences Of Tolstoy, Chekhov, And Andreev Maxim Gorky 1920 Russian Russian
7570 Mortality Christopher Hitchens 2012 British English
7573 The House of Morgan Ron Chernow 1990 American English
7575 I Have Lived a Thousand Years Livia Bitton-Jackson 1997 Hungarian English
7596 Wealth And Power Orville Schell, John Delury 2013 Chinese English
7628 The Mysterious William Shakespeare Charlton Ogburn 1984 American English
7667 The Age Of Wonder Richard Holmes 2008 British English
7680 Master Slave Husband Wife Ilyon Woo 2023 Unknown English
7683 Sophie Calle Sophie Calle 1994 French French
7738 Becoming Madame Mao Anchee Min 2000 American English
7742 The Third Reich Of Dreams Charlotte Beradt 1966 German German
7765 Annapurna Maurice Herzog 1951 French French
7772 The Name Above the Title Frank Capra 1971 American English
7782 The Memory Palace Of Matteo Ricci Jonathan Spence 1984 American English
7820 Hugo Von Hofmannsthal And His Time Hermann Broch 1949 Austrian German
7886 Wifedom Anna Funder 2023 Unknown English
7896 King David Levering Lewis 1970 Unknown English
7904 The Social Transformation of American Medicine Paul Starr 1982 American English
7950 My Story Kamala Das 1976 Indian English
7967 Saint Genet Jean Paul Sartre 1952 French French
7976 Kayang And Me Kim Scott 2005 Australian English
7981 The Man Who Loved Only Numbers Paul Hoffman 1998 American English
8004 Play Their Hearts Out George Dohrmann 2010 American English
8006 On The Move Oliver Sacks 2015 British English
8051 Rita Angus Jill Trevelyan 2008 New Zealand English
8063 The Future Is History Masha Gessen 2017 Russian English
8068 All That She Carried Tiya Miles 2021 American English
8097 The Invisible Woman Claire Tomalin 1990 British English
8101 The Gates Of Europe Serhii Plokhy 2015 Ukrainian English
8107 Thirty Years As A Slave And Four Years In The White House Elizabeth Keckley 1868 American English
8107 The Cavalry Maiden Nadezhda Durova 1836 Russian Russian
8107 The History Of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave Mary Prince 1831 British English
8107 Memoirs Of A Korean Queen Lady Hyegyeong 1795 Korean Korean
8174 Life Keith Richards 2010 British English
8198 A Daughter Of Han Ning Lao Tai-Tai, told to Ida Pruitt 1945 Chinese English
8226 The Best Minds Jonathan Rosen 2023 Unknown English
8246 The Man Awakened From Dreams Henrietta Harrison 2005 Unknown English
8266 Coming Of Age In Mississippi Anne Moody 1968 American English
8285 The Other Side Of Desire Daniel Bergner 2009 American English
8293 The Author Of Himself Marcel Reich-Ranicki 1999 German German
8299 Empire Of Pain Patrick Radden Keefe 2021 American English
8308 A Life In The Twentieth Century Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr 2000 American English
8312 A Marriage At Sea Sophie Elmhirst 2024 British English
8313 Medicine River Mary Annette Pember 1989 Unknown English
8376 The Seed Is Mine Charles Van Onselen 1996 South African English
8393 de Kooning Mark Stevens, Annalyn Swan 2004 American English
8402 Genie Russ Rymer 1993 American English
8420 Mao’s Last Revolution Roderick MacFarquhar, Michael Schoenhals 2007 Unknown English
8422 The Man Who Loved China Simon Winchester 2008 British English
8424 Coming Apart Charles Murray 2012 American English
8427 Sad Tiger Neige Sinno 2023 Unknown French
8458 March John Lewis 2013 American English
8519 Into The Woods Anna Krien 2010 Australian English
8528 The Secret History Procopius 550 Multiple Greek
8537 Prisoner Of The State Zhao Ziyang 2009 Chinese Chinese
8559 A Thread Of Violence Mark O'Connell 2023 Unknown English
8574 Let The Trumpet Sound Stephen B. Oates 1982 American English
8626 Things In Nature Merely Grow Yiyun Li 2025 Unknown English
8650 Raising Hare Chloe Dalton 2025 Unknown English
8652 Jane Maggie Nelson 2005 American English
8652 Pedigree Patrick Modiano 2005 French French
8692 Baú De Ossos Pedro Nava 1972 Brazilian Portuguese
8704 W.E.B. Du Bois David Levering Lewis 2000 American English
8713 To A Distant Island James McConkey 1984 American English
8736 Tangata Whenua Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney, Aroha Harris 2014 New Zealand English
8744 Biko Donald Woods 1978 South African English
8752 The Creation Of Patriarchy Gerda Lerner 1986 American English
8759 Disney War James B. Stewart 2005 American English
8761 Mrs. Humphry Ward John Sutherland 1990 British English
8768 Man Meets Dog Konrad Lorenz 1949 German German
8779 Proud Shoes Pauli Murray 1956 American English
8784 Mother Mary Comes To Me Arundhati Roy 2025 Unknown English
8849 Tragedy At Pike River Mine Rebecca Macfie 2013 New Zealand English
8862 A Commotion in the Blood Stephen S. Hall 1997 American English
8872 Becoming Mrs. Lewis Patti Callahan Henry 2018 American English
8877 How To Survive A Plague David France 2016 American English
8892 Chronicles Bob Dylan 2004 American English
8892 Midnight In Chernobyl Adam Higginbotham 2024 British English
8889 The Beautiful Fall Alicia Drake 2006 British English
8896 Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama Alison Bechdel 2012 American English
8915 Staying Alive Vandana Shiva 1988 Indian English
8927 Hidden America Jeanne Marie Laskas 2012 American English
8938 Seibutsu To Museibutsu No Aida Shinichi Fukuoka 2007 Japanese Japanese
8993 The Deal Of The Century Steve Coll 1986 American English
9020 Climbing Mount Improbable Richard Dawkins 1996 British English
9040 Anansi’s Gold Yepoka Yeebo 2023 Unknown English
9045 Blues People Leroi Jones 1963 American English
9044 A Simple Path Mother Teresa 1995 Unknown English
9058 In The Darkroom Susan Faludi 2016 American English
9069 Son Memorias Tulio Halperin Donghi 2008 Argentinian Spanish
9074 Cleopatra Stacy Schiff 2010 Egyptian English
9074 Alexander Hamilton Ron Chernow 2004 American English
9192 Love And Ruin Evan Ratliff, Susan Orlean 2016 Unknown English
9192 A Sliver Of Light Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal, Sarah Shourd 2014 American English
9192 Irritable Hearts Mac McClelland 2015 Unknown English
9192 The Death Class Erika Hayasaki 2014 American English
9192 The Saboteur Paul Kix 2017 Unknown English
9239 Ella Baker And The Black Freedom Movement Barbara Ransby 2003 American English
9251 Sor Juana Or, The Traps Of Faith Octavio Paz 1982 Mexican Spanish
9262 The Price of Power Seymour M. Hersh 1983 American English
9262 Malcolm X Manning Marable 2011 American English
9274 Naples 44 Norman Lewis 1978 British English
9301 My Place Sally Morgan 1987 Australian English
9312 On The Edge Of Paradise David Newsome 1980 Unknown English
9358 The Family Idiot Jean Paul Sartre 1971 French French
9517 C John Diamond 1998 British English
9533 Marie Antoinette Antonia Fraser 2001 British English
9550 Guillén On Guillén Jorge Guillén 1972 Spanish Spanish
9566 Reviving Ophelia Mary Pipher 1994 American English
9569 Les Naufragés Patrick Declerck 2001 French French