The Greatest Biography Books Since 2000

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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
13135 Death Of An Ordinary Man Sarah Perry 2025 British English
13137 Vermeer Andrew Graham Dixon 2025 British English
13138 Katherine Mansfield Gerri Kimber 2025 Unknown English
13139 Josephine Baker's Secret War Hanna Diamond 2025 British English
13140 The Acid Queen Susannah Cahalan 2025 American English
13141 Erik Satie Three Piece Suite Ian Penman 2025 British English
13149 Wages For Housework Emily Callaci 2025 Unknown English
13150 Those Passions T. J. Clark 2025 British English
13260 The Great Escape Angus Deaton 2013 British English
13260 The Idealist Nina Munk 2013 American English
13260 The Photographer Emmanuel Guibert 2003 French English
13260 True Notebooks Mark Salzman 2003 American English
13318 Schubert’s Winter Journey Ian Bostridge 2015 British English
13341 Candyfreak Steve Almond 2004 American English
13341 The Radioactive Boy Scout Ken Silverstein 2004 American English
13514 Jesus Land Julia Scheeres 2005 American English
13551 How To Be A Good Creature Sy Montgomery 2018 American English
13561 I Am Malala Malala Yousafzai 2013 Pakistani English
13568 Butterfly Boy Rigoberto González 2006 American English
13568 Johnny Cash Reinhard Kleist 2006 German German
13773 Beautiful Boy David Sheff 2008 American English
13818 The Girl With The Leica Helena Janeczek 2017 Italian Italian
13886 Stitches David Small 2009 American English
13886 Anne Frank Francine Prose 2009 American English
13886 Googled Ken Auletta 2009 American English
13886 Louisa May Alcott Harriet Reisen 2009 Unknown English
13941 London Peter Ackroyd 2000 British English
13941 Unbroken Laura Hillenbrand 2010 American English
13968 In The Matter Of Nat Turner Christopher Tomlins 2020 Unknown English
13971 The Bridge David Remnick 2010 Unknown English
14006 The Five Hallie Rubenhold 2019 British English
14021 Phoenix David Stuttard 2021 Unknown English
14025 The Wife's Tale Aida Edemariam 2018 Canadian English
14065 Thomas Jefferson Thomas S. Kidd 2022 Unknown English
14078 Ordinary Girls Jaquira Díaz 2019 American English
14090 Shoe Dog Phil Knight 2016 American English
14130 Passagère Du Silence Fabienne Verdier 2001 French French
14176 The Spy And The Traitor Ben Macintyre 2018 British English
14232 Catherine The Great Robert K. Massie 2011 American English
14232 The Boys In The Boat Daniel James Brown 2013 American English
14232 Neurotribes Steve Silberman 2015 American English
14411 The Man Who Fed The World Leon Hesser 2006 American English
14435 Einstein Walter Isaacson 2007 American English
14435 The Foundation Joel L. Fleishman 2007 American English
14458 A Champion's Mind Pete Sampras 2008 American English
14458 So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star Jacob Slichter 2004 American English
14542 The Unusual Suspect Ben Machell 2020 British English
14554 The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind William Kamkwamba 2009 Malawian English
14554 It's Our Turn To Eat Michela Wrong 2009 British English
14589 The Babysitter Liza Rodman, Jennifer Jordan 2021 Unknown English
14589 Confident Women Tori Telfer 2021 Unknown English
14589 Two Truths And A Lie Ellen McGarrahan 2021 Unknown English
14599 The Cost Of Hope Amanda Bennett 2012 American English
14650 Tadanori Yokoo Daido Moriyama 2006 Japanese Japanese
14680 Becoming Steve Jobs Brent Schlender 2015 American English
14680 A Full Life Jimmy Carter 2015 American English
14680 Epic Measures Jeremy N. Smith 2015 American English
14680 Being Nixon Evan Thomas 2015 American English
14698 Late To The Ball Gerald Marzorati 2016 American English
14833 Presidents Of War Michael Beschloss 2018 American English
14833 Railroader Howard Green 2018 Canadian English
14986 My Father and other Working-Class Football Heroes Gary Imlac 2005 British English
14986 Make Your Bed William H. McRaven 2017 American English
14986 Short Nights Of The Shadow Catcher Timothy Egan 2012 American English
14986 Alex Ferguson Sir Alex Ferguson 2013 British English
14986 Me Elton John 2019 British English
14986 The Day We Found The Universe Marcia Bartusiak 2009 American English
14986 Cultural Amnesia Clive James 2007 Australian English
14986 Ringmaster Abraham Riesman 2023 American English
14986 Elon Musk Walter Isaacson 2023 American English
14986 Citizen Clem John Bew 2016 British English
14986 The Great Partition Yasmin Khan 2007 British English
14986 Salt Mark Kurlansky 2002 American English
14986 The Wright Brothers David McCullough 2015 American English
14986 Anthony Blunt: His Lives Miranda Carter 2001 British English
14986 The Last Mughal William Dalrymple 2006 British English
14986 Genentech Sally Smith Hughes 2009 Unknown English
14986 They Called Us Enemy George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott 2019 American English
14986 The Happiest Man On Earth Eddie Jaku 2020 Unknown English
14986 Fatherland Burkhard Bilger 2023 Unknown English
15570 The Ride Of A Lifetime Robert Iger 2019 American English
15570 From The Ground Up Howard Schultz 2019 American English
15597 Broken Genius Joel N. Shurkin 2020 American English
15619 The Code Breaker Walter Isaacson 2021 American English
15658 Hu Xueyan Gao Yang 2007 Chinese Chinese
17175 Sons of Mississippi Paul Hendrickson 2003 American English
17175 Rough Crossings Simon Schama 2005 British English
17175 Moondust Andrew Smith 2005 British English
17175 Samuel Pepys Claire Tomalin 2002 British English
17175 Comfort Me with Apples Ruth Reichl 2001 American English
17175 Our Band Could Be Your Life Michael Azerrad 2001 American English
17175 Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching Mychal Denzel Smith 2016 American English
17175 Custer's Trials T. J. Stiles 2015 American English
17175 Drum Dream Girl Margarita Engle 2015 Cuban English
17175 Love Wins Debbie Cenziper 2016 American English
17175 The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog Bruce D. Perry, Danny Campbell, Maia Szalavita 2006 American English
17175 All Bound Up Together Martha S. Jones 2007 American English
17175 The Ethnic Project Vilna Bashi Treitler 2013 American English
17175 Rogue Heroes Ben Macintyre 2016 British English
17175 Jerusalem Simon Sebag Montefiore 2011 British English
17175 Operation Mincemeat Ben Macintyre 2010 British English
17175 Spitfire John Nichol 2020 British English
17175 Behind The Mask Tyson Fury 2019 British English
17175 Red Notice Bill Browder 2015 American English
17175 Pele Pele 2006 Brazilian English
17175 Lady In Waiting Anne Glenconner 2019 British English
17175 Airhead Emily Maitlis 2019 British English
17175 Adventures Of A Young Naturalist Sir David Attenborough 2017 British English
17175 This Much Is True Miriam Margolyes 2021 British English
17175 Caravaggio Andrew Graham Dixon 2010 British English
17175 Somebody's Daughter Ashley C. Ford 2021 American English
17175 Finding Me Viola Davis 2022 American English
17175 Thomas Mann Heinrich Mann Helmut Koopmann 2005 German German
17175 Heroines Kate Zambreno 2012 American English
17175 The Short And Tragic Life Of Robert Peace Jeff Hobbs 2014 American English
17175 And So It Goes Charles J. Shields 2011 American English
17175 Beyond The Story BTS, Myeongseok Kang 2021 South Korean Korean
17175 Hidden Figures Margot Lee Shetterly 2016 American English
17175 The Woman With A Worm In Her Head Pamela Nagami 2001 American English
17175 Almost Astronauts Tanya Lee Stone 2009 American English