The Greatest Books of All Time on Governance

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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
1192 The Politics Aristotle -350 Greek Ancient greek
1881 The Machiavellians James Burnham 1943 American English
3638 Charter of the United Nations United Nations 1945 Multiple English
3638 Oh, These Times Catherine the Great 1790 Russian Unknown
3913 The History Of A Town Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin 1870 Russian Russian
4877 The Earl of Louisiana A. J. Liebling 1961 American English
5311 The Adams Jefferson Letters Lester J. Cappon 1959 American English
5360 The Treaty Of Waitangi Claudia Orange 1987 New Zealand English
6557 King Matt The First Janusz Korczak 1923 Polish Polish
6763 Citizen And Subject Mahmood Mamdani 1996 Ugandan English
7034 Democracy And Power In An American City Robert Dahl 1961 American English
9511 Political Order And Political Decay Francis Fukuyama 2014 American English
9705 The Book Of Peace Christine De Pizan 1413 French French
9774 Democracy For Realists Christopher H. Achen, Larry Bartels 2016 American English
10453 A Promised Land Barack Obama 2020 American English
10772 Huey Long T. Harry Williams 1969 American English
11941 The Raven Marquis James 1929 American English
11941 Grover Cleveland Allan Nevins 1932 American English
12326 Tropical Gangsters Robert Klitgaard 1988 American English
12326 The Life Of Nelson A. Rockefeller Cary Reich 1996 American English
14554 Getting Better Charles Kenny 2011 American English
14554 Deng Xiaoping And The Transformation Of China Ezra F. Vogel 2011 American English
14554 It's Our Turn To Eat Michela Wrong 2009 British English
14630 Poor Numbers Morten Jerven 2013 Norwegian English
14650 The Myth Of The Strong Leader Archie Brown 2014 British English
14666 Yongzheng Emperor Eryue He 1990 Chinese Chinese
14679 Zeng Guofan Tang Haoming 1992 Chinese Chinese
14695 Seven Great Statesmen In The Warfare Of Humanity With Unreason Andrew Dickson White 1915 American English
14834 Leadership Doris Kearns Goodwin 2018 American English
15593 Modern Democracies James Bryce 1921 British English
15916 Wallace Marshall Frady 1968 English
17162 The Founding of New England James Truslow Adams 1921 American English
17162 The Colonial Period of American History Charles McLean Andrews 1934 American English
17162 The Triumphant Empire Lawrence H. Gipson 1948 American English
17162 Puritan Village Sumner Chilton Powell 1963 American English
17162 The Guardians Susan Pedersen 2015 Canadian English
16807 Rum Rebellion H V Evatt 1938 Australian English
17162 Emperor Of Rome Mary Beard 2023 British English
17162 The Civic Bargain Brook Manville, Josiah Ober 2023 Unknown English
17162 Johnson At 10 Anthony Seldon, Raymond Newell 2023 British English
17162 The Dark Enlightenment Nick Land 2012 British English
17162 Common Wealth Jeffrey D. Sachs 2008 American English
17162 Net Zero Dieter Helm 2021 British English
17088 Mémoires D'hadrien, Carnets De Notes De Mémoires D'hadrien Marguerite Yourcenar 1951 French French
17162 For Us The Living Bruce Lancaster 1983 Unknown English