The Greatest Books of All Time on Government

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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
153 A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess 1962 British English
220 The Republic Plato -379 Greek Ancient greek
345 Leviathan Thomas Hobbes 1651 British English
461 Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand 1957 American English
527 The Social Contract Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1762 French French
639 Reflections on the Revolution in France Edmund Burke 1790 British English
881 Utopia Thomas More 1516 British Latin
952 Two Treatises of Government John Locke 1689 British English
1190 The Spirit Of The Laws Montesquieu 1748 French French
1352 The Andromeda Strain Michael Crichton 1969 American English
1416 Rights of Man Thomas Paine 1791 British English
1901 The Power Broker Robert Caro 1974 American English
1913 Mencius Mencius -300 Chinese Classical chinese
2337 Libra Don DeLillo 1988 American English
2340 Master of the Senate Robert Caro 2002 American English
3058 Advise and Consent Allen Drury 1959 American English
3147 All the President's Men Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein 1974 American English
3193 The Best And The Brightest David Halberstam 1972 American English
3244 Civil Disobedience Henry David Thoreau 1849 American English
3424 Common Sense Thomas Paine 1776 British English
3499 Reflections of a Russian Statesman Konstantin P. Pobedonostsev 1898 Russian Russian
3517 Bureaucracy Ludwig von Mises 1944 Austrian English
4169 Letters On England Voltaire 1734 French French
4310 The Westminster Alice Saki 1902 British English
4365 The Anatomy Of A Moment Javier Cercas 2009 Spanish Spanish
4519 When The Wind Blows Raymond Briggs 1982 British English
4900 The Discovery Of Freedom Rose Wilder Lane 1943 American English
4900 Notes Of Debates In The Federal Convention Of 1787 James Madison 1840 American English
5370 The Way the World Works Jude Wanniski 1978 American English
5575 Lincoln Gore Vidal 1984 American English
5743 Diaries Alan Clark 1993 British English
5813 The City Of The Sun Tommaso Campanella 1623 Italian Latin
5918 Reveille in Washington Margaret Leech 1941 American English
6146 Roosevelt James MacGregor Burns 1970 American English
6165 Present at the Creation Dean Acheson 1969 American English
6334 The Night Watchman Louise Erdrich 2020 American English
6374 The Promise of American Life Herbert Croly 1909 American English
6519 Free to Choose Milton Friedman, Rose Friedman 1980 American English
6535 The Fog James Herbert 1975 British English
6957 The Fifth Risk Michael M. Lewis 2018 American English
6957 The Field Of Blood Joanne B. Freeman 2018 American English
7214 Prophet Song Paul Lynch 2023 Irish English
7568 The Puppet Masters Robert A. Heinlein 1951 American English
7609 The Complete War Memoirs Of Charles De Gaulle Charles De Gaulle 1954 French French
7961 The Starr Report Kenneth W. Starr 1998 American English
8309 A Life In The Twentieth Century Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr 2000 American English
8575 Fear Itself Ira Katznelson 2013 American English
8772 John Adams David McCullough 2001 American English
9180 War Powers Peter Irons 1987 American English
9225 Slan A. E. van Vogt 1940 Canadian English
9255 The Entrepreneurial State Mariana Mazzucato 2013 British English
9264 The Price of Power Seymour M. Hersh 1983 American English
9335 Authority Jeff VanderMeer 2014 American English
9516 A Scanner Darkly Philip K. Dick 1977 American English
9610 The 9/11 Commission Report 9/11 Commission 2004 American English
9931 The Eagle's Throne Carlos Fuentes 2002 Mexican Spanish
9972 Politics Hendrik Hertzberg 2004 American English
9978 Legend Marie Lu 2011 American English
10454 Churchill Andrew Roberts 2018 British English
10574 The Censors Luisa Valenzuela 1976 Argentinian Spanish
10687 The Black Box Henry Louis Gates Jr. 2024 Unknown English
10826 Scythe Neal Shusterman 2016 American English
11044 Who Is Government? Michael M. Lewis 2025 Unknown English
11068 The Thatcher Decade Peter Riddell 1989 British English
11141 Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan Herbert P. Bix 2000 American English
11336 The Blair Years Alastair Campbell 2007 British English
11639 Principles Of Political Economy John Stuart Mill 1848 British English
11663 Days Of Fire Peter Baker 2013 American English
11663 Tumultuous Years Robert J. Donovan 1983 American English
11663 Years Of Upheaval Henry A. Kissinger 1982 American English
11663 Attlee Kenneth Harris 1982 British English
11663 All Fall Down Gary Sick 1985 American English
11663 Fdr Kenneth S. Davis 1972 American English
11663 Keynes Robert Skidelsky 1983 British English
11663 A Machine That Would Go Of Itself Michael Kammen 1987 American English
11663 Veil Bob Woodward 1987 American English
11663 Original Intent And The Framers' Constitution Leonard W. Levy 1988 American English
11663 Macmillan Alistair Horne 1988 American English
11852 Havana Real Yoani Sánchez 2011 Cuban Spanish
11941 John Hay Tyler Dennett 1933 American English
11941 Hamilton Fish Allan Nevins 1936 American English
11941 Woodrow Wilson, Life and Letters Ray Stannard Baker 1927 American English
11941 Roosevelt and Hopkins Robert E. Sherwood 1948 American English
11941 John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy Samuel Flagg Bemis 1949 American English
11941 John C. Calhoun Margaret Louise Coit 1950 American English
11941 Charles Evans Hughes Merlo J. Pusey 1951 American English
11941 Edmund Pendleton 1721–1803 David J. Mays 1952 American English
11941 The Taft Story William S. White 1954 American English
11941 George Washington Douglas Southall Freeman 1948 American English
11941 A Thousand Days Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr 1965 American English
11941 Memoirs George F. Kennan 1967 American English
12077 Rosewater Tade Thompson 2016 Nigerian English
12326 In Confidence Anatoly Dobrynin 1995 Russian English
12326 Lincoln David Herbert Donald 1995 American English
12326 American Scripture Pauline Maier 1997 American English
12897 The Mission Tim Weiner 2025 American English
13107 The Right Of The People Osita Nwanevu 2025 American English
13113 Their Accomplices Wore Robes Brando Simeo Starkey 2025 Unknown English
13219 Selections From The Speeches And Writings Of Edmund Burke Edmund Burke 1892 British English
13362 The History Of England Thomas Babington Macaulay 1848 British English
13362 Essays, Moral, Political, And Literary David Hume 1741 Scottish English
13362 The Great Speeches And Orations Of Daniel Webster Daniel Webster 1851 American English
13506 Manufacturing Consent Noam Chomsky, Edward Herman 1988 American English
13533 The Writings Of Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson 1903 American English
13592 The School For Good Mothers Jessamine Chan 2022 American English
14025 The Rosewater Insurrection Tade Thompson 2019 British English
14138 Beyond This Horizon Robert A. Heinlein 1942 American English
14232 Founding Brothers Joseph Ellis 2000 American English
14499 In Fed We Trust David Wessel 2009 American English
14630 How Asia Works Joe Studwell 2013 British English
14650 Stress Test Timothy F. Geithner 2014 American English
14677 The Life And Letters Of John Hay William Roscoe Thayer 1915 American English
14833 The Future Of Capitalism Paul Collier 2018 British English
14833 Presidents Of War Michael Beschloss 2018 American English
14899 The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution Bernard Bailyn 1967 American English
14937 Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said Philip K. Dick 1974 American English
14954 334 Thomas M. Disch 1972 American English
14986 Russia Leaves the War George F. Kennan 1956 American English
14986 Deception Point Dan Brown 2001 American English
14986 Tyranny Of The Minority Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt 2024 American English