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
2335 Libra Don DeLillo 1988 American English
2338 Master of the Senate Robert Caro 2002 American English
3057 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
3500 Reflections of a Russian Statesman Konstantin P. Pobedonostsev 1898 Russian Russian
3518 Bureaucracy Ludwig von Mises 1944 Austrian English
4168 Letters On England Voltaire 1734 French French
4309 The Westminster Alice Saki 1902 British English
4364 The Anatomy Of A Moment Javier Cercas 2009 Spanish Spanish
4518 When The Wind Blows Raymond Briggs 1982 British English
4899 The Discovery Of Freedom Rose Wilder Lane 1943 American English
4899 Notes Of Debates In The Federal Convention Of 1787 James Madison 1840 American English
5369 The Way the World Works Jude Wanniski 1978 American English
5573 Lincoln Gore Vidal 1984 American English
5740 Diaries Alan Clark 1993 British English
5810 The City Of The Sun Tommaso Campanella 1623 Italian Latin
5915 Reveille in Washington Margaret Leech 1941 American English
6143 Roosevelt James MacGregor Burns 1970 American English
6162 Present at the Creation Dean Acheson 1969 American English
6331 The Night Watchman Louise Erdrich 2020 American English
6371 The Promise of American Life Herbert Croly 1909 American English
6517 Free to Choose Milton Friedman, Rose Friedman 1980 American English
6533 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
7213 Prophet Song Paul Lynch 2023 Irish English
7567 The Puppet Masters Robert A. Heinlein 1951 American English
7608 The Complete War Memoirs Of Charles De Gaulle Charles De Gaulle 1954 French French
7960 The Starr Report Kenneth W. Starr 1998 American English
8306 A Life In The Twentieth Century Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr 2000 American English
8571 Fear Itself Ira Katznelson 2013 American English
8767 John Adams David McCullough 2001 American English
9177 War Powers Peter Irons 1987 American English
9222 Slan A. E. van Vogt 1940 Canadian English
9252 The Entrepreneurial State Mariana Mazzucato 2013 British English
9261 The Price of Power Seymour M. Hersh 1983 American English
9332 Authority Jeff VanderMeer 2014 American English
9513 A Scanner Darkly Philip K. Dick 1977 American English
9607 The 9/11 Commission Report 9/11 Commission 2004 American English
9926 The Eagle's Throne Carlos Fuentes 2002 Mexican Spanish
9967 Politics Hendrik Hertzberg 2004 American English
9973 Legend Marie Lu 2011 American English
10450 Churchill Andrew Roberts 2018 British English
10570 The Censors Luisa Valenzuela 1976 Argentinian Spanish
10682 The Black Box Henry Louis Gates Jr. 2024 Unknown English
10820 Scythe Neal Shusterman 2016 American English
11039 Who Is Government? Michael M. Lewis 2025 Unknown English
11063 The Thatcher Decade Peter Riddell 1989 British English
11136 Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan Herbert P. Bix 2000 American English
11331 The Blair Years Alastair Campbell 2007 British English
11636 Principles Of Political Economy John Stuart Mill 1848 British English
11660 Days Of Fire Peter Baker 2013 American English
11660 Tumultuous Years Robert J. Donovan 1983 American English
11660 Years Of Upheaval Henry A. Kissinger 1982 American English
11660 Attlee Kenneth Harris 1982 British English
11660 All Fall Down Gary Sick 1985 American English
11660 Fdr Kenneth S. Davis 1972 American English
11660 Keynes Robert Skidelsky 1983 British English
11660 A Machine That Would Go Of Itself Michael Kammen 1987 American English
11660 Veil Bob Woodward 1987 American English
11660 Original Intent And The Framers' Constitution Leonard W. Levy 1988 American English
11660 Macmillan Alistair Horne 1988 American English
11850 Havana Real Yoani Sánchez 2011 Cuban Spanish
11939 John Hay Tyler Dennett 1933 American English
11939 Hamilton Fish Allan Nevins 1936 American English
11939 Woodrow Wilson, Life and Letters Ray Stannard Baker 1927 American English
11939 Roosevelt and Hopkins Robert E. Sherwood 1948 American English
11939 John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy Samuel Flagg Bemis 1949 American English
11939 John C. Calhoun Margaret Louise Coit 1950 American English
11939 Charles Evans Hughes Merlo J. Pusey 1951 American English
11939 Edmund Pendleton 1721–1803 David J. Mays 1952 American English
11939 The Taft Story William S. White 1954 American English
11939 George Washington Douglas Southall Freeman 1948 American English
11939 A Thousand Days Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr 1965 American English
11939 Memoirs George F. Kennan 1967 American English
12076 Rosewater Tade Thompson 2016 Nigerian English
12324 In Confidence Anatoly Dobrynin 1995 Russian English
12324 Lincoln David Herbert Donald 1995 American English
12324 American Scripture Pauline Maier 1997 American English
12895 The Mission Tim Weiner 2025 American English
13104 The Right Of The People Osita Nwanevu 2025 American English
13110 Their Accomplices Wore Robes Brando Simeo Starkey 2025 Unknown English
13216 Selections From The Speeches And Writings Of Edmund Burke Edmund Burke 1892 British English
13359 The History Of England Thomas Babington Macaulay 1848 British English
13359 Essays, Moral, Political, And Literary David Hume 1741 Scottish English
13359 The Great Speeches And Orations Of Daniel Webster Daniel Webster 1851 American English
13504 Manufacturing Consent Noam Chomsky, Edward Herman 1988 American English
13532 The Writings Of Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson 1903 American English
13591 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
14498 In Fed We Trust David Wessel 2009 American English
14629 How Asia Works Joe Studwell 2013 British English
14649 Stress Test Timothy F. Geithner 2014 American English
14676 The Life And Letters Of John Hay William Roscoe Thayer 1915 American English
14832 The Future Of Capitalism Paul Collier 2018 British English
14832 Presidents Of War Michael Beschloss 2018 American English
14897 The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution Bernard Bailyn 1967 American English
14935 Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said Philip K. Dick 1974 American English
14954 334 Thomas M. Disch 1972 American English
14984 Russia Leaves the War George F. Kennan 1956 American English
14984 Deception Point Dan Brown 2001 American English
14984 Tyranny Of The Minority Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt 2024 American English