The Greatest Books of All Time on Intelligence

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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
633 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carré 1974 British English
711 Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes 1959 American English
966 The Ipcress File Len Deighton 1962 British English
1048 The Hunt for Red October Tom Clancy 1984 American English
1311 Our Man In Havana Graham Greene 1958 British English
1346 Matilda Roald Dahl 1988 British English
1884 The Looming Tower Lawrence Wright 2006 American English
2285 Smiley's People John le Carré 1979 British English
2666 The Mismeasure of Man Stephen Jay Gould 1981 American English
2841 Ashenden, Or, The British Agent W. Somerset Maugham 1928 British English
3307 Camp Concentration Thomas M. Disch 1968 American English
3318 Metzger's Dog Thomas Perry 1983 American English
3637 The Origins Of Intelligence In Children Jean Piaget 1936 Swiss French
3824 Outliers Malcolm Gladwell 2008 Canadian English
3882 Woe From Wit Alexander Griboyedov 1825 Russian Russian
6437 Blood Music Greg Bear 1985 American English
6890 Artemis Fowl Eoin Colfer 2001 Irish English
6892 The Company Robert Littell 2002 American English
7018 Charm School Nelson DeMille 1988 American English
7043 The Cosmic Connection Carl Sagan 1973 American English
7589 Enigma Robert Harris 1995 British English
7601 The Labyrinth Makers Anthony Price 1970 British English
7610 Running Blind Desmond Bagley 1970 British English
7616 Everything Bad Is Good For You Steven Johnson 2005 American English
7685 Startide Rising David Brin 1983 American English
7711 The Honourable Schoolboy John le Carré 1977 British English
7766 In Search of Klingsor Jorge Volpi Escalante 1999 Mexican Spanish
7812 The Elegance of the Hedgehog Muriel Barbery 2006 French French
8076 Nurture Shock Po Bronson, Ashley Merryman 2008 American English
8268 Berlin Game Len Deighton 1983 British English
8371 Watchers Dean R. Koontz 1987 American English
8569 Ghost Wars Steve Coll 2004 American English
8749 The Key To Rebecca Ken Follett 1980 British English
8863 Empire Of The Ants Bernard Werber 1991 French French
9220 Game, Set & Match Len Deighton 1983 British English
9264 The Price of Power Seymour M. Hersh 1983 American English
9334 Decoded Mai Jia 2002 Chinese Chinese
9610 The 9/11 Commission Report 9/11 Commission 2004 American English
9758 The Dragons of Eden Carl Sagan 1977 American English
9932 Reflections On Espionage John Hollander 1976 American English
10221 Her Majesty's Secret Service Christopher Andrew 1985 Unknown English
10292 Ruby Redford Look Into My Eyes Lauren Child 2011 British English
10502 The Second Oldest Profession Phillip Knightley 1986 British English
10938 Blowback Brad Thor 2005 American English
11077 London Rules Mick Herron 2018 British English
11141 Black Flags Joby Warrick 2015 American English
11663 The Dark Side Jane Mayer 2008 American English
11663 Veil Bob Woodward 1987 American English
13086 Shadow Cell Andrew Bustamante, Jihi Bustamante 2025 American English
13362 The Descent Of Man Charles Darwin 1871 British English
13739 Mindset Carol S. Dweck 2006 American English
13920 The Cyberiad Stanislaw Lem 1965 Polish Polish
14138 They'd Rather Be Right Mark Clifton 1954 American English
14176 The Spy And The Traitor Ben Macintyre 2018 British English
14212 Jim Grant Peter Adamson 2001 British Unknown
14228 Mrs. Frisby And The Rats Of Nimh Robert C. O'Brien 1971 American English
14834 The Perfect Weapon David E. Sanger 2018 American English
14986 Deception Point Dan Brown 2001 American English
15619 A Thousand Brains Jeff Hawkins 2021 American English
15645 The Game Of The Foxes Ladislas Farago 1971 American English
15662 The Revolt Against Civilization Lothrop Stoddard 1922 American English
15837 Children Of The Atom Wilmar H. Shiras 1953 American English
15849 Bodyguard Of Lies Anthony Cave Brown 1975 British English
15919 Brain Wave Poul Anderson 1954 American English
16633 Flowers For Algernon Short Story Daniel Keyes 1959 American English
17171 Legacy of Ashes Tim Weiner 2007 American English
17171 Intelligent Life in the Universe Carl Sagan 1966 American English
17171 Directorate S Steve Coll 2018 American English
17171 Beggars In Spain Nancy Kress 1991 American English
17171 Dragon's Egg Robert L. Forward 1980 American English
17171 Operation Mincemeat Ben Macintyre 2010 British English
17171 Other Minds Peter Godfrey-Smith 2016 Australian English
17171 The Broker John Grisham 2005 American English
17171 Inside The Company Philip Agee 1975 American English
17171 The Threat Andrew Cockburn 1997 American English
17171 My Silent War Kim Philby 1968 British English
17171 The Anthropic Cosmological Principle John D. Barrow, Frank J. Tipler 1986 British English
17171 A Spy Among Friends Ben Macintyre 2014 British English
17171 The Bear And The Dragon Tom Clancy 2000 American English
17171 Patriot Games Tom Clancy 1987 American English
17171 His Last Bow Arthur Conan Doyle 1917 British English
17171 All In Jennifer Lynn Barnes 2015 American English
17171 The Poison Oracle Peter Dickinson 1974 British English
17171 Intelligence And Spirit Reza Negarestani 2018 Unknown English
17171 The Fourth Man Robert Baer 2022 American English
17171 Inside The Cia Ronald Kessler 1992 American English
17171 Spies In The Family Eva Dillon 2017 Unknown English
17171 The Spy In Moscow Station Eric Haseltine 2019 Unknown English
17171 Blind Man's Bluff Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew, Annette Drew 1998 American English
17171 Alfie & Me Carl Safina 2023 Unknown English
17171 The Mind Of A Bee Lars Chittka 2022 Unknown English
17171 Like Hidden Fire: The Plot To Bring Down The British Empire hopkirk 1994 Unknown English
17171 Lessons In Disaster Gordon M. Goldstein 2008 American English
17171 The Secret Hours Mick Herron 2023 British English