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
1310 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
2284 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
3309 Camp Concentration Thomas M. Disch 1968 American English
3320 Metzger's Dog Thomas Perry 1983 American English
3638 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
6436 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
8267 Berlin Game Len Deighton 1983 British English
8370 Watchers Dean R. Koontz 1987 American English
8567 Ghost Wars Steve Coll 2004 American English
8746 The Key To Rebecca Ken Follett 1980 British English
8860 Empire Of The Ants Bernard Werber 1991 French French
9217 Game, Set & Match Len Deighton 1983 British English
9261 The Price of Power Seymour M. Hersh 1983 American English
9331 Decoded Mai Jia 2002 Chinese Chinese
9607 The 9/11 Commission Report 9/11 Commission 2004 American English
9754 The Dragons of Eden Carl Sagan 1977 American English
9927 Reflections On Espionage John Hollander 1976 American English
10217 Her Majesty's Secret Service Christopher Andrew 1985 Unknown English
10289 Ruby Redford Look Into My Eyes Lauren Child 2011 British English
10500 The Second Oldest Profession Phillip Knightley 1986 British English
10935 Blowback Brad Thor 2005 American English
11075 London Rules Mick Herron 2018 British English
11139 Black Flags Joby Warrick 2015 American English
11662 The Dark Side Jane Mayer 2008 American English
11662 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
14832 The Perfect Weapon David E. Sanger 2018 American English
14985 Deception Point Dan Brown 2001 American English
15616 A Thousand Brains Jeff Hawkins 2021 American English
15642 The Game Of The Foxes Ladislas Farago 1971 American English
15659 The Revolt Against Civilization Lothrop Stoddard 1922 American English
15830 Children Of The Atom Wilmar H. Shiras 1953 American English
15841 Bodyguard Of Lies Anthony Cave Brown 1975 British English
15912 Brain Wave Poul Anderson 1954 American English
16621 Flowers For Algernon Short Story Daniel Keyes 1959 American English
17153 Legacy of Ashes Tim Weiner 2007 American English
17153 Intelligent Life in the Universe Carl Sagan 1966 American English
17153 Directorate S Steve Coll 2018 American English
17153 Beggars In Spain Nancy Kress 1991 American English
17153 Dragon's Egg Robert L. Forward 1980 American English
17153 Operation Mincemeat Ben Macintyre 2010 British English
17153 Other Minds Peter Godfrey-Smith 2016 Australian English
17153 The Broker John Grisham 2005 American English
17153 Inside The Company Philip Agee 1975 American English
17153 The Threat Andrew Cockburn 1997 American English
17153 My Silent War Kim Philby 1968 British English
17153 The Anthropic Cosmological Principle John D. Barrow, Frank J. Tipler 1986 British English
17153 A Spy Among Friends Ben Macintyre 2014 British English
17153 The Bear And The Dragon Tom Clancy 2000 American English
17153 Patriot Games Tom Clancy 1987 American English
17153 His Last Bow Arthur Conan Doyle 1917 British English
17153 All In Jennifer Lynn Barnes 2015 American English
17153 The Poison Oracle Peter Dickinson 1974 British English
17153 Intelligence And Spirit Reza Negarestani 2018 Unknown English
17153 The Fourth Man Robert Baer 2022 American English
17153 Inside The Cia Ronald Kessler 1992 American English
17153 Spies In The Family Eva Dillon 2017 Unknown English
17153 The Spy In Moscow Station Eric Haseltine 2019 Unknown English
17153 Blind Man's Bluff Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew, Annette Drew 1998 American English
17153 Alfie & Me Carl Safina 2023 Unknown English
17153 The Mind Of A Bee Lars Chittka 2022 Unknown English
17153 Like Hidden Fire: The Plot To Bring Down The British Empire hopkirk 1994 Unknown English
17153 Lessons In Disaster Gordon M. Goldstein 2008 American English
17153 The Secret Hours Mick Herron 2023 British English