The Greatest Books of All Time on Journalism

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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
9517 C John Diamond 1998 British English
9519 Memoirs Raymond Aron 1983 French French
9656 The People's Republic Of Amnesia Louisa Lim 2014 Unknown English
9812 The Custodian Of Paradise Wayne Johnston 2006 Canadian English
9943 Crusade For Justice Ida B. Wells 1970 American English
10140 Running Dog Don DeLillo 1978 American English
10172 Dragon's Teeth Upton Sinclair 1942 American English
10442 There Must Be A Pony In Here Somewhere Kara Swisher 2003 American English
10453 Luce and His Empire W. A. Swanberg 1972 American English
10454 Prisoner Without A Name, Cell Without A Number Jacobo Timerman 1981 Argentinian Spanish
10584 Some People Need Killing Patricia Evangelista 2023 Unknown English
10643 Bottoms Up And The Devil Laughs Kerry Howley 2023 Unknown English
10662 Paper Girl Beth Macy 2025 American English
10690 Your Face Belongs To Us Kashmir Hill 2024 American English
10685 Unscripted James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams 2023 Unknown English
10763 Notes On A Foreign Country Suzy Hansen 2017 American English
10856 The Albany Cycle William Kennedy 1983 American English
10919 The Shining Girls Lauren Beukes 2013 South African English
11039 Empire Of Ai Karen Hao 2025 American English
11044 Who Is Government? Michael M. Lewis 2025 Unknown English
11068 All The Wrong Places James Fenton 1994 British English
11663 Crossing The Line William Finnegan 1986 American Unknown
11663 Evelyn Waugh Martin Stannard 1986 Unknown English
11890 Whittaker Chambers Sam Tanenhaus 1997 American English
11901 Margaret Bourke White Vicki Goldberg 1988 American English
11936 Super Pumped Mike Isaac 2019 American English
11941 The Training of an American Burton J. Hendrick 1928 American English
11941 The Autobiography of William Allen White William Allen White 1946 American English
11941 Forgotten First Citizen Margaret Clapp 1947 American English
11941 Margaret Fuller Megan Marshall 2013 American English
12073 The Afghans Asne Seierstad, Seán Kinsella 2022 Norwegian English
12116 Joyride Susan Orlean 2025 American English
12128 Bad Company Megan Greenwell 2025 American English
12137 The Powers That Be David Halberstam 1979 American English
12165 Little Bosses Everywhere Bridget Read 2025 Unknown English
12236 Original Sin Jake Tapper 2023 American English
12290 The Bully Pulpit Doris Kearns Goodwin 2013 American English
12434 The Gods Of New York Jonathan Mahler 2025 American English
12495 The Eyes Of Gaza Plestia Alaqad 2025 Unknown English
12564 Breakneck Dan Wang Unknown English
12834 After Henry Joan Didion 1992 American English
13081 To Lose A War Jon Lee Anderson 2025 American English
13083 Talk To Me Rich Benjamin 2025 American English
13100 How To Be Well Amy Larocca 2025 American English
13186 The Once And Future Riot Joe Sacco 2025 American English
13259 The Photographer Emmanuel Guibert 2003 French English
13362 Gentleman's Agreement Laura Z. Hobson 1947 American English
13600 Histoire D'un Fait Divers Jean-Jacques Gautier 1946 French French
13886 American Voyeur Benoit Denizet-Lewis 2009 American English
14131 The Boys Of Summer Roger Kahn 1972 American English
14232 The Imperfectionists Tom Rachman 2010 British English
14402 La Ligne Noire Jean-Christophe Grangé 2004 French French
14499 News Of A Kidnapping Gabriel García Márquez 1996 Colombian Spanish
14547 Queed Henry Sydnor Harrison 1911 American English
14554 It's Our Turn To Eat Michela Wrong 2009 British English
14677 The Life And Letters Of John Hay William Roscoe Thayer 1915 American English
14731 The Looting Machine Tom Burgis 2015 British English
14822 The Face Of War Martha Gellhorn 1959 American English
14898 Archy And Mehitabel Don Marquis 1927 American English
14958 The Front Page Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur 1928 American English
14985 A Drinking Life Pete Hamill 1994 American English
14985 The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta Mario Vargas Llosa 1984 Peruvian Spanish
14985 Double Whammy Carl Hiaasen 1987 American English
14985 The Night Of The Gun David Carr 2008 American English
14985 The Woman In Cabin 10 Ruth Ware 2016 British English
15642 Honor Thy Father Gay Talese 1971 American English
15667 Do Not Disturb Michela Wrong 2021 British English
15908 Beat the Devil Claud Cockburn 1951 British English
15916 Slightly Out Of Focus Robert Capa 1947 American English
15916 Brazilian Adventure Peter Fleming 1933 British English
15916 Part Of Our Time Murray Kempton 1955 American English
15916 The Bogey Man George Plimpton 1968 American English
15916 Berlin Diary William L. Shirer 1941 British English
15916 I, Claud Claud Cockburn 1962 Irish English
15916 The Shame Of The Cities Lincoln Steffens 1904 American English
16525 What Makes Sammy Run? Budd Schulberg 1941 American English
16650 Fame And Obscurity Gay Talese 1970 American English
17163 Walter Lippmann and the American Century Ronald Steel 1980 American English
17163 The Race Beat Gene Roberts, Hank Klibanoff 2006 American English
17163 A History of American Magazines Frank Luther Mott 1930 American English
17163 The Suffragette Scandal Courtney Milan 2014 American English
17163 The Widow Fiona Barton 2016 British English
17163 The Lotus Eaters Tatjani Soli 2010 American English
17163 Her Last Flight Beatriz Williams 2020 American English
17163 Michaelmas Algis Budrys 1977 American English
17163 Palestine Joe Sacco 1993 American English
17163 Airhead Emily Maitlis 2019 British English
17163 The Pentagon Papers New York Times 1971 American English
17163 Those Guys Have All The Fun James Andrew Miller 2011 American English
17163 The Psychopath Test Jon Ronson 2011 British English
17163 Ack Ack Macaque Gareth L. Powell 2012 British English
17163 The Pelican Brief John Grisham 1992 American English
17163 The Last Juror John Grisham 2004 American English
17163 Swimsuit James Patterson 2009 American English
17163 Memories Of The Great And The Good Alistair Cooke 1999 British English
17163 A Hazard Of New Fortunes William Dean Howells 1890 American English
17163 Confessions Of A Muckraker Jack Anderson 1979 American English
17163 Honor Sonallah Ibrahim 2017 Egyptian Arabic
17163 Love In Exile Bahaa Taher 1995 Egyptian Arabic
17163 Sharp Objects Gillian Flynn 2006 American English
17163 The Rum Diary Hunter S. Thompson 1998 American English
17163 Connie Connie Chung 2024 Unknown English
17163 The New India Rahul Bhatia 2024 Unknown English
17163 Playing For Keeps David Halberstam 1999 American English
17163 The Orchid Thief Susan Orlean 1998 American English
17163 Burn Book Kara Swisher 2024 Unknown English
17163 Chasing Hope Nicholas Kristof 2024 American English
17163 American Mother Colum McCann 2024 Unknown English
17163 The Knowing Tanya Talaga 2024 Unknown Unknown
17163 The Freaks Came Out To Write Tricia Romano 2024 Unknown English
17163 Show Me The Bodies Peter Apps 2022 Unknown English
17163 Between Two Fires Joshua Yaffa 2020 Unknown English
17163 On The Front Line Marie Colvin 2012 British English
17163 Fishing In Utopia Andrew Brown 2008 Unknown English
17163 Hoo Hahs And Passing Frenzies Francis Wheen 2002 British English
17163 Season Of Blood Fergal Keane 1996 British English
17163 Everybody Loves A Good Drought Palagummi Sainath 1996 Indian English
17163 My Brother Jack George Johnston 1964 Australian English
17163 Battle Of Ink And Ice Darrell Hartman 2023 Unknown English
17163 The Undertow Jeff Sharlet 2023 American English