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
9513 C John Diamond 1998 British English
9515 Memoirs Raymond Aron 1983 French French
9652 The People's Republic Of Amnesia Louisa Lim 2014 Unknown English
9808 The Custodian Of Paradise Wayne Johnston 2006 Canadian English
9938 Crusade For Justice Ida B. Wells 1970 American English
10135 Running Dog Don DeLillo 1978 American English
10167 Dragon's Teeth Upton Sinclair 1942 American English
10437 There Must Be A Pony In Here Somewhere Kara Swisher 2003 American English
10448 Luce and His Empire W. A. Swanberg 1972 American English
10449 Prisoner Without A Name, Cell Without A Number Jacobo Timerman 1981 Argentinian Spanish
10579 Some People Need Killing Patricia Evangelista 2023 Unknown English
10638 Bottoms Up And The Devil Laughs Kerry Howley 2023 Unknown English
10657 Paper Girl Beth Macy 2025 American English
10685 Your Face Belongs To Us Kashmir Hill 2024 American English
10680 Unscripted James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams 2023 Unknown English
10758 Notes On A Foreign Country Suzy Hansen 2017 American English
10851 The Albany Cycle William Kennedy 1983 American English
10914 The Shining Girls Lauren Beukes 2013 South African English
11034 Empire Of Ai Karen Hao 2025 American English
11039 Who Is Government? Michael M. Lewis 2025 Unknown English
11063 All The Wrong Places James Fenton 1994 British English
11660 Crossing The Line William Finnegan 1986 American Unknown
11660 Evelyn Waugh Martin Stannard 1986 Unknown English
11888 Whittaker Chambers Sam Tanenhaus 1997 American English
11899 Margaret Bourke White Vicki Goldberg 1988 American English
11934 Super Pumped Mike Isaac 2019 American English
11939 The Training of an American Burton J. Hendrick 1928 American English
11939 The Autobiography of William Allen White William Allen White 1946 American English
11939 Forgotten First Citizen Margaret Clapp 1947 American English
11939 Margaret Fuller Megan Marshall 2013 American English
12072 The Afghans Asne Seierstad, Seán Kinsella 2022 Norwegian English
12115 Joyride Susan Orlean 2025 American English
12127 Bad Company Megan Greenwell 2025 American English
12136 The Powers That Be David Halberstam 1979 American English
12164 Little Bosses Everywhere Bridget Read 2025 Unknown English
12235 Original Sin Jake Tapper 2023 American English
12289 The Bully Pulpit Doris Kearns Goodwin 2013 American English
12432 The Gods Of New York Jonathan Mahler 2025 American English
12493 The Eyes Of Gaza Plestia Alaqad 2025 Unknown English
12562 Breakneck Dan Wang Unknown English
12832 After Henry Joan Didion 1992 American English
13078 To Lose A War Jon Lee Anderson 2025 American English
13080 Talk To Me Rich Benjamin 2025 American English
13097 How To Be Well Amy Larocca 2025 American English
13183 The Once And Future Riot Joe Sacco 2025 American English
13256 The Photographer Emmanuel Guibert 2003 French English
13359 Gentleman's Agreement Laura Z. Hobson 1947 American English
13599 Histoire D'un Fait Divers Jean-Jacques Gautier 1946 French French
13885 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
14401 La Ligne Noire Jean-Christophe Grangé 2004 French French
14498 News Of A Kidnapping Gabriel García Márquez 1996 Colombian Spanish
14546 Queed Henry Sydnor Harrison 1911 American English
14553 It's Our Turn To Eat Michela Wrong 2009 British English
14676 The Life And Letters Of John Hay William Roscoe Thayer 1915 American English
14730 The Looting Machine Tom Burgis 2015 British English
14821 The Face Of War Martha Gellhorn 1959 American English
14895 Archy And Mehitabel Don Marquis 1927 American English
14955 The Front Page Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur 1928 American English
14983 A Drinking Life Pete Hamill 1994 American English
14983 The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta Mario Vargas Llosa 1984 Peruvian Spanish
14983 Double Whammy Carl Hiaasen 1987 American English
14983 The Night Of The Gun David Carr 2008 American English
14983 The Woman In Cabin 10 Ruth Ware 2016 British English
15634 Honor Thy Father Gay Talese 1971 American English
15659 Do Not Disturb Michela Wrong 2021 British English
15892 Beat the Devil Claud Cockburn 1951 British English
15897 Slightly Out Of Focus Robert Capa 1947 American English
15897 Brazilian Adventure Peter Fleming 1933 British English
15897 Part Of Our Time Murray Kempton 1955 American English
15897 The Bogey Man George Plimpton 1968 American English
15897 Berlin Diary William L. Shirer 1941 British English
15897 I, Claud Claud Cockburn 1962 Irish English
15897 The Shame Of The Cities Lincoln Steffens 1904 American English
16612 Fame And Obscurity Gay Talese 1970 American English
16649 What Makes Sammy Run? Budd Schulberg 1941 American English
17119 Walter Lippmann and the American Century Ronald Steel 1980 American English
17119 The Race Beat Gene Roberts, Hank Klibanoff 2006 American English
17119 A History of American Magazines Frank Luther Mott 1930 American English
17119 The Suffragette Scandal Courtney Milan 2014 American English
17119 The Widow Fiona Barton 2016 British English
17119 The Lotus Eaters Tatjani Soli 2010 American English
17119 Her Last Flight Beatriz Williams 2020 American English
17119 Michaelmas Algis Budrys 1977 American English
17119 Palestine Joe Sacco 1993 American English
17119 Airhead Emily Maitlis 2019 British English
17119 The Pentagon Papers New York Times 1971 American English
17119 Those Guys Have All The Fun James Andrew Miller 2011 American English
17119 The Psychopath Test Jon Ronson 2011 British English
17119 Ack Ack Macaque Gareth L. Powell 2012 British English
17119 The Pelican Brief John Grisham 1992 American English
17119 The Last Juror John Grisham 2004 American English
17119 Swimsuit James Patterson 2009 American English
17119 Memories Of The Great And The Good Alistair Cooke 1999 British English
17119 A Hazard Of New Fortunes William Dean Howells 1890 American English
17119 Confessions Of A Muckraker Jack Anderson 1979 American English
17119 Honor Sonallah Ibrahim 2017 Egyptian Arabic
17119 Love In Exile Bahaa Taher 1995 Egyptian Arabic
17119 Sharp Objects Gillian Flynn 2006 American English
17119 The Rum Diary Hunter S. Thompson 1998 American English
17119 Connie Connie Chung 2024 Unknown English
17119 The New India Rahul Bhatia 2024 Unknown English
17119 Playing For Keeps David Halberstam 1999 American English
17119 The Orchid Thief Susan Orlean 1998 American English
17119 Burn Book Kara Swisher 2024 Unknown English
17119 Chasing Hope Nicholas Kristof 2024 American English
17119 American Mother Colum McCann 2024 Unknown English
17119 The Knowing Tanya Talaga 2024 Unknown Unknown
17119 The Freaks Came Out To Write Tricia Romano 2024 Unknown English
17119 Show Me The Bodies Peter Apps 2022 Unknown English
17119 Between Two Fires Joshua Yaffa 2020 Unknown English
17119 On The Front Line Marie Colvin 2012 British English
17119 Fishing In Utopia Andrew Brown 2008 Unknown English
17119 Hoo Hahs And Passing Frenzies Francis Wheen 2002 British English
17119 Season Of Blood Fergal Keane 1996 British English
17119 Everybody Loves A Good Drought Palagummi Sainath 1996 Indian English
17119 My Brother Jack George Johnston 1964 Australian English
17119 Battle Of Ink And Ice Darrell Hartman 2023 Unknown English
17119 The Undertow Jeff Sharlet 2023 American English