The Greatest Books of All Time on Policy

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

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.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
5123 Killing The Black Body Dorothy E. Roberts 1997 American English
5368 The Way the World Works Jude Wanniski 1978 American English
6517 Free to Choose Milton Friedman, Rose Friedman 1980 American English
6575 Crashed Adam Tooze 2018 British English
7034 Democracy And Power In An American City Robert Dahl 1961 American English
9249 The Entrepreneurial State Mariana Mazzucato 2013 British English
9604 The 9/11 Commission Report 9/11 Commission 2004 American English
9771 Democracy For Realists Christopher H. Achen, Larry Bartels 2016 American English
9936 One Child Mei Fong 2016 Unknown English
9966 Politics Hendrik Hertzberg 2004 American English
10234 Race For Profit Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor 2019 American English
10448 Lords of Finance Liaquat Ahamed 2009 American English
10767 Halfway Home Reuben Jonathan Miller 2021 American English
11061 The Thatcher Decade Peter Riddell 1989 British English
11660 After The Music Stopped Alan S. Blinder 2013 American English
11660 Days Of Fire Peter Baker 2013 American English
11660 Keynes Robert Skidelsky 1983 British English
11939 Grover Cleveland Allan Nevins 1932 American English
14159 The Great Crash, 1929 John Kenneth Galbraith 1955 Canadian English
14334 Beyond Smoke And Mirrors Douglas S. Massey 2002 American English
14457 Tomorrow's Table Pamela C. Ronald 2008 American English
14457 Sustainable Energy David J. C. Mackay 2008 British English
14498 Too Big To Fail Andrew Ross Sorkin 2009 American English
14498 Health Care Will Not Reform Itself George C. Halvorson 2009 American English
14498 Liberating Learning Terry M. Moe 2009 American English
14519 Educational Economics Marguerite Roza 2010 American English
14519 Stretching The School Dollar Frederick M. Hess 2010 American English
14519 Beyond The Crash Gordon Brown 2010 British English
14553 Reinventing Fire Amory Lovins 2011 American English
14553 Unlocking Energy Innovation Richard K. Lester 2011 American English
14553 Poor Economics Abhijit V. Banerjee, Esther Duflo 2011 American English
14553 Class Warfare Steven Brill 2011 American English
14553 The Quest Daniel Yergin 2011 American English
14553 Value Added Measures In Education Douglas N. Harris 2011 American English
14553 Deng Xiaoping And The Transformation Of China Ezra F. Vogel 2011 American English
14598 One Billion Hungry Gordon Conway 2012 British English
14629 How Asia Works Joe Studwell 2013 British English
14629 Poor Numbers Morten Jerven 2013 Norwegian English
14629 The Bet Paul Sabin 2013 American English
14649 Stress Test Timothy F. Geithner 2014 American English
14983 Poverty, By America Matthew Desmond 2023 American English
15559 Good Economics For Hard Times Abhijit V. Banerjee, Esther Duflo 2019 American English
15608 How To Avoid A Climate Disaster Bill Gates 2021 American English
17117 Banks and Politics in America Bray Hammond 1957 American English
17117 The Republican Era Leonard D. White, Jean Schneider 1958 American English
17117 American Education Lawrence A. Cremin 1980 American English
17117 Prophets of Regulation Thomas K. McCraw 1984 American English
17117 Doughnut Economics Kate Raworth 2017 British English
17117 Revolting Prostitutes Molly Smith, Juno Mac 2018 British English
17117 How To Cool The Planet Jeff Goodell 2010 American English
17117 The Climate Book Greta Thunberg 2022 Swedish English
17117 Whitehall Peter Hennessy 1989 British English
17117 The End Of The Party Andrew Rawnsley 2010 British English
17117 The Hospital Brian Alexander 2021 Unknown English
17117 India’s Techade Nalin Mehta 2023 Unknown English
17117 Gradual Greg Berman, Aubrey Fox 2022 Unknown English
17117 The Price Of Peace Zachary D. Carter 2020 American English