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40 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time


Our goal: Find the best Nonfiction books according to the internet (not just one random person's opinion).

    Here's what we did:
  1. Type "best nonfiction books" into our search engine and study the top 5+ pages.
  2. Add only the books mentioned 2+ times.
  3. Rank the results neatly for you here! 😊
    (It was a lot of work. But hey! That's why we're here, right?)

(Updated 2023)

As an Amazon Associate, we earn money from purchases made through links in this page.

  1. 1
  2. 2

    Silent Spring

    Rachel Carson

  3. 3

    In Cold Blood

    Truman Capote

  4. 4
  5. 6
  6. MOST RECOMMENDED!
    7
  7. 8
  8. 9
  9. 10
  10. 11
  11. 13
  12. 14
  13. 15

    The Elements of Style

    William Strunk Jr.

  14. 16
  15. 17
  16. 18
  17. 19

    The Second Sex

    Simone de Beauvoir

  18. 20
  19. 21
  20. 22
  21. 23

    H Is for Hawk

    Helen Macdonald

  22. 24
  23. 25

    Hiroshima

    John Hersey

  24. 26

    The Souls of Black Folk

    W. E. B. Du Bois

  25. 27
  26. 28

    No Logo

    Naomi Klein

  27. 32

    A Room of One's Own

    Virginia Woolf

  28. 33

    Black Boy

    Richard Wright

  29. 34
  30. 35
  31. 36

    Ariel

    Sylvia Plath

  32. 37
  33. 38
  34. 39

    How to Cook a Wolf

    M.F.K. Fisher

  35. 40

FAQ

  • How was this Nonfiction books list created?

    We searched for 'best Nonfiction books', found the top 5 articles, took every book mentioned in 2+ articles, and averaged their rankings.

  • How many Nonfiction books are in this list?

    There are 40 books in this list.

  • Why did you create this Nonfiction books list?

    We wanted to gather the most accurate list of Nonfiction books on the internet.

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