The 100 best nonfiction books of all time: the full list

[left-of-center2012]

After two years of careful consideration, Robert McCrum has reached a verdict on his selection of the 100 greatest nonfiction books of all time.

Robert McCrum is an associate editor of the Observer. He was the literary editor of the Observer from 1996 to 2008, and has been a regular contributor to the Guardian since 1990.

1. The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert (2014)

2. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (2005)

3. No Logo by Naomi Klein (1999)

4. Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes (1998)

5. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama (1995)

6. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (1988)

7. The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe (1979)

8. Orientalism by Edward Said (1978)

9. Dispatches by Michael Herr (1977)

10. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (1976)

Full list at:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/31/the-100-best-nonfiction-books-of-all-time-the-full-list

[Neoma]

2. I both like and don't like these kinds of lists.

I guess it's because I'm one of those people that never follows lists like this. Because if you are a total nonfiction book nerd? It is so easy to find books you want to read in a bookstore. Easier I think than for people who read fiction, because nonfiction books are a little more straight forward on what they are about, and what topic they cover.

But I like it because people need to be directed to more nonfiction.

[JennyStevens]

3. I've only read three

I read a lot of non-fiction, but I've only read three of the top 10. I guess I need to get busy. Thank you for sharing the list.

[Zorro]

4. Webster's Dictionary? Roget's Thesaurus? The Bible (KJV)?

Where's the Oxford Encyclopedia then?

[left-of-center2012]

5. As stated in the OP ...

"Robert McCrum has reached a verdict on his selection of the 100 greatest nonfiction books of all time."

[Xipe Totec]

6. The Making of the Atomic Bomb - Richard Rhodes

Ablaze - Piers Paul Read

The Devastation of the Indies - Fr. Bartolomé de las Casas

The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico - Bernal Díaz del Castillo