100 Best Non-Fiction Books of the 20th Century (and Beyond) in English

Counterpunch, 135 Books

In response to the proliferation of "best of the century" lists from major publications at the turn of the millennium, Jeffrey St. Clair and his colleague Alex decided to compile their own lists of the best books written and later translated into English during the 20th century. Their selections, aimed at the CounterPunch audience, diverged from mainstream choices, focusing instead on works that resonated deeply with their unique reader base. These lists became highly popular on the CounterPunch website, attracting over two million unique visitors and influencing librarians to reconsider the collections they maintained. However, a technical mishap during a website upgrade resulted in the loss of these carefully curated lists, likened humorously by Alex to the burning of the Library of Alexandria. Despite initial disheartenment, renewed interest and requests from the community prompted St. Clair to revisit and update these lists, reintroducing them with both cherished and new selections of non-fiction literature from the 20th century.

70 Classic Booker Prize-Nominated Novels, Recommended by our Readers

Booker Prize Library Readers, 70 Books

The Booker Library's list of must-read classics, as selected by its newsletter subscribers and social media followers, highlights the enduring appeal of books that have been nominated for the Booker Prize since its inception in 1969. These books, described as classics by journalist and author Italo Calvino, are notable for their ability to continually communicate new ideas and insights. The selected titles, drawn from over 600 nominated works, range from intimate stories to epic narratives, demonstrating a depth that rewards multiple readings and leaves a lasting impression on readers. This curated selection includes both bestsellers and lesser-known treasures, providing a comprehensive guide through the historical and contemporary highlights of the Booker Prize nominations.

Sight & Sound’s Top Five Film Books

Sight & Sound Magazine, 5 Books

Which are the best five books about film ever written? This was the question Sight & Sound asked 51 leading critics and writers – and a clear-cut top five emerged…

52 Award-Winning Titles Every Book Lover Should Read

Book, 52 Books

This is a list from a book that the ALA, the American Library Association published. The ALA is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 57,000 members.

A Century in Books

First Things Magazine, 19 Books

The editors of First Things Magazine, an influential journal of religion & public life, released this list back in 2000 when R. J. Neuhaus was editor-in-chief

The 50 Best Books of Literary Journalism

GQ, 50 Books

In creating their list of the 50 best literary journalism books of the 21st century, GQ sought the opinions of an elite group of American journalists, including Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and National Magazine Award winners, as well as GQ contributors. These books, which range from explorations of significant events to deep dives into intriguing subjects, represent a form of journalism that combines meticulous reporting with the narrative depth of novels. The journalists who voted for these books considered them not only enjoyable but also significant in their ability to clarify and interpret contemporary and recent historical events, influencing other forms of art such as film and TV. The list, meant to update the canon of literary journalism, strictly features one book per author and excludes essay collections, focusing instead on works that fully articulate a single story or theme.

A Response to David Handlin’s “One Hundred Best American Novels”

The American Scholar, 101 Books

This is a contrasting list of One Hundred Best American Novels, 1770 to 1985 by author and feminist scholar Sandra M. Gilbert

I highly recommend reading her description of this list.

One Hundred Best American Novels, 1770 to 1985

The American Scholar, 100 Books

This list is by David Handlin, posted by The American Scholar, the quarterly literary magazine of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, established as far back as 1932.

David Handlin is an American architect and architectural historian. He presents it as 'A reading enthusiast’s list' but reading the intro
suggests a fair amount of scholarship went into it. It is what you might call a respectable list of the 100 Best American Novels, 1770–1985.

NY Times Editors Choice 1980-1989

NY Times, 137 Books

Every year the New York Times puts together a "Best of the Year" list, and this is all the winners from the 1980s. I had to manually transcribe 1980 by looking at newspaper scans, which upsets me.

NY Times Editors Choice 1990-1999

NY Times, 110 Books

Every year the New York Times puts together a "Best of the Year" list, and this is all the winners from the 1990s

100 Best Non-Fiction Books (in Translation) of the 20th Century … and Beyond

Counterpunch, 146 Books

Jeffrey St. Clair and Alexander Cockburn lists the 100 best non-fiction books (in translation) of the 20th century. This list has way more books than 100. These guys can't count.

James Baldwin, The Book Lover: A Guide to the Best Reading (1910)

Book, 150 Books

The Book Lover: A Guide To The Best Reading is a literary guidebook written by James Baldwin and first published in 1885. The book is a comprehensive guide to the best books and authors of the time, providing readers with an extensive list of recommended reading. Baldwin covers a wide range of genres, including poetry, fiction, drama, and essays, and offers insightful commentary on each work.

101 of the World's Greatest Books (1950)

101 of the World's Greatest Books (Book), 101 Books

101 of the World's Greatest Books by Spencer Armstrong, 1950 edition. I could not find much information about Spencer Armstrong.

Recommended Reading List for Students (China 2020)

Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, 99 Books

This is the official recommended reading list of books for Students from the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (2020)

John Lubbock, The Choice of Books (1896)

The Choice of Books (Book), 147 Books

The List that started it all. This is one of the very first "Greatest Books of All Time" lists and caused quite a stir back in it's day. Here's a good article about it: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/sir-john-lubbock-the-book-list-literature-reading-godfather-mustread-listicle-a8320811.html

John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, 4th Baronet, PC, DL, FRS, FRAI (30 April 1834 – 28 May 1913), known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet from 1865 until 1900, was an English banker, Liberal politician, philanthropist, scientist and polymath. Lubbock worked in his family company as a banker but made significant contributions in archaeology, ethnography, and several branches of biology. He coined the terms "Paleolithic" and "Neolithic" to denote the Old and New Stone Ages, respectively. He helped establish archaeology as a scientific discipline, and was influential in debates concerning evolutionary theory.

1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List

1,000 Books to Read Before You Die(Book), 970 Books

A list written by James Mustich, a bookseller, editor, and writer. Here's the publisher's description:

Celebrate the pleasure of reading and the thrill of discovering new titles in an extraordinary book that’s as compulsively readable, entertaining, surprising, and enlightening as the 1,000-plus titles it recommends.

Covering fiction, poetry, science and science fiction, memoir, travel writing, biography, children’s books, history, and more, 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die ranges across cultures and through time to offer an eclectic collection of works that each deserve to come with the recommendation, You have to read this. But it’s not a proscriptive list of the “great works”—rather, it’s a celebration of the glorious mosaic that is our literary heritage.

This is the Canon: Decolonize Your Bookshelves in 50 Books

This is the Canon(Book), 50 Books

This is from a book from Kadija Sesay, Deirdre Osborne, Joan Anim-Addo

The editors description is:

Upending our traditionally white-dominated 'to be read' piles, Joan Anim-Addo, Deirdre Osborne and Kadija Sesay push to the fore the voices and cultural perspectives that demand a place on everyone's shelves.

From literary giants such as Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie and Chinua Achebe to recent Man Booker Prize winners Paul Beatty and Bernardine Evaristo, the novels recommended here are in turn haunting and lyrical; innovative and inspiring; edgy and poignant. They are books that reflect the wide and diverse experiences of people from around the world, of all backgrounds and all races. They are books that represent voices that have for too long been silenced or side-lined.

The description from the book's first 2 chapters:
Each title has been carefully chosen as a result of our commitment to diversify the traditional literary canon of novels and short stories available in the English language... It should be understood to mean this is a canon, neither replacing nor adding to what has existed previously, but one of many possible selections... Those who oppose or criticize the act of decolonization often fear contamination or a lowering of standards. To reassure readers, we are emphatically opposed to exalting books that are mediocre, or outside the possibility of literary success.

75 Books Every Woman Should Read

Jezebel, 75 Books

Jezebel lists the 75 books every woman should read. Here's their description:

We started you off with 20 culled from our editors' suggestions, and you guys took the ball and ran with it. A few notes on the compendium of 75 that you helped us compile below. As we said in the original post, most of the extant rosters of must-read classics are full of old white dudes. So our list is going to be mostly women. Which doesn't mean there are not myriad male-written must-reads! A second note: we're aware that "The Lottery" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find" are short stories. We were referring to the eponymous books that contained those stories as well as several others. Finally, we're in no way implying that this is the final word in amazing, rich, edifying books for women, so please refrain from the "OMG I can't believe you morons forgot X," comments, mkay? The alive 75, in no particular order,after the jump!

The 100 Greatest Non-Fiction Books

The Guardian, 100 Books

The Guardian's list of the greatest non-fiction books of all time. here's their description:

After keen debate at the Guardian's books desk, this is our list of the very best factual writing, organised by category, and then by date.

200 Books That Shaped 200 Years of Literature

The Center for Fiction, 206 Books

Description from the site:

As an organization whose mission is to both reflect and advance the art of fiction, we’re honoring our 200th anniversary by looking back on how storytelling has evolved since then. We set forth to create a list of the 200 works of fiction that had the most impact on American readers, writers, and culture over these past two centuries... the help of a panel of writers associated with The Center: Mahogany L. Browne, Amina Cain, Alexander Chee, Kia Corthron, Michael Cunningham, Alvaro Enrigue, Neil Gaiman, Rigoberto Gonzalez, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Stephen King, Maaza Mengiste, Claire Messud, Jason Reynolds, Salman Rushdie, Esmeralda Santiago, Jonathan Santlofer, V. E. Schwab, Gary Shteyngart, Jane Smiley, Monique Truong, and De'Shawn Charles Winslow. Each author contributed five titles they wanted to be included... and The Center’s staff set to work on completing the list... after much anguish and debate, we present the 200 Books That Shaped 200 Years of Literature

10 Most Influential Books by the ISA

ISA (International Sociological Association), 10 Books

One of the major aims of the ISA World Congress of Sociology held in Montreal 1998, was to make a critical assessment of sociological heritage of the twentieth century. In this framework the ISA Congress Programme Committee carried on in 1997 an opinion survey in order to identify ten most influential books for sociologists. ISA members were asked to list five books published in the twentieth century which were most influential in their work as sociologists. 16% of ISA members (455 out of 2785) participated in the survey

The Cundill History Prize

The Cundill History Prize, 16 Books

The Cundill History Prize is an annual Canadian book prize for "the best history writing in English". It was established in 2008 by Peter Cundill and is administered by McGill University. The prize encourages "informed public debate through the wider dissemination of history writing to new audiences around the world" and is awarded to an author whose book, published in the past year, demonstrates "historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and broad appeal". No restrictions are set on the topic of the book or the nationality of the author, and English translations are permitted.

The 13 Best Science Books for the General Reader

The Guardian, 13 Books

Steven Weinberg, The Nobel laureate, lists his 13 best science books for the general reader

A Science Canon (Ian McEwan)

The Guardian, 15 Books

Thirty years ago, Richard Dawkins published his groundbreaking book The Selfish Gene. Ian McEwan argues that it is part of a long history of literary science writing, in which the pursuit of truth and the excitement of new ideas is conveyed in luminous prose

Best Philosophy Books of All Time

Fivebooks, 18 Books

Fivebooks interviewed hundreds of philosophers, these are the philosophy books that come up again and again

Mary Warnock's top 10 philosophy books

Mary Warnock, 10 Books

Lady Mary Warnock is a crossbench life peer, moral philosopher and author of a number of books on philosophy, including The Intelligent Person's Guide to Ethics. This is her list of her favorite philosophy books

72 Philosophy Books Everyone Should Read

The Institute of Art and Ideas, 78 Books

The Institute of Art and Ideas asked experts across the philosophy discipline to put together a list of their recommended philosophy books that everyone should read.

100 All-Time Greatest Popular Science Books

Open Education Database, 100 Books

OEDB.org made this list of the greatest popular science books. here's their description:

These great popular science books offer accessible science to readers from all levels of knowledge. There's something here for everyone, whether you're interested in environmental science, kitchen chemistry, or just want to try out some fun experiments with your kids over the summer. Check out our picks for the best in popular science, and see how you can use them to better understand and explore our world.

Landmarks of World Literature

Cambridge University, 24 Books

This series provides concise and lucid introductions to major works of world literature. It is not confined to any single literary tradition or genre and cumulatively forms a substantial library of textbooks on some of the most important and widely read masterpieces.

Inteliquest's World's 100 Greatest Books of All-Time

InteliQuest, 100 Books

InteliQuest contacted the literature departments of some of America's top universities and asked for their rankings of what they considered to be the greatest works of literature. We then compiled and analyzed these lists and chose the 100 books mentioned most often. The books in this collection are not presented in order of greatness. They are presented in chronological order

InteliQuest then sold the books on cassette tape

The Drama 100 - A Ranking of the Greatest Plays of All Time

Book, 100 Books

Which plays are truly great, and why? This book by Daniel Burt profiles 100 of the greatest plays drawn from all cultures and periods of literature.

The Well-Educated Mind

Book, 178 Books

In her best-selling work on home education, The Well-Trained Mind, Susan Wise Bauer provided a road map of classical education for parents wishing to home-school their children; that book is now the premier resource for home-schoolers. In The Well-Educated Mind, Bauer takes the same elements and techniques and adapts them to the use of adult readers who want both enjoyment and self-improvement from the time they spend reading. Followed carefully, her advice will restore and expand the pleasure of the written word.

Bill Gate's Book Recommendations

Bill Gates, 258 Books

All books recommended by Bill Gates

The Twenty Greatest Philosophy Books (Book from 2006)

James Garvey, 20 Books

The essential guide to the top twenty greatest books in philosophy for those who have just never quite found the time to read them.

In this witty and engaging book, James Garvey offers an introductory account of the must-read books from the whole history of philosophical writing. From Plato to Popper, Descartes to Wittgenstein, the greatest books in philosophy have had a huge impact on the development of contemporary society, politics, economics and culture. This entertaining and intelligent guide introduces the philosophical questions central to these books that are of genuine interest to the general reader and opens up often complex and challenging ideas for wider debate.

James Garvey is the Managing Director of the Royal Institute of Philosophy and the Editor of The Philosophers' Magazine

One Hundred Best Books (1916)

John Cowper Powys, 98 Books

John Cowper Powys’ Best 100 Books published more than a century ago, in 1916. John Cowper Powys (8 October 1872 – 17 June 1963) was an English novelist, philosopher, lecturer, critic and poet.

William H. F. Lamont’s 100 Best Novels (1947)

archive.org, 100 Books

The 100 best novels, compiled by William H. F. Lamont for the magazine Books Abroad, Vol. 21 No.1, Winter 1947.

To start off he 'decided to examine the fiction section (57 novels) of John Cowper Powys’ list of One Hundred Best Books, the fiction section (approximately 300 novels) of Asa Don Dickinson’s One Thousand Best Books, & the entire fiction list of William Lyon Phelps' One Hundred Best Novels'.
He found the lists inadequate as regards to Continental & South American novels, as well as those from small countries, changed them substantially and then 'I sent it to perhaps fifty of the outstanding scholars of America, asking for their criticism', which they delivered in spades - that part is funny & illuminating, you get an idea of how the sausages are made when there's a real attempt at a professional list.

The Complete 500: OCLC

OCLC, 497 Books

This list is from OCLC and is a bit different than most lists on this site. OCLC is a global library organization that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large. This list is based on how many libraries have a copy of a book on their shelves. Here's their own description:

What makes a novel “great”? At OCLC, we believe literary greatness can be measured by how many libraries have a copy on their shelves.
Yes, libraries offer access to trendy and popular books. But, they don’t keep them on the shelf if they’re not repeatedly requested by their communities over the years. We’ve identified 500 timeless, top novels—those found in thousands of libraries around the world—using WorldCat, the world’s largest database of library materials'.

The New Canon: What’s the Most Influential Book of the Past 20 Years?

The Chronicle of Higher Education, 20 Books

The Chronicle of Higher Education, which is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professional invited scholars from across the academy to tell what they saw as the most influential book published in the past 20 years. (Some respondents named books slightly outside our time frame, but were included anyway.) They asked them to select books — academic or not, but written by scholars — from within or outside their own fields. It was up to the respondents to define “influential.”

10 of the Best Popular Science Books as Chosen by Authors and Writers

NewScientist , 10 Books

NewScientist has polled various authors and writers about their favorite science books. here's who they polled: George Monbiot, Colin Tudge, Pragya Agarwal, Jonathan Drori, Emily Shuckburgh, Cassandra Coburn, Jojo Mehta, Jim Down, Camilla Pang and Richard Walker

Twenty Books that Changed the World

The Guardian, 20 Books

A list from The Guardian that was put together by a panel of expert academic booksellers, librarians and publishers from a list of 200 titles submitted by UK publishers

The 50 best books of the past 100 years

The Times, 51 Books

On the 100th anniversary of Ulysses, our jury of authors and critics picked the finest novels published since Joyce’s classic — and readers picked the 51st. Here's who voted:

● Kamila Shamsie is the author of Home Fire, which won the Women’s Prize.
● David Nicholls is the author of One Day and Starter for Ten.
● Aminatta Forna has written four novels, including Happiness.
● John Carey is chief literary critic of The Sunday Times. He has been reviewing in these pages for 50 years.
● Sarah Waters has written six novels, including Fingersmith.
● Sebastian Faulks is the author of 17 novels, including Birdsong.
● Anne Enright has written seven novels, including her Booker-winning The Gathering.
● Megan Nolan wrote Acts of Desperation.
● Peter Kemp is chief fiction reviewer for The Sunday Times.
● Colm Tóibín has written ten novels, including Brooklyn.
● Claire Lowdon is a novelist and literary critic.
● Yiyun Li writes short stories and novels, including A Thousand Years of Good Prayers.
● David Mitchell is the author of Cloud Atlas.
● Johanna Thomas-Corr is a journalist and literary critic.
● Diana Evans is the award-winning author of Ordinary People.
● Carys Davies is the author of West and The Mission House.

The 100 Best Crime Novels and Thrillers since 1945

The Times, 100 Books

The Times team pick their favourite crime and spy novels, from Agatha Christie and Georges Simenon to today’s edgy Scandi and Japanese masters.

Contributors: Francesca Angelini, John Carey, Max Freeman-Mills, Josh Glancy, Andrew Holgate, Alan Hunter, Peter Kemp, Claire Lowdon, David Mills, John Dugdale, Patricia Nicol, Nick Rennison, Karen Robinson, Mika Ross-Southall, Joan Smith, Johanna Thomas-Corr

Zeit Literaturkanon

https://www.librarything.com/award/335/ZEIT-Literaturkanon, 70 Books

Canon of European post-war novels published by the weekly German newspaper DIE ZEIT in 2012.

Best Books (Fiction, Prose) : Experts Choose Their Favourites

The Book "Best Books", 197 Books

This list of books is from the book titled "Best Books: Experts Choose Their Favourites". This is a very small set of the books that are listed in the book. This is only the Fiction, non-fiction prose, drama, and genre fiction. The experts in these categories who made up the lists are: Brenda Richardson, Chris Murray, Roz Kaveney, Anthony Thwaite, Claire Tomalin, Malcolm Bardbury, Oliver Harris, Ian F A Bell, Kadiatu Kanneh, Brian Aldiss, Marina Oliver, Colin Dexter, Derek Parker, and T. J. Lustig.

1000 Novels Everyone Must Read

The Guardian, 997 Books

Selected by the Guardian’s Review team and a panel of expert judges, this list includes only novels – no memoirs, no short stories, no long poems – from any decade and in any language. Originally published in thematic supplements – love, crime, comedy, family and self, state of the nation, science fiction and fantasy, war and travel – they appear here for the first time in a single list.

The Little Big Bulgaria Read

Bulgaria, 100 Books

This list is the Bulgarian version of the BBC Big Read, but only children voted. Big Reading is a campaign broadcast on Bulgarian National Television , with the aim of polling Bulgarians about their favorite novels. The show is based on the BBC 's Great Reading English format . It started in Bulgaria on October 5 , 2008 and ended on March 22, 2009 . Voting is done by e-mail, via the Internet , by telephone or by letter .

100 Books of Classical and Modern Foreign Literature

The Union of Russian Writers, 100 Books

"100 books of classical and modern foreign literature" according to the Union of Writers of Russia, published on January 23, 2013.

The creators of the list are confident that Russian literature is a universal cultural heritage, but its significance can only be understood in unity with world literature, and that this list, presented to the public within the framework of the presidential project, will help strengthen spirituality and morality among Russian youth, and will also help revive traditions family reading and will become a notable event in the cultural life of modern Russia.

The Union of Russian Writers is a non-governmental organization uniting Russian and writers (novelists, poets, essayists, etc.). It was established in 1991, when on the basis of the Union of Soviet Writers three independent associations were formed: the Writers' Union of Russia (the "patriotic" orientation), the Writers' Union of Moscow, and the Union of Russian Writers ("democratic" union). The Union of Russian Writers includes more than 3,500 writers from Russia and former USSR, in 58 regional organizations.

Top 50 Books

The Folio Society, 49 Books

These top 50 books were voted on by The Folio Society members in 1997. The Folio Society is a London-based publisher, founded by Charles Ede in 1947 and incorporated in 1971.

The Modern Philosophical Classics

The Philosophical Forum, 27 Books

We asked respondents to name the five most important books in philosophy in the twentieth century, and also the five most important articles. Giving five choices permits discretion, but five is a small enough number to force voters to choose their selections carefully. Since we were interested in judgments of quality, we instructed respondents to make their choices on the basic of intrinsic merit, not on the basis of causal influence. (By the causal influence standard, Mein Kampf might be the most important book of the twentieth century.)

Using the Philosophers’ Email Directory, we mailed our questionnaire to 5,000 teachers of philosophy. About 1,000 emails bounced back for mis-typed or obsolete addresses, 4,000 reached their targets. We received 414 survey replies, a healthy response rate of better than 10%. Since there are about 10,000 teachers of philosophy in North America, we had replies from 4% of the entire profession.

Quintessential American Fiction, According to the Rest of the World

Literary Hub, 100 Books

On the occasion of the 4th of July, we the asked the rest of the world for its opinion on American literature. In a deeply unscientific survey of nearly 50 writers, editors, publishers, critics, and translators, representing 30 countries, we asked them to name three quintessentially American books, and tell us about their choices.