swap_horiz Van Gogh: The Life Alternatives

1

The Power Broker

The Power Broker details Robert Caro’s exhaustive investigation into Robert Moses, a pivotal figure in twentieth-century...

New York Political Urban Planning Caro

9.5 Brilliant

2

Meditations

Meditations is a personal journal written by Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher. It offers insights in...

Philosophy Memoir Roman Stoicism

9.5 Brilliant

3

Master of the Senate

The third volume in Robert Caro's series on Lyndon B. Johnson, this 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography details his ti...

American Political Caro Lbj

9.4 Excellent

4

If This Is a Man

Primo Levi's 1947 memoir details his horrific experiences as an Italian Jewish chemist imprisoned in the Auschwitz conce...

Wwii Holocaust Memoir Jewish

9.4 Excellent

5

The Passage of Power

Published in 2012, this fourth volume of Robert Caro's biography covers Lyndon B. Johnson's transition to the presidency...

American Political Caro Lbj

9.3 Excellent

6

The Path to Power

Published in 1982, Robert Caro's book is the first volume in his acclaimed biographical series detailing the early life...

American Political Caro Lbj

9.2 Excellent

7

Night

Elie Wiesel's seminal 1960 memoir details his horrific experiences with his father in the Nazi German concentration camp...

Wwii Holocaust Memoir Jewish

9.2 Excellent

8

The Warmth of Other Suns

Isabel Wilkerson's 2010 book explores the Great Migration by tracking the lives of African Americans who left the rural...

African American Narrative History Migration

9.2 Excellent

9

Means of Ascent

This 1990 book is the second volume in Robert Caro's acclaimed biographical series, focusing on Lyndon B. Johnson's cont...

American Political Caro Lbj

9.1 Excellent

10

The Periodic Table

Primo Levi's 1975 memoir uses the chemical elements as a framework to reflect on his life as a chemist and his survival...

Chemistry Science Memoir Jewish

9.1 Excellent

11

Parallel Lives

Plutarch's classic first-century series of biographies comparing prominent Greek and Roman figures, foundational to West...

Classical Ancient Greek Roman Plutarch

9.1 Excellent

12

The Glass Menagerie

Tennessee Williams's 1944 memory play, classified here as biography due to its highly autobiographical elements about hi...

American Drama Family Williams

9.1 Excellent

13

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

Alfred Lansing's 1959 historical narrative documents the harrowing 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition led by Ernes...

Exploration Survival Antarctic Lansing

9.0 Excellent

14

Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant

Published in 1885, this military memoir by the 18th U.S. President details his service during the American Civil War and...

Military American Autobiography Civil War

9.0 Excellent

15

Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson

James Boswell's 1791 biography is considered a masterpiece of English literature, offering a vividly detailed portrait o...

18TH Century Literature British Boswell

9.0 Excellent

16

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

This 1985 biographical collection of anecdotes details the unconventional and humorous life of Nobel Prize-winning physi...

Physics Science Humor Memoir

8.9 Great

17

American Prometheus

This Pulitzer Prize-winning 2005 biography by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin details the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer and...

Science Political Bird Sherwin Atomic Age

8.9 Great

18

Just Kids

Patti Smith's 2010 memoir chronicles her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe and their experiences in the late 1960s N...

Music 1970S Memoir Art

8.5 Great

19

Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo

Hayden Herrera's 1983 biography chronicles the turbulent life, political activism, and enduring surrealist art of iconic...

20TH Century Mexican Art Herrera

8.2 Great

20

M Train

Patti Smith's 2015 memoir reflects on her life, her travels, and her deep grief following the loss of her husband, music...

Music Memoir Art Patti Smith

7.3 Good