swap_horiz Will in the World 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

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

5

Samuel Johnson

John Wain's 1975 biography details the life of 18th-century English writer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson, exploring h...

18TH Century Literature British Bate

8.6 Great

6

John Keats

Walter Jackson Bate's 1963 Pulitzer-winning biography provides a deeply researched account of the brief life and brillia...

Literature British Romantic Era Bate

8.5 Great

7

My Early Life

Winston Churchill's 1930 autobiography details his early military campaigns and journalistic adventures prior to his pro...

British Political Victorian Memoir

8.5 Great

8

Virginia Woolf: A Biography

Quentin Bell's 1972 biography offers an intimate portrait of English modernist writer Virginia Woolf, blending literary...

Literature British Modernism Bell

8.3 Great

9

Surprised by Joy

C.S. Lewis's 1955 autobiography chronicles his early life, his intellectual development, and his conversion from atheism...

Conversion British Spiritual Memoir

8.3 Great

10

Down and Out in Paris and London

George Orwell's 1933 autobiographical work recounting his experiences living in poverty in two major European cities and...

British 1930S Memoir Poverty

8.2 Great

11

The Road to Wigan Pier

George Orwell's 1937 sociological book documenting the harsh living conditions of working-class people in Northern Engla...

British Memoir Working Class Poverty

8.2 Great

12

Zelda

Nancy Milford's 1970 biography examines the life of Zelda Fitzgerald, exploring her fame as a 1920s icon and her complex...

American Literature 1920S Milford

8.1 Great

13

Victoria: The Queen

A 2016 biography of Queen Victoria by Julia Baird that explores her complex life and long reign over the United Kingdom.

British Political Victorian Baird

8.0 Great

14

My Own Story

Emmeline Pankhurst's 1914 memoir details her role as a British suffragette leader and the militant fight for women's vot...

British Political Memoir Pankhurst

8.0 Great

15

Churchill: A Life

Written by British historian Martin Gilbert in 1991, this book provides a comprehensive one-volume account of British Pr...

Wwii British Political Gilbert

7.8 Good

16

The Feather Thief

Kirk Wallace Johnson's 2018 true-crime book investigates the bizarre 2009 theft of rare bird skins from a British museum...

Narrative True Crime British Museum

7.8 Good

17

Elizabeth the Queen

A 2012 biography by Sally Bedell Smith that chronicles the life and historic reign of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and h...

20TH Century British Smith Royalty

7.8 Good

18

The Iron Lady: A Biography of Margaret Thatcher

Published in 1989, Hugo Young's biography examines the political career of Margaret Thatcher and her profoundly polarizi...

British Political Conservative Campbell

7.5 Good

19

Losing My Virginity

This 1998 autobiography by British entrepreneur Richard Branson details his business ventures and the creation of the Vi...

Business Entrepreneurship British Memoir

7.0 Good

20

Finding Freedom

A 2020 biography exploring the romance and royal exit of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, detailing their challenges with...

Sussex British Royalty Scobie Durand

5.0 Mediocre