Top 10 biography books
The 30 Best Biographies of All Time
Join Discovery, the new community for book lovers
Trust book recommendations from real people, not robots đ€
Blog â Posted on Monday, Jan 21
Biographer Richard Holmes once wrote that his work was âa kind of pursuit⊠writing about the pursuit of that fleeting figure, in such a way as to bring them alive in the present.â
At the risk of sounding clichĂ©, the best biographies do exactly this: bring their subjects to life. A great biography isnât just a laundry list of events that happened to someone. Rather, it should weave a narrative and tell a story in almost the same way a novel does. In this way, biography differs from the rest of nonfiction.
All the biographies on this list are just as captivating as excellent novels, if not more so. With that, please enjoy the 30 best biographies of all time â some historical, some recent, but all remarkable, life-giving tributes to their subjects.
If you're feeling overwhelmed by the number of great biographies out there, you can also take our 30-second quiz below to narrow it down quickly and get a personalized biography recommendation đ
đ
Which biography should you read next?
Discover the perfect biography for you. Takes 30 seconds!
1. A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
This biography of esteemed mathematician John Nash was both a finalist for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize and the basis for the award-winning film of the same name. Nasar thoroughly explores Nashâs prestigious career, from his beginnings at MIT to his work at the RAND Corporation â as well the internal battle he waged against schizophrenia, a disorder that nearly derailed his life.
2. Alan Turing: The Enigma: The Book That Inspired the Film The Imitation Game - Updated Edition by Andrew Hodges
Hodgesâ 1983 biography of Alan Turing sheds light on the inner workings of this brilliant mathematician, cryptologist, and computer pioneer. Indeed, despite the title (a nod to his work dur There are myriad ways to tell the story of a life, as shown by this yearâs best biographies. Craig Brownâs doorstopper A Voyage Around the Queen (4th Estate), about the reign of Elizabeth II, dispenses with linear storytelling in favour of a patchwork of diary entries, letters, vignettes, second-hand anecdotes and even dreams (the writer Paul Theroux once dreamed of being nestled in Her Majestyâs bosom). The result is an unorthodox and wonderfully irreverent book which, alert to the absurdities of the monarchy, reveals as much about how others saw the Queen as the woman herself. Sonia Purnellâs Kingmaker: Pamela Churchill Harriman (Virago) is a rich and riveting portrait of another seemingly unknowable aristocrat. The daughter-in-law of Winston Churchill, Harriman was, says Purnell, a canny diplomat who exerted remarkable influence on mid-20th-century politics through her three marriages and numerous affairs with powerful men (her lovers included a prince, a shipping magnate and a celebrated US broadcaster). Lili Anolikâs Didion and Babitz(Atlantic Books) is a luminous joint biography of Joan Didion and Eve Babitz, inspired by newly unearthed correspondence between the two writers that reads like âa loversâ quarrelâ. Anolik traces both womenâs lives and their fraught friendship in the late 60s and early 70s, which fell apart after Didion was hired to edit Babitzâs first book. Reader, she fired her. Ekow EshunâsThe Strangers (Hamish Hamilton) is a group biography, written in the second person, that artfully delves into the minds and motivations of five pioneering Black men: actor and playwright Ira Aldridge; explorer Matthew Henson; activist Malcolm X; footballer Justin Fashanu; and psychiatrist and thinker Frantz Fanon. Each is linked, writes Eshun, by being âan exile: a figure in motion through a world that regarded him as an alienâ. Fanon is also the subject of The Rebelâs Clinic (Apollo), an enthralling n 50 Youâre probably familiar with The Count of Monte Cristo, the 1844 revenge novel by Alexandre Dumas. But did you know it was based on the life of Dumasâs father, the mixed-race General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, son of a French nobleman and a Haitian slave? Thanks to Reissâs masterful pacing and plotting, this rip-roaring biography of Thomas-Alexandre reads more like an adventure novel than a work of nonfiction. The Black Count won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 2013, and itâs only a matter of time before a filmmaker turns it into a big-screen blockbuster. 49 Now 30% Off Few biographies are as genuinely fun to read as this barnburner from the irreverent English critic Craig Brown. Princess Margaret may have been everyoneâs favorite character from Netflixâs The Crown, but Brownâs eye for ostentatious details and revelatory insights will help you see why everyone in the 1950sâfrom Pablo Picasso and Gore Vidal to Peter Sellers and Andy Warholâwas obsessed with her. When book critic Parul Sehgal says that she âripped through the book with the avidity of Margaret attacking her morning vodka and orange juice,â you know youâre in for a treat. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below 48The best biographies and memoirs of 2024
The 50 Best Biographies of All Time
Crown The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo, by Tom Reiss
Farrar, Straus and Giroux Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret, by Craig Brown
Inventor of the Future: The Visi
10 Best Inspirational Biographies You Must Read
Best Inspirational Biographies to Read
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
The extraordinary and motivational account of Steve Jobs's personal and professional life. Based on Isaacson's three years of exclusive interviews with Jobs, his family, colleagues, and rivals. One of the best inspirational biographies available, it provides a great insight into Jobs's life and thoughts and is very motivational and inspirational to read.