Whether you're looking for new biographies, or outstanding works written decades or even centuries ago, we have some recommendations.To help find a book about a specific person or group of people, we've set up the following lists:
The best historical biographies
Some of our favourite philosophical biographies
Lives of the classical composers
The best literary biographies (Separately, we also have a section with interviews dedicated to specific literary figures, including, for example, an interview on Shakespeare’s life, recommended by James Shapiro of Columbia University).
The lives of scientists
Artists' lives
- Read1I Would Meet You Anywhere: A Memoir by Susan Kiyo Ito
- Read2Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm by David Mas Masumoto
- Read3Rotten Evidence: Reading and Writing in an Egyptian Prison by Ahmed Naji, translated by Katharine Halls
- Read4How to Say Babylon: A Memoir by Safiya Sinclair
- Read5Story of a Poem: A Memoir by Matthew Zapruder
The Best Memoirs: The 2024 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist, recommended by May-lee Chai
It's been a "phenomenal" year for autobiographical writing, says May-lee Chai—the award-winning author and chair of the judges for this year's National Book Critics Circle prize for autobiography. Here she offers us a tour of the five memoirs that made their 2024 shortlist.
The Best Memoirs: The 2024 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist, recommended by May-lee Chai
It’s been a “phenomenal” year for autobiographical writing, says May-lee Chai—the award-winning author and chair of the judges for this year’s National Book Critics Circle prize for autobiography. Here she offers us a tour of the five memoirs that made their 2024 shortlist.
- Read1G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage
- Read2The Grimkés: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family by Kerri K. Greenidge
- Read3Mr. B: George Balanchine’s Twentieth Century by Jennifer Homans
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- Read5Up from the Depths: Herman Melville, Lewis Mumford, and Rediscovery in Dark Times by Aaron Sachs
The Best Biographies of 2023: The National Book Critics Circle Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Taylor
Talented biographers examine the interplay between individual qualities and greater social forces, explains Elizabeth Taylor—chair of the judges for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle award for biography. Here, she offers us an overview of their five-book shortlist, including a garlanded account of the life of J. Edgar Hoover and a group biography of post-war female philosophers.
The Best Biographies of 2023: The National Book Critics Circle Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Taylor
Talented biographers examine the interplay between individual qualities and greater social forces, explains Elizabeth Taylor—chair of the judges for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle award for biography. Here, she offers us an overview of their five-book shortlist, including a garlanded account of the life of J. Edgar Hoover and a group biography of post-war female philosophers.
The Best Biographies of 2023: The National Book Critics Circle Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Taylor- Read1Stay True by Hua Hsu
- Read2Still Pictures: On Photography and Memory by Janet Malcolm
- Read3Pageboy: A Memoir by Elliot Page
- Read4The Light Room: On Art and Care by Kate Zambreno
- Read5O Brother by John Niven
Notable Memoirs of 2023, recommended by Cal Flyn
Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn selects the best recent autobiographical writing in this round-up of notable memoirs of 2023—taking in new work from such literary giants as Janet Malcolm and Annie Ernaux, the writer other writers are raving about, and a humorous debut depicting life in a haunted antiquarian bookshop.
Notable Memoirs of 2023, recommended by Cal Flyn
Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn selects the best recent autobiographical writing in this round-up of notable memoirs of 2023—taking in new work from such literary giants as Janet Malcolm and Annie Ernaux, the writer other writers are raving about, and a humorous debut depicting life in a haunted antiquarian bookshop.
Notable Memoirs of 2023, recommended by Cal Flyn- Read1Selected Essays by T S Eliot
- Read2The Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth by Frances Wilson
- Read3Reading Chekhov by Janet Malcolm
- Read4Lost in Translation by Eva Hoffman
- Read5Jane's Fame by Claire Harman
The Best Literary Biographies, recommended by Lyndall Gordon
The inner life is a mystery but the best biographies expose the hidden kernel of a person, says literary biographer and academic, Lyndall Gordon. She picks five books that push the boundaries of the genre.
The Best Literary Biographies, recommended by Lyndall Gordon
The inner life is a mystery but the best biographies expose the hidden kernel of a person, says literary biographer and academic, Lyndall Gordon. She picks five books that push the boundaries of the genre.
The Best Literary Biographies, recommended by Lyndall Gordon- Read1All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler by Rebecca Donner
- Read2The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III by Andrew Roberts
- Read3Burning Boy: The Life and Work of Stephen Crane by Paul Auster
- Read4The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland
- Read5Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell
- Read6Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist's Memoir of the Jim Crow South by Winfred Rembert
Award Winning Biographies of 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell
In telling stories of lives that are often very different from our own and yet connected to us by our common humanity, biographies are some of the most compelling nonfiction books around. Five Books editor Sophie Roell rounds up some of the biographies that have won or been shortlisted for prizes in 2022.
Award Winning Biographies of 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell
In telling stories of lives that are often very different from our own and yet connected to us by our common humanity, biographies are some of the most compelling nonfiction books around. Five Books editor Sophie Roell rounds up some of the biographies that have won or been shortlisted for prizes in 2022.
Award Winning Biographies of 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell- Read1A Little Devil in America: Notes In Praise Of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib
- Read2Gay Bar: Why We Went Out by Jeremy Atherton Lin
- Read3A Farewell to Gabo and Mercedes: A Son's Memoir of Gabriel García Márquez and Mercedes Barcha by Rodrigo Garcia
- Read4A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa
- Read5Concepcion: An Immigrant Family’s Fortunes by Albert Samaha
The Best Memoirs: The 2022 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist, recommended by Marion Winik
Autobiography is evolving; increasingly we find the field dominated by 'genre-fluid' books that plait memoir together with strands of cultural criticism, history, journalism or even poetry. Here, Marion Winik, the memoirist and critic, talks us through the five books that have been shortlisted in the National Book Critic's Circle autobiography category—and describes the face of memoir in 2022.
The Best Memoirs: The 2022 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist, recommended by Marion Winik
Autobiography is evolving; increasingly we find the field dominated by 'genre-fluid' books that plait memoir together with strands of cultural criticism, history, journalism or even poetry. Here, Marion Winik, the memoirist and critic, talks us through the five books that have been shortlisted in the National Book Critic's Circle autobiography category—and describes the face of memoir in 2022.
The Best Memoirs: The 2022 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist, recommended by Marion Winik- Read1Stranger in the Shogun's City: A Japanese Woman and Her World by Amy Stanley
- Read2The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes by Zachary D. Carter
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- Read4Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark
- Read5The Equivalents: A Story of Art, Female Friendship, and Liberation in the 1960s by Maggie Doherty
The Best Biographies: the 2021 NBCC Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor, the author, critic and chair of the National Book Critics' Circle biography committee, discusses their 2021 shortlist for the title of the best biography—including a revelatory new book about the life of Malcolm X, a group biography of artists in the 1960s, and a book built from a cache of letters written in Japan's shogun era.
The Best Biographies: the 2021 NBCC Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor, the author, critic and chair of the National Book Critics’ Circle biography committee, discusses their 2021 shortlist for the title of the best biography—including a revelatory new book about the life of Malcolm X, a group biography of artists in the 1960s, and a book built from a cache of letters written in Japan’s shogun era.
The Best Biographies: the 2021 NBCC Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Taylor- Read1Gods of the Upper Air: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth Century by Charles King
- Read2The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth by Josh Levin
- Read3L.E.L.: The Lost Life and Scandalous Death of Letitia Elizabeth Landon, the Celebrated "Female Byron" by Lucasta Miller
- Read4Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century by George Packer
- Read5A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purcell
The Best of Biography: the 2020 NBCC Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Taylor
How do you find the perfect subject for a biography? “Pick a real bitch, or real bastard, and make sure they're dead,” a famous biographer once told Elizabeth Taylor. The author, critic and chair of the National Book Critics' Circle biography committee talks us through the books that made their 2020 shortlist.
The Best of Biography: the 2020 NBCC Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Taylor
How do you find the perfect subject for a biography? “Pick a real bitch, or real bastard, and make sure they're dead,” a famous biographer once told Elizabeth Taylor. The author, critic and chair of the National Book Critics' Circle biography committee talks us through the books that made their 2020 shortlist.
The Best of Biography: the 2020 NBCC Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Taylor- Read1The Allure of Chanel by Paul Morand
- Read2Dior by Dior by Christian Dior
- Read3Shocking Life by Elsa Schiaparelli
- Read4The Unexpurgated Beaton by Cecil Beaton (Author), Hugo Vickers (Editor)
- Read5Diana Vreeland by Eleanor Dwight
The Best Fashion Biographies, recommended by Justine Picardie
Justine Picardie, editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar UK and author of Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life, chooses her favourite fashion biographies, and considers whether fashion and art are inextricably linked.
The Best Fashion Biographies, recommended by Justine Picardie
Justine Picardie, editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar UK and author of Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life, chooses her favourite fashion biographies, and considers whether fashion and art are inextricably linked.
The Best Fashion Biographies, recommended by Justine Picardie- Read1Flash: The Making of Weegee the Famous by Christopher Bonanos
- Read2Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown
- Read3Inseparable: The Original Siamese Twins and Their Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang
- Read4The Man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century by Mark Lamster
- Read5The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created by Jane Leavy
The Best Biographies: the 2019 NBCC Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Taylor
Biography is booming, says the longtime book critic and biographer Elizabeth Taylor. Here she highlights the five fantastic books shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle 2019 biography award, and how historical lives provide insight into contemporary culture.
The Best Biographies: the 2019 NBCC Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Taylor
Biography is booming, says the longtime book critic and biographer Elizabeth Taylor. Here she highlights the five fantastic books shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle 2019 biography award, and how historical lives provide insight into contemporary culture.
The Best Biographies: the 2019 NBCC Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Taylor