Modern Library 100 Best Non-fiction (100 books)

Listopia > Modern Library 100 Best Non-fiction

The Board's List, not the parallel Readers' List: it consisted of 100 books nominated as the best nonfiction written in English since 1900. Only 16 of the 100 were published at that time by Modern Classics. The original list, and the Readers' List, may be seen here: http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibr...

flag

List Challenge
The average Goodreads member has read 5 out of 100 books on this list — how many have you read?

All Votes

1	The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. 4.18 avg rating — 87,430 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
2	In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 4.09 avg rating — 737,411 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
3	Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson 4.40 avg rating — 34,303 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
4	The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman 4.18 avg rating — 85,506 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
5	West with the Night by Beryl Markham 4.15 avg rating — 41,346 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
6	Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey 3.75 avg rating — 2,661 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
7	Ideas and Opinions by Albert Einstein 4.12 avg rating — 3,358 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
8	The Strange Career of Jim Crow by C. Vann Woodward 4.14 avg rating — 3,225 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
9	The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes 4.40 avg rating — 24,679 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
10	Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell 4.09 avg rating — 72,603 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
11	The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe 4.23 avg rating — 55,992 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
12	The Autobiography of Mark Twain by Mark Twain 3.94 avg rating — 5,305 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
13	Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves 3.93 avg rating — 15,698 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
14	The Double Helix by James D. Watson 3.83 avg rating — 20,168 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
15	The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David McCullough 4.26 avg rating — 18,803 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
16	The Golden Bough by James George Frazer 4.02 avg rating — 8,742 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
17	The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro 4.53 avg rating — 29,789 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
18	The Making of the English Working Class by E.P. Thompson 4.21 avg rating — 3,728 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
19	Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster 3.80 avg rating — 4,982 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
20	The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell 4.13 avg rating — 6,210 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
21	Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen 3.91 avg rating — 48,506 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
21	Silent Spring by Rachel Carson 4.06 avg rating — 55,549 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
23	The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (Theodore Roosevelt, #1) by Edmund Morris 4.22 avg rating — 61,359 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
24	The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams 3.63 avg rating — 4,972 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
25	The Second World War: The Nobel Prize-Winning History of World War II by Winston S. Churchill 4.48 avg rating — 1,819 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
25	James Joyce by Richard Ellmann 4.34 avg rating — 2,981 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
27	The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould 4.06 avg rating — 9,350 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
27	The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James 3.99 avg rating — 13,184 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
29	Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov 4.08 avg rating — 17,828 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
30	The American Language by H.L. Mencken 4.12 avg rating — 554 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
31	The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote 4.53 avg rating — 8,114 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
32	Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher by Richard P. Feynman 4.20 avg rating — 31,219 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
33	The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3,122 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
34	The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher by Lewis Thomas 4.14 avg rating — 10,440 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
35	Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin 4.36 avg rating — 24,818 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
35	The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X 4.37 avg rating — 293,802 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
37	Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do by Studs Terkel 4.24 avg rating — 5,878 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
38	The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution by Jonathan D. Spence 4.03 avg rating — 559 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
39	The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels 3.94 avg rating — 20,218 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
40	Autobiographies: Memories and Reflections by W.B. Yeats 3.92 avg rating — 284 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
41	Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington 4.11 avg rating — 36,407 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
41	Science and Civilization in China by Joseph Needham 4.08 avg rating — 13 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
43	A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf 4.22 avg rating — 266,820 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
43	Children of Crisis: Selections from the Pulitzer Prize-winning five-volume Children of Crisis series by Robert Coles 4.02 avg rating — 64 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
45	A Study of History, abridged by Arnold Joseph Toynbee 4.10 avg rating — 224 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
46	Selected Essays: 1917-1932 by T.S. Eliot 4.12 avg rating — 456 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
46	Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department by Dean Acheson 4.04 avg rating — 416 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
48	The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by John Maynard Keynes 3.85 avg rating — 5,803 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
48	Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War by Edmund Wilson 4.09 avg rating — 288 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
50	Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water by Marc Reisner 4.28 avg rating — 12,004 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
50	Black Boy by Richard Wright 4.09 avg rating — 56,173 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
50	Jefferson And His Time by Dumas Malone 4.04 avg rating — 24 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
53	The Strange Death of Liberal England by George Dangerfield 4.11 avg rating — 469 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
53	Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness by William Styron 3.99 avg rating — 31,796 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
53	The Proper Study of Mankind by Isaiah Berlin 4.26 avg rating — 739 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
56	The Nature and Destiny of Man, Vols 1-2 by Reinhold Niebuhr 4.12 avg rating — 380 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
57	Religion and the Rise of Capitalism by R.H. Tawney 3.81 avg rating — 323 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
57	The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein 3.54 avg rating — 13,545 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
59	The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance by Ron Chernow 3.96 avg rating — 12,814 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
59	Florence Nightingale by Cecil Woodham-Smith 3.93 avg rating — 369 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
61	The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects by Lewis Mumford 4.10 avg rating — 1,485 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
62	Why We Can't Wait by Martin Luther King Jr. 4.55 avg rating — 9,249 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
63	The Face of Battle: A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme by John Keegan 4.12 avg rating — 8,758 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
64	Vermeer by Lawrence Gowing 3.87 avg rating — 99 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
65	A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam by Neil Sheehan 4.24 avg rating — 12,644 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
66	Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art of the Renaissance by Erwin Panofsky 4.22 avg rating — 1,047 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
66	This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff 3.97 avg rating — 30,729 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
68	A Mathematician's Apology by G.H. Hardy 3.91 avg rating — 7,798 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
69	Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard 4.08 avg rating — 30,148 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
70	Shadow and Act by Ralph Ellison 4.10 avg rating — 639 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
71	The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It by Richard Hofstadter 4.04 avg rating — 1,880 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
72	The Contours of American History by William Appleman Williams 4.23 avg rating — 121 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
73	The Promise of American Life by Herbert David Croly 3.54 avg rating — 114 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
74	The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm 3.80 avg rating — 5,926 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
75	The Taming Of Chance by Ian Hacking 3.89 avg rating — 264 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
76	Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year by Anne Lamott (Goodreads Author) 4.18 avg rating — 26,198 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
77	Melbourne by David Cecil 4.06 avg rating — 274 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
78	The Frontier in American History by Frederick Jackson Turner 3.74 avg rating — 1,274 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
78	Samuel Johnson by Walter Jackson Bate 4.21 avg rating — 219 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
80	An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy Vol. 1 by Gunnar Myrdal 4.14 avg rating — 131 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
81	The Liberal Imagination: Essays on Literature and Society by Lionel Trilling really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 488 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
82	In the American Grain by William Carlos Williams 3.94 avg rating — 884 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
83	The Sweet Science by A.J. Liebling 4.10 avg rating — 1,565 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
84	The Open Society and Its Enemies - Volume One: The Spell of Plato by Karl Popper 4.16 avg rating — 2,890 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
85	The Art of Memory by Frances A. Yates 4.16 avg rating — 1,618 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
86	A Preface to Morals by Walter Lippmann really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 109 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
87	The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn 4.03 avg rating — 30,214 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
88	The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community by William H. McNeill 4.12 avg rating — 594 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
89	Principia Mathematica to '56 by Alfred North Whitehead 3.98 avg rating — 213 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
90	The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition by M.H. Abrams 4.14 avg rating — 874 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
91	The Art of the Soluble: Creativity and Originality in Science by Peter Medawar 3.65 avg rating — 40 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
92	The Ants by Bert Hölldobler 4.60 avg rating — 841 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
93	A Theory of Justice by John Rawls 3.95 avg rating — 13,661 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
94	Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation by E.H. Gombrich 4.04 avg rating — 6,150 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
95	The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois 4.31 avg rating — 45,308 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
96	Principia Ethica by G.E. Moore 3.79 avg rating — 1,012 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
97	Philosophy and Civilization by John Dewey 3.58 avg rating — 19 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
98	On Growth and Form by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson 4.14 avg rating — 889 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
99	The Age of Jackson by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. 3.98 avg rating — 2,253 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
100	Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey through Yugoslavia by Rebecca West 4.21 avg rating — 2,712 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Get Results & Compare With Friends »

People Who Voted On This List (25)

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3388 books
851 friends

MissJessie 4799 books
86 friends

Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) 546 books
365 friends

Tracey 615 books
108 friends

Thom 6022 books
293 friends

Amy 1690 books
349 friends

JAMES 1711 books
49 friends

Marius 1172 books
105 friends

More voters…

Post a comment »
Comments Showing 1-26 of 26 (26 new)

date

newest »

message 1: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Apr 14, 2010 10:40AM) (new)

Apr 14, 2010 10:39AM

"Board's Best" or "Readers' List"? There are two lists.

Given the Henry Adams, I will assume the Board List.

reply | flag

message 2: by Thom (last edited Apr 15, 2010 10:49AM) (new)

Apr 15, 2010 05:05AM

If it is or was Mod. Library and is non-fiction, I suggest it's fair game.

reply | flag

message 3: by Thom (new)

Apr 15, 2010 05:10AM

By way of irrelevance: If the Tea Party people want to read books that support their policies, they would delight in the first 20 from THE READER'S LIST.

reply | flag

message 4: by Thom (new)

Apr 15, 2010 05:13AM

I mean to say, THE VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS
AYN RAND OBJECTIVISM AYN RAND (AGAIN) MORE GUNS, LESS CRIME, PSYCHIATRY:THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL, CLASSICAL INDIVIDUALISM , FREE TO CHOOSE, MILTON FRIEDMAN, ROSE FRIEDMAN, THE ROAD TO SERFDOM, F. A. HAYEK, THE ROOSEVELT MYTH, THE TRUE BELIEVER

Sounds "Fair and Balanced", doesn't it ?

reply | flag

message 5: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Apr 15, 2010 10:01AM) (new)

Apr 15, 2010 09:55AM

I find that Readers' List most amusing.

Elegant Universe is a great book, but I didn't think it was on the list.

reply | flag

message 6: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (last edited Apr 15, 2010 11:24AM) (new)

Apr 15, 2010 11:21AM

I can't find it there, either.

"Eat, Pray, Love" is neither on the Editors' nor on the Readers' list, either, is it?

That said, yes, the Readers' list IS certainly, err, noteworthy as it stands. Hubbard's "Dianetics" ranked as no. 2?!?!

Btw, I removed as a double the Spanish entry for "In Cold Blood," since the book was already added in its English incarnation.

reply | flag

message 7: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (new)

Apr 15, 2010 01:22PM

Eat Pray Love couldn't be on the list - it was not published at the time the list was made.

reply | flag

message 8: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (last edited Apr 16, 2010 02:08AM) (new)

Apr 16, 2010 01:48AM

Removed, for being neither on the Modern Library Editors' nor on the Readers' list:

* Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
* Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft
* Night
* Eating Animals
* Man's Search for Meaning
* The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory
* We Took to the Woods
* A River Runs Through It and Other Stories

To those who added these books, please note that -- as always -- deletion is NOT a statement with regard to the contents of any of these books. They just don't fall within the criteria for this particular list, which is intended to be limited to the books montioned on the lists compiled by the editors and readers of the Modern Library, as published at http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibr... .

If you are looking for a list dedicated to great nonfiction books in general, or nonfiction related to a particular topic, there are plenty of other lists already. Just enter "Nonfiction" into the "search lists" or "tags" search fields on the main listopia page, and make your choice from the results -- or create a list of your own if the topic you're looking for doesn't seem to be represented yet! :)

reply | flag

message 9: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (new)

Apr 16, 2010 12:24PM

Thanks, I was thinking I should do that, and you beat me to it! (Thanks because I just did battle with page 1 of the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list. My god.)

reply | flag

message 10: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (new)

Apr 17, 2010 05:48AM

Oh, God. That one looks like a neverending task indeed (even worse than the "seriously underrated books" list that Lobstergirl and I have lately been pruning). If you need -- or want -- any help with it, do let me know!

reply | flag

message 11: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (new)

Apr 17, 2010 11:07AM

I think I guess I'd better proceed with the Sisyphean task alone, as I know what I've "cleaned" so far. It's easier now that I've been told about Control-F.

Thanks for the offer, though!

reply | flag

message 12: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (new)

Apr 17, 2010 11:13AM

No problem. :)

"Control-F"?!

reply | flag

message 13: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (new)

Apr 17, 2010 11:40AM

Yeah, it makes searching the list's webpage of 1001 books a lot easier.

Just weeded out 27 books, from going over 20 places! My god.

reply | flag

message 14: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (new)

Apr 17, 2010 11:47AM

Wow. Congratulations -- that really is a lot!

(Errr ... still don't understand how "control-F" actually works?)

reply | flag

message 15: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Apr 17, 2010 11:54AM) (new)

Apr 17, 2010 11:53AM

Apparently you hit Control-F, and it lets you search the page for text. Which makes searching a long list of titles a lot easier.

I limit myself to about 20 places at a time or so, on weeding that list, or I get a headache!

reply | flag

message 16: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (new)

Apr 17, 2010 12:02PM

Yes, I can well believe that!!

Oh, now I see -- I've actually been doing that, too when going over the "Modern Library" list (though I opened the browser search window via the "edit" function on the menu!) :) Good to know there's even a shortcut ...

reply | flag

message 17: by [deleted user] (new)

Jun 09, 2010 05:08PM

Thom wrote: "I mean to say, THE VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS
AYN RAND OBJECTIVISM AYN RAND (AGAIN) MORE GUNS, LESS CRIME, PSYCHIATRY:THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL, CLASSICAL INDIVIDUALISM , FREE TO CHOOSE, MILTON FRIEDMAN, R..."

Thom, are you saying that the above books you mention are a GOOD read? I don't think I follow. Please explain

reply | flag

message 18: by Jason (new)

Mar 06, 2011 01:46PM

ok, some stars here but hardly an international list. Too few classic histories and no travel?

reply | flag

message 19: by A.J. (new)

Mar 06, 2011 02:09PM

Jason wrote: "ok, some stars here but hardly an international list. Too few classic histories and no travel?"

Jason, I'm almost certain the this list and it's fiction counterpart is limited to works originally written in the English language in the 20th century.

reply | flag

message 20: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (new)

Mar 06, 2011 02:31PM

Certainly limited to 20th Century. Probably to English-language works as well.

reply | flag

message 21: by Jason (new)

Mar 06, 2011 02:58PM

Susanna wrote: "Certainly limited to 20th Century. Probably to English-language works as well."

reply | flag

message 22: by Jason (new)

Mar 06, 2011 02:59PM

And published by Modern Library, now I come to think of it; so hardly representing the top anything but that.

reply | flag

message 23: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (new)

Mar 06, 2011 03:13PM

Well, that's what it's a list of, so yeah.

reply | flag

message 24: by Paul (last edited Jan 30, 2017 11:53AM) (new)

Jan 30, 2017 11:42AM

This list doesn't seem to have attracted much attention recently. Just to correct a few misconceptions: the original list was the Board's List, not the parallel Readers' List; it consisted of 100 books nominated as the best nonfiction written in English since 1900; and only 16 of the 100 were published at that time by Modern Classics.

If the list now appears to have fewer than 100 titles, this is because some of the books are at present ranked equally here. This is now unlikely to change, as the list has been frozen. The original list order may be seen at the link in the description, above.

reply | flag

message 25: by Luke (new)

May 26, 2018 02:39PM

Paul wrote: "This list doesn't seem to have attracted much attention recently. Just to correct a few misconceptions: the original list was the Board's List, not the parallel Readers' List; it consisted of 100 b..."

There really are only 95 entries. If you CTRL F and search "g —", which collates the average rating section of each list entry, you'll note that there are only 95 results (96 if including this post) when there should be 100.

reply | flag

message 26: by Carolin (new)

Feb 27, 2024 07:47AM

Apparently I have to much free time, so I went through the whole list and compared it to the original board's list.
I added the missing five entries:

SCIENCE AND CIVILIZATION IN CHINA by Joseph Needham
CHILDREN OF CRISIS by Robert Coles
A STUDY OF HISTORY by Arnold J. Toynbee
PRESENT AT THE CREATION by Dean Acheson
PATRIOTIC GORE by Edmund Wilson

and also exchanged Jefferson the Virginian for Jefferson and his time
The list should be correct now :)

reply | flag