Humanities Books

Showing 1-50 of 16,429
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Paperback)
by (shelved 89 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.33 — 1,305,172 ratings — published 2011
Rate this book
Clear rating
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (Paperback)
by (shelved 59 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.04 — 467,633 ratings — published 1997
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Prince The Prince (Paperback)
by (shelved 45 times as humanities)
avg rating 3.84 — 395,083 ratings — published 1513
Rate this book
Clear rating
Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow (ebook)
by (shelved 37 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.18 — 293,204 ratings — published 2015
Rate this book
Clear rating
Man's Search for Meaning Man's Search for Meaning (Paperback)
by (shelved 37 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.37 — 917,879 ratings — published 1946
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Republic The Republic (Paperback)
by (shelved 37 times as humanities)
avg rating 3.97 — 230,597 ratings — published -400
Rate this book
Clear rating
Thinking, Fast and Slow Thinking, Fast and Slow (Hardcover)
by (shelved 36 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.17 — 606,868 ratings — published 2011
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Communist Manifesto The Communist Manifesto (Paperback)
by (shelved 35 times as humanities)
avg rating 3.69 — 205,780 ratings — published 1848
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Odyssey The Odyssey (Paperback)
by (shelved 35 times as humanities)
avg rating 3.84 — 1,232,360 ratings — published -700
Rate this book
Clear rating
21 Lessons for the 21st Century 21 Lessons for the 21st Century (Hardcover)
by (shelved 32 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.15 — 180,819 ratings — published 2018
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Art of War The Art of War (Paperback)
by (shelved 31 times as humanities)
avg rating 3.94 — 588,653 ratings — published -500
Rate this book
Clear rating
Hamlet Hamlet (Paperback)
by (shelved 31 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.03 — 1,078,204 ratings — published 1601
Rate this book
Clear rating
Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics (Politics of Place, #1) Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics (Politics of Place, #1)
by (shelved 26 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.19 — 122,234 ratings — published 2015
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Hero with a Thousand Faces The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Paperback)
by (shelved 25 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.12 — 45,922 ratings — published 1949
Rate this book
Clear rating
Orientalism Orientalism (Paperback)
by (shelved 24 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.14 — 30,873 ratings — published 1978
Rate this book
Clear rating
Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (Hardcover)
by (shelved 23 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.08 — 65,780 ratings — published 2012
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Power of Myth The Power of Myth (Paperback)
by (shelved 22 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.26 — 54,393 ratings — published 1988
Rate this book
Clear rating
Meditations Meditations (Hardcover)
by (shelved 22 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.28 — 370,621 ratings — published 180
Rate this book
Clear rating
A Short History of Nearly Everything A Short History of Nearly Everything (Paperback)
by (shelved 22 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.21 — 431,332 ratings — published 2003
Rate this book
Clear rating
Beyond Good and Evil Beyond Good and Evil (Paperback)
by (shelved 22 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.02 — 118,187 ratings — published 1886
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Epic of Gilgamesh The Epic of Gilgamesh (Paperback)
by (shelved 22 times as humanities)
avg rating 3.76 — 122,122 ratings — published -1800
Rate this book
Clear rating
The God Delusion: A Study of Religious Belief and Skepticism The God Delusion: A Study of Religious Belief and Skepticism (Hardcover)
by (shelved 21 times as humanities)
avg rating 3.90 — 286,613 ratings — published 2006
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Iliad The Iliad (Hardcover)
by (shelved 21 times as humanities)
avg rating 3.93 — 525,410 ratings — published -750
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Aeneid The Aeneid (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 21 times as humanities)
avg rating 3.88 — 146,838 ratings — published -19
Rate this book
Clear rating
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (Hardcover)
by (shelved 20 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.01 — 906,791 ratings — published 2005
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Nicomachean Ethics The Nicomachean Ethics (Paperback)
by (shelved 20 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.00 — 62,472 ratings — published -350
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (Paperback)
by (shelved 19 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.16 — 29,893 ratings — published 2010
Rate this book
Clear rating
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think (Hardcover)
by (shelved 19 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.35 — 205,156 ratings — published 2018
Rate this book
Clear rating
We Should All Be Feminists We Should All Be Feminists (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 19 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.39 — 338,099 ratings — published 2012
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Second Sex The Second Sex (Paperback)
by (shelved 19 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.18 — 48,685 ratings — published 1949
Rate this book
Clear rating
Inferno Inferno (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 19 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.03 — 210,809 ratings — published 1321
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity (Hardcover)
by (shelved 18 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.19 — 28,002 ratings — published 2021
Rate this book
Clear rating
Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? (Paperback)
by (shelved 18 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.21 — 42,896 ratings — published 2009
Rate this book
Clear rating
Tao Te Ching Tao Te Ching (Paperback)
by (shelved 18 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.29 — 186,341 ratings — published -350
Rate this book
Clear rating
Thus Spoke Zarathustra Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Paperback)
by (shelved 18 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.07 — 181,088 ratings — published 1883
Rate this book
Clear rating
A History of Western Philosophy A History of Western Philosophy (Paperback)
by (shelved 18 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.13 — 42,080 ratings — published 1945
Rate this book
Clear rating
Mythologies Mythologies (Paperback)
by (shelved 18 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.08 — 17,508 ratings — published 1957
Rate this book
Clear rating
Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (Paperback)
by (shelved 18 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.23 — 37,912 ratings — published 1975
Rate this book
Clear rating
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (Paperback)
by (shelved 18 times as humanities)
avg rating 3.94 — 75,388 ratings — published 2004
Rate this book
Clear rating
Chasing Lincoln's Killer Chasing Lincoln's Killer (Hardcover)
by (shelved 17 times as humanities)
avg rating 3.84 — 12,817 ratings — published 2009
Rate this book
Clear rating
1984 1984 (Paperback)
by (shelved 17 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.20 — 5,658,838 ratings — published 1948
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Symposium The Symposium (Paperback)
by (shelved 17 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.09 — 93,654 ratings — published -380
Rate this book
Clear rating
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (Paperback)
by (shelved 16 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.29 — 115,544 ratings — published 2017
Rate this book
Clear rating
To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird (Paperback)
by (shelved 16 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.26 — 7,041,233 ratings — published 1960
Rate this book
Clear rating
Confessions Confessions (Paperback)
by (shelved 16 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.01 — 76,990 ratings — published 400
Rate this book
Clear rating
On Liberty On Liberty (Paperback)
by (shelved 16 times as humanities)
avg rating 3.96 — 44,358 ratings — published 1859
Rate this book
Clear rating
Poetics Poetics (Paperback)
by (shelved 16 times as humanities)
avg rating 3.83 — 30,480 ratings — published -335
Rate this book
Clear rating
Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? (Hardcover)
by (shelved 16 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.30 — 28,205 ratings — published 2009
Rate this book
Clear rating
Outliers: The Story of Success Outliers: The Story of Success (Hardcover)
by (shelved 16 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.19 — 882,568 ratings — published 2008
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Society of the Spectacle The Society of the Spectacle (Paperback)
by (shelved 16 times as humanities)
avg rating 4.03 — 24,141 ratings — published 1967
Rate this book
Clear rating


Abhijit Naskar
“Empirical disciplines will take us to the stars, but it's humanities that make sure, we don't leave behind our humanity, otherwise we'll just end up a bunch of space monkeys.”
Abhijit Naskar, Sonnets From The Mountaintop

Charles Darwin
“I have said that in one respect my mind has changed during the last twenty or thirty years. Up to the age of thirty, or beyond it, poetry of many kinds, such as the works of Milton, Gray, Byron, Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Shelley, gave me great pleasure, and even as a schoolboy I took intense delight in Shakespeare, especially in the historical plays. I have also said that formerly pictures gave me considerable, and music very great delight. But now for many years I cannot endure to read a line of poetry: I have tried lately to read Shakespeare, and found it so intolerably dull that it nauseated me. I have also almost lost my taste for pictures or music. Music generally sets me thinking too energetically on what I have been at work on, instead of giving me pleasure. I retain some taste for fine scenery, but it does not cause me the exquisite delight which it formerly did. On the other hand, novels which are works of the imagination, though not of a very high order, have been for years a wonderful relief and pleasure to me, and I often bless all novelists. A surprising number have been read aloud to me, and I like all if moderately good, and if they do not end unhappily–against which a law ought to be passed. A novel, according to my taste, does not come into the first class unless it contains some person whom one can thoroughly love, and if a pretty woman all the better.

This curious and lamentable loss of the higher aesthetic tastes is all the odder, as books on history, biographies, and travels (independently of any scientific facts which they may contain), and essays on all sorts of subjects interest me as much as ever they did. My mind seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts, but why this should have caused the atrophy of that part of the brain alone, on which the higher tastes depend, I cannot conceive. A man with a mind more highly organised or better constituted than mine, would not, I suppose, have thus suffered; and if I had to live my life again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week; for perhaps the parts of my brain now atrophied would thus have been kept active through use. The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness, and may possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our nature.”
Charles Darwin, Autobiography Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Descent of Man A Naturalist's Voyage Round the World Coral Reefs Voyage of the Beagle Origin of Species Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals

More quotes...