55 Best Biographies
Explore the lives of remarkable individuals through our curated list of the 55 best biographies. Each book offers a unique perspective on the experiences and achievements of influential figures across various fields.
Steve Jobs
Based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs conducted over two years--as well as interviews with more than 100 family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues--Isaacson has written a… more ...
Einstein: His Life and Universe
From Isaacson, the bestselling author of "Benjamin Franklin," comes the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all his papers have become available--a fully realized portrait of a premier icon… more ...
The Wright Brothers
The incredible true story of the origin of human flight, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough. On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two unknown brothers fr… more ...
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors yet her cells - taken without her knowledge - become… more ...
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was an illegitimate, largely self-taught orphan from the Caribbean who overcame all the odds to become George Washington's aide-de-camp and the first Treasury Secretary of the Unit… more ...
The Life of Samuel Johnson
Reproduction of the original: The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell more ...
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
Cleopatra: A Life
The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt. Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but … more ...
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
"Jeanne’s book not only inspired the documentary but has been a catalyst in changing our national understanding of Rosa Parks. Highly recommend!”—Soledad O’Brien, executive producer of the Peabody Aw… more ...
Pablo Picasso: A Biography
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
Described by the Chicago Tribune as "a classic, " The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt stands as one of the greatest biographies of our time. The publication of The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt on September … more ...
Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination
A portrait of the private life and public career of Walt Disney ranges from his deprived youth, to his contributions to the art of animation, to his visionary creation of the first synergistic entert… more ...
Queen Victoria
Reproduction of the original. more ...
Mozart: A Life
A biography of eighteenth-century Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, discussing his childhood, his talent as a composer and musician, his tumultuous career and personal life, and his early death. more ...
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD In this groundbreaking biography, T.J. Stiles tells the dramatic story of Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, the combative man and American icon w… more ...
Grant
A dramatic portrait of one of America's most compelling generals and presidents, Ulysses S. Grant, by Pulitzer Prize winner Ron Chernow, author of the book on which the astonishing musical Hamilton i… more ...
The Woman Who Smashed Codes
National Bestseller NPR Best Book of the Year “Not all superheroes wear capes, and Elizebeth Smith Friedman should be the subject of a future Wonder Woman movie.” —The New York Times Joining the rank… more ...
CoCo Chanel: The Legend and the Life
Peels away the layers of romance and myth to reveal the woman who shaped modern fashion, drawing from research in the Chanel archives and an exclusive interview with Chanel's successor, Karl Lagerfeld. more ...
Charles Dickens: A Life
THE ACCLAIMED DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY OF ONE OF THE GREATEST BRITISH WRITERS OF ALL TIME Charles Dickens was a phenomenon: a journalist, a father of ten, a supporter of liberal social causes, but most o… more ...
Kafka: The Early Years
The eagerly anticipated final volume of the award-winning, definitive biography of Franz Kafka How did Kafka become Kafka? This eagerly anticipated third and final volume of Reiner Stach's definitive… more ...
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
South African born Elon Musk is the renowned entrepreneur and innovator behind PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity. Musk wants to save our planet; he wants to send citizens into space, to form a col… more ...
Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi
Indira Gandhi's life, from her birth in 1917 through partition and up to her assassination in 1984, was dominated by the politics of her country. Always directly involved in India's turbulent 20th-ce… more ...
Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch
A tribute to the life and enduring reign of Elizabeth II draws on numerous interviews and previously undisclosed documents to juxtapose the queen's public and private lives, providing coverage of suc… more ...
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
An analysis of Abraham Lincoln's political talents identifies the character strengths and abilities that enabled his successful election, in an account that also describes how he used the same abilit… more ...
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and The Fall of New York
Mao: The Unknown Story
Jung Chang'S Wild Swans Was An Extraordinary Bestseller Throughout The World, Selling More Than 10 Million Copies And Reaching A Wider Readership Than Any Other Book About China. Now She And Her Husb… more ...
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman
The story of one of the truly great female rulers in history by an award winning historian. The daughter of an impoverished aristocrat, Catherine was married aged 16 to Grand Duke Peter, heir to the … more ...
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill
The long-awaited final volume of William Manchester's legendary biography of Winston Churchill. Spanning the years of 1940-1965, THE LAST LION picks up shortly after Winston Churchill became Prime Mi… more ...
Marie Antoinette: The Journey
Still a controversial figure, as well as a celebrated one, Marie Antoinette's dramatic life-story continues to arouse mixed emotions. To many people, she is still la reine méchante, whose extravaganc… more ...
Charles Darwin: A Biography, Vol. 1 and 2
This concluding volume of Janet Browne's biography covers the transformation in Charles Darwin's life after the first unexpected announcement of his and Wallace's theory, followed by the publication … more ...
Jim Henson: The Biography
For the first time ever—a comprehensive biography of one of the twentieth-century’s most innovative creative artists: the incomparable, irreplaceable Jim Henson. He was a gentle dreamer whose genial … more ...
Ruth Bader Ginsberg: A Life
Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
Making use of unprecedented access to Guevara's personal archives, his guerrilla cohorts, and Cuban government archives, an exhaustive biography traces the life of the Latin American communist revolu… more ...
The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero
In this groundbreaking book, renowned magic expert Kalush and bestselling writer Sloman team up to expose Harry Houdinis secret life as a spy, and the stunning plot to murder the magician and destroy… more ...
Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child
In this fully authorized biography, readers meet the earthy and outrageous Julia Child, who, at age 85, remains a complex role model. more ...
Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France
Poisoner, besotted mother, despot, necromancer, engineer of a massacre: the stain on the name of Catherine de Medici is centuries old. In this critically hailed biography, Leonie Frieda reclaims the … more ...
Andrew Carnegie
A New York Times bestseller! “Beautifully crafted and fun to read.” —Louis Galambos, The Wall Street Journal “Nasaw’s research is extraordinary.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Make no mistake: David Nasa… more ...
Shakespeare: The Biography
Peter Ackroyd's method is to position Shakespeare in the close context of his world. In this way, he not only conjures up the texture of Shakespeare's life, but also imparts an amount of vivid, inter… more ...
The Queen’s Agent: Sir Francis Walsingham and the Rise of Espionage in Elizabethan England
A “superb” portrait of the Tudor-age spymaster that “paints a John le Carré–like world of double-dealing and intrigue” (The Sunday Telegraph). Elizabeth I came to the throne at a time of insecurity a… more ...
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
"This edition includes a new interview with the author"--P. [4] of cover. more ...
Madame Curie: A Biography
This story was published serially under the title: Marie Curie, my mother. more ...
Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man Who Invented the 20th Century
If you want to learn about one of history’s most fascinating minds and uncover some of his secrets of imagination—secrets that enabled him to invent machines light years ahead of his time and literal… more ...
The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan
The Man Who Knew Infinity is the true story of a friendship between Srinivasa Ramanujan and G.H. Hardy that forever changed mathematics. In 1913, a young unschooled Indian clerk wrote a letter to G H… more ...
The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits
With warmth, wit, and good cheer, Standiford shows how the unlikely success of A Christmas Carol revitalized Charles Dickens's languishing career and revived the celebration of the near-forgotten Chr… more ...
The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom
In sumptuous and illuminating detail, Simon Winchester, the bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman ("Elegant and scrupulous"—New York Times Book Review) and Krakatoa ("A mesmerizing page-… more ...
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo
The Monk of Mokha
From the best-selling author of The Circle - the gripping true story of a young Yemeni American man, raised in San Francisco, who dreams of resurrecting the ancient art of Yemeni coffee but finds him… more ...
The Lives of the Muses: Nine Women and the Artists They Inspired
To be a muse to a celebrated artist is surely one of the most flattering roles a person can have. But what is the life of a muse really like? In this spirited (and provocative) expose of nine women w… more ...
The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero
In the New York Times bestseller The Immortal Irishman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Timothy Egan illuminates the dawn of the great Irish American story, with all its twists and triumphs, through th… more ...
Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery and Murder in Medieval England
“Gripping . . . a highly readable tour de force that brings Queen Isabella vividly to life.”—The Washington Post Book World An “insightful and compelling” (USA Today) biography of Isabella of England… more ...
Hannibal: The Enemy of Rome
Originally published: Enemy of Rome. London: Evans Bros., 1960. more ...
Galileo: A Life
A suspenseful narrative and spiritive rendition of the life of Galileo. more ...
Mary Shelley
‘The most dazzling biography of a female writer to have come my way for a decade…' – Financial Times ‘To be savoured for its vivid and sympathetic recreation of the tragic life and brilliant times of… more ...
Casanova: The World of a Seductive Genius
"The remarkable story of Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798), an impoverished abandoned boy who became the notorious libertine, famous writer, and correspondent with figures such as Voltaire, Louis XV, and … more ...
Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured
The profoundly inspiring and fully documented saga of Joan of Arc, the young peasant girl whose "voices" moved her to rally the French nation and a reluctant king against British invaders in 1428, ha… more ...
Dive into the fascinating world of biographies with our selection of the 55 best biographies of all time. This list showcases a diverse array of individuals, from historical icons like Alexander Hamilton and Cleopatra to modern innovators like Steve Jobs and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Each biography provides a captivating glimpse into the lives of these remarkable figures, revealing their struggles, triumphs, and the impact they made on the world. Whether you're interested in politics, science, art, or social justice, this collection offers something for everyone. Discover the stories behind the headlines and learn how these individuals shaped history and inspired generations. Perfect for avid readers, history buffs, or anyone looking to gain insight into the human experience, this list is a treasure trove of knowledge and inspiration. Grab a book from our list and embark on a journey through the lives of those who changed the course of history.