The Best Memoirs and Autobiographies
Last updated: May 22, 2024
The Best Autofiction, recommended by Juliet Jacques
Autofiction is writing that blurs the boundaries between autobiography and fiction. The writer of Trans: A Memoir, Juliet Jacques, picks her top five examples of the genre.
Georgina Godwin on Memoirs of Zimbabwe
Via five engrossing memoirs, the Zimbabwe-born journalist Georgina Godwin talks wistfully about her country; amongst the older generation, she says, there is a feeling that Rhodesia was sold down the river by Britain and things needn’t have turned out the way they did.
Memoirs of the Armenian Genocide, recommended by Thomas de Waal
More than 100 years after the Armenian genocide, author Tom de Waal chooses books that sidestep the politics and bring us back to the human story. He picks the best memoirs of the Armenian genocide.
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1
The Memoirs Of Marguerite De Valois
by Marguerite De Valois -
2
Why Not Say What Happened?: A Memoir
by Ivana Lowell -
3
Casting with a Fragile Thread: A Story of Sisters and Africa
by Wendy Kann -
4
The Mighty Queens of Freeville
by Amy Dickinson -
5
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
by Cheryl Strayed
The best books on Memoirs of Dauntless Daughters, recommended by Nancy Goldstone
The best books on Memoirs of Dauntless Daughters, recommended by Nancy Goldstone
In her book The Rival Queens, historian Nancy Goldstone explored the destructive relationship between Marguerite de Valois and her mother Catherine de’ Medici. Here she chooses five different memoirs that best explore the emotionally complex dynamics that characterise mother-daughter relationships.
The best books on Memoirs of Communism, recommended by Anne Applebaum
The traumas of the 20th century hit Eastern Europe hard – a region of changing borders, uncertain identity, and shattering of moral norms. The journalist and communism expert selects books that capture the spirit of the age.
The best books on First-Person Narratives, recommended by William Fiennes
Writing in the first person doesn’t have to be inward-looking or egotistical, says the author of The Snow Geese. He tells us about his favourite autobiographical works that use the first person to look out into the world
Chinese Life Stories, recommended by Jeffrey Wasserstrom
Historian and Sinologist Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Chancellor’s Professor, History at UC Irvine, says that to get a real sense of China you need to focus on individuals and their stories. Here he chooses five books that draw on the country’s long tradition of biographical writing.
The best books on Foreign Memoirs, recommended by Jennifer Steil
The first five books in the genre, as picked by a writer, journalist and actor who wrote a memoir about running a newspaper in Yemen.
The Best Political Diaries, recommended by Chris Mullin
The Labour MP on political diaries. A nugget from the day of the Norway debate, which brought down the Chamberlain government: ‘Sunny morning, went riding in Richmond Park. Strolled into the House for the Norway debate’