Best Nonfiction Books of 2022
Last updated: September 17, 2024
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1
The Invention of Miracles: Language, Power, and Alexander Graham Bell's Quest to End Deafness
by Katie Booth -
2
Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945-1955
by Harald Jähner & Shaun Whiteside (translator) -
3
Osebol: Voices from a Swedish Village
by Marit Kapla & Peter Graves (translator) -
4
Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science
by James Poskett -
5
When Women Kill: Four Crimes Retold
by Alia Trabucco Zerán & Sophie Hughes (translator) -
6
Kingdom of Characters: A Tale of Language, Obsession, and Genius in Modern China
by Jing Tsu
The British Academy Book Prize: 2022 Shortlist, recommended by Philippe Sands
The British Academy Book Prize: 2022 Shortlist, recommended by Philippe Sands
The annual British Academy book prize rewards “works of nonfiction that have contributed to public understanding of world cultures and their interaction.” Human rights lawyer Philippe Sands, one of the prize’s judges, talks us through the books that made the 2022 shortlist and explains what makes them so compelling.
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1
The Story of Russia
by Orlando Figes -
2
Existential Physics: A Scientist’s Guide to Life’s Biggest Questions
by Sabine Hossenfelder -
3
Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle
by Jody Rosen -
4
Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century
by Brad DeLong -
5
The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I
by Lindsey Fitzharris
Nonfiction of 2022: Fall Roundup, recommended by Sophie Roell
Nonfiction of 2022: Fall Roundup, recommended by Sophie Roell
Reading nonfiction books is an excellent way of getting a grip on the realities of the world around us, whether it’s how to live, how to run a country, or understanding how the universe works. Five Books editor Sophie Roell looks at some notable new nonfiction books published since June.
Notable Nonfiction of Spring 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell
In the past few months, lots of history books about the past as well as excellent insights into the present have hit the shelves. Some are gripping reads offering a few hours of escapism, others contributions to our human quest to make the world a better place. Some manage both. Five Books editor Sophie Roell offers a roundup of the most notable new books of nonfiction published in March, April and May 2022.
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1
The Last Emperor of Mexico
by Edward Shawcross -
2
Stalin's Library: A Dictator and his Books
by Geoffrey Roberts -
3
Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb
by Togzhan Kassenova -
4
This Mortal Coil: A History of Death
by Andrew Doig -
5
The Nowhere Office: Reinventing Work and the Workplace of the Future
by Julia Hobsbawm
Notable Nonfiction of Early 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell
Notable Nonfiction of Early 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell
Even though we’re still in the first couple of months of 2022, there are already lots of really interesting nonfiction books either out or just about to be published. Five Books editor Sophie Roell surveys the flood of books that cover everything from Neolithic archaeology to the latest insights of neuroscience and genetics, as well as books that explore where we work, what we feel, and how we die.
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1
The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars and Caliphs
by Marc David Baer -
2
The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World
by Malcolm Gaskill -
3
Devil-Land: England Under Siege, 1588-1688
by Clare Jackson -
4
Going to Church in Medieval England
by Nicholas Orme -
5
God: An Anatomy
by Francesca Stavrakopoulou -
6
Fallen Idols: Twelve Statues That Made History
by Alex von Tunzelmann
The Best History Books: the 2022 Wolfson Prize Shortlist, recommended by Carole Hillenbrand
The Best History Books: the 2022 Wolfson Prize Shortlist, recommended by Carole Hillenbrand
Every year the Wolfson History Prize celebrates books that combine meticulous and original research with great writing, accessible to the general reader. Here, one of the 2022 judges, the eminent Islamic scholar Carole Hillenbrand, guides us through the shortlist to explain why each book is a must-read.
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1
A Little Devil in America: Notes In Praise Of Black Performance
by Hanif Abdurraqib -
2
Gay Bar: Why We Went Out
by Jeremy Atherton Lin -
3
A Farewell to Gabo and Mercedes: A Son's Memoir of Gabriel García Márquez and Mercedes Barcha
by Rodrigo Garcia -
4
A Ghost in the Throat
by Doireann Ní Ghríofa -
5
Concepcion: An Immigrant Family’s Fortunes
by Albert Samaha
The Best Memoirs: The 2022 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist, recommended by Marion Winik
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.