Best Nonfiction Books of 2024

From nuclear war to a heartbreaking medical story, from the memoirs of novelists and the life of an artist to the struggle for independence in Indonesia, British journalist Isabel Hilton introduces the six books that made the shortlist of the UK’s most prestigious nonfiction prize.

To win the Wolfson History Prize, a book must be both original and accessible to the general reader. British historian Diarmaid MacCulloch, one of the prize's judges, talks us through the six books that made the 2024 shortlist, from the voyage of an English diplomat to Mughal India to the intimacy of a South African marriage, from the barbarity of the slave trade in the 18th century to the history of an institution that provides free health care to all.

From how to channel the tribal instincts innate to Homo sapiens to the role of Silicon Valley in the future of warfare, the Financial Times book award—now in its 20th year—has a broad definition of what makes a good business book. FT journalist Andrew Hill, the prize's organizer, talks us through the six excellent books that made the 2024 shortlist.

2024 was billed as the 'year of elections' but calling it the 'year of economics' might have been more apt as incumbent governments around the world were kicked out by high inflation, poor wage growth and continuing inequality. American economist Jason Furman recommends the best economics books of 2024, books that shed light on our current predicament and how to get out of it.

From an issue of a literary magazine that brings together contemporary writing from across mainland China to books focusing on different periods of its 20th-century history, it's been another good year for books about China available to English readers. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, a professor at UC Irvine and specialist in modern Chinese history, talks us through some of his favorite books about China published in 2024.

Every year, the judges of the Royal Society Science Book Prize put together a shortlist of the smartest, sharpest, funniest science books of the previous twelve months. We asked the chair of the 2024 panel—the leading evolutionary biomechanics researcher Professor John Hutchinson—to talk us through their picks of the best new popular science books.

Whether you fancy a quality sports autobiography or an artfully-illustrated graphic narrative, we've got suggestions for you. Here, we've put together a concise round-up of the award-winning memoirs of 2024 to help you find highly-acclaimed new books you might otherwise have missed.

We ask our philosophy editor Nigel Warburton to recommend five of the most notable new books in his specialist area at the end of every year. In 2024, his nominations for the best philosophy books of 2024 include an introduction to the work of Karl Marx, a study of sentience in animals, and an examination of suicide through the work of the Greek tragedians.

We asked Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn to put together a concise round-up of notable biographies of 2024, comprising the winners of relevant literary awards from the United Kingdom and the United States. The list includes two biographies of married couples and an "unclassifiable" literary detective story tracking down details of a forgotten Egyptian poet.

From the memoir of the brave politician who opposed Putin, to how the culture of ancient and early medieval India transformed the world, from a book about the people who surrounded Hitler, to a serial killer in 1950s London, Sophie Roell, editor of Five Books, introduces some of her favourite nonfiction books published in the last three months.