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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The British Academy Book Prize is awarded annually for a nonfiction book that combines rigorous research with engaging writing—and promotes global cultural understanding. Charles Tripp, chair of this year's judging panel, explains what that means and introduces the six books that made the 2024 shortlist.

Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn offers a concise round-up of the most notable newly released psychology and self-help books of 2024, taking in a study of partisanship in Trump's America, a strongly-argued case against 'the phone-based childhood,' and a manual for improving your own communication skills.

The Orwell Prizes are the UK's most prestigious prizes for writing about politics, awarded annually to books and articles that best meet George Orwell's own ambition "to make political writing into an art." The nonfiction books that made the 2024 shortlist ranged from evolution to political philosophy, from memoir to the Middle East.

If you're looking for nonfiction with a literary sensibility and a historical bent, the books highlighted by the annual Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize are a great place to start. British historian Susan Brigden, author of Thomas Wyatt: The Heart's Forest and one of the prize's judges, talks us through the 2024 shortlist — from war and revolution to the splendours of Mughal India and Monet's garden at Giverny.