Anne Applebaum

Books by Anne Applebaum

Anne Applebaum is a historian and a staff writer at the Atlantic. She is also a Senior Fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the Agora Institute, where she co-directs Arena, a program on disinformation and 21st-century propaganda. She specializes in Eastern Europe and Russia. Anne Applebaum’s books have won a number of prestigious prizes and feature on many Five Books reading lists.

Interviews where books by Anne Applebaum were recommended

The Best Politics Books To Read in 2021, recommended by Larry Sabato

In many Western countries, citizens have long taken living in a democracy for granted. The last decade has changed all that, with fledgling democracies veering back to authoritarianism and even the most stable democracies being shaken by populist movements. Here, political scientist Larry J. Sabato turns the spotlight on the American republic, long a beacon for democracy around the globe, but now suffering its own internal turmoil. He recommends the best politics books to read in 2021, focusing on the United States.

The Best Nonfiction Books of 2020, recommended by Sophie Roell

As the world went into lockdown early in 2020, many of us without frontline jobs and lucky enough not to fall sick with Covid-19 found more time to read than usual. The sudden change to a slower gear also left more room to reflect on the state of the world and our place as humans in it. Sophie Roell, editor of Five Books, takes us through her personal choice of the best nonfiction books of 2020.  

The Best Politics Books of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Political Writing

From conspiracy theories wreaking havoc in US politics to poignant memoirs of painful events around the globe, the books shortlisted for the 2025 Orwell Prizes, the UK’s most prestigious awards for writing about politics, have been announced. These are the eight books shortlisted for the ‘Orwell Prize for Political Writing,’ awarded annually to a nonfiction book. The comments are from the judging panel, chaired by UK diplomat and former ambassador to the US Kim Darroch.

© Five Books 2025

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