The 100 Best Nonfiction Books

Following the very popular 100 Best Novels in English, the Observer newspaper commissioned the internationally renowned writer and journalist, Robert McCrum to compile a list of classic nonfiction books, those which he considered to be worthy of the accolade "The 100 Best of All Time". His definition of 'nonfiction' included not only prose works but also poetry and drama. The result is a remarkable selection of books that were published as early as 1611 (The King James Bible) up to 2014 (Elizabeth Kolbert: The Sixth Extinction). Each entry has a beautifully written commentary placing the work in its literary and historical context.The book moves seamlessly from genre to genre: memoir, history, poetry, politics, biography, environmentalism, religion, drama these are just some of the many subjects that are covered. What emerges is an outstanding guide to the English-speaking world's most extraordinary literary achievements: books that have influenced and changed lives and in some cases even changed history. AUTHOR: From 1980 to 1996, Robert McCrum was editor-in-chief of Faber & Faber, where he published Kazuo Ishiguro, Milan Kundera, Peter Carey, Paul Auster, Marilynne Robinson, Lorrie Moore, Adam Phillips and Hanif Kureishi. At the same time, he wrote seven novels, and co-authored the BBC TV series, The Story Of English, for which he was awarded an Emmy in 1986.