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  1. Genres
  2. ›Biography

Best Biography Books

Life stories of notable people

451 summaries

Showing 313–336 of 451

  1. Donnie Brasco

    Joseph D. Pistone

    ★ 4.0 (7k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone goes deep into the 1970s mob as 'Donnie Brasco,' showing six years of deception, shifting loyalties, and the chilling reality of Mafia life.

  2. The Worldly Philosophers

    Robert L. Heilbroner

    ★ 4.2 (7k) average on GoodreadsReference

    Explore the ideas of history's greatest economic thinkers, from Adam Smith to Karl Marx, to understand capitalism's complex workings and the social questions it raises, ending with a look at the future of economic thought.

  3. Voyage of the Beagle

    Charles Darwin

    ★ 4.0 (7k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    Charles Darwin's five-year journey on the HMS Beagle, with its detailed observations of geology, plants, and animals, formed the basis for his groundbreaking theories on evolution, changing how we understand life on Earth.

  4. In the Shadow of Man

    Jane Goodall

    ★ 4.3 (6k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Armed with an insatiable curiosity and a notebook, Jane Goodall plunges into the Tanzanian jungle to unveil the complex, often human-like, world of wild chimpanzees, forever changing our understanding of primate behavior and our place in the natural kingdom.

  5. Crazy Horse and Custer

    Stephen E. Ambrose

    ★ 4.2 (6k) average on GoodreadsHistory

    Ambrose connects the lives of General Custer and Crazy Horse, showing their collision on the plains of the Little Bighorn.

  6. The Railway Man

    Eric Lomax

    ★ 4.1 (6k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    A former POW, haunted by the brutal torture he endured on the Burma-Siam Railway during WWII, embarks on a remarkable journey of healing and reconciliation when he confronts one of his Japanese tormentors five decades later.

  7. The Drowned and the Saved

    Primo Levi

    ★ 4.4 (6k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Primo Levi's memoir dissects the complex moral world of the Holocaust, exploring the shared humanity and moral compromises between victim and oppressor in Nazi extermination camps.

  8. The Tennis Partner

    Abraham Verghese

    ★ 3.9 (6k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    In El Paso, a doctor with a failing marriage finds an unexpected connection on the tennis court with a recovering addict, only to face the return of his friend's past problems.

  9. The World As I See It

    Albert Einstein

    ★ 3.8 (6k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    This collection goes beyond Einstein's scientific theories, showing his humanistic thoughts on society, ethics, and the search for peace and freedom.

  10. The Cage

    Ruth Minsky Sender

    ★ 4.1 (6k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    In the Lodz ghetto and Auschwitz, young Riva holds onto her mother's words of hope. She vows to survive the Holocaust and share her story, a powerful account of human endurance.

  11. Uncle Tungsten

    Oliver Sacks

    ★ 4.0 (6k) average on GoodreadsPsychology

    In wartime England, a young Oliver Sacks, surrounded by a science-steeped family and finding solace amidst an unhappy boarding school, embarks on a lifelong adventure fueled by the "smell, the beauty, the mystery of chemistry."

  12. Born Again

    Charles W. Colson

    ★ 4.3 (5k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    From the shadows of Watergate and the corridors of power, a hardened political operative's life takes an unexpected turn towards spiritual redemption and a fervent embrace of faith.

  13. Life is So Good

    George Dawson

    ★ 4.2 (5k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    George Dawson's 'Life Is So Good' tells the inspiring story of a man, the grandson of a slave, who learned to read at 98, offering a firsthand look at a century of American history and showing how to find beauty and progress even in hardship.

  14. My First Summer in the Sierra

    John Muir

    ★ 4.1 (5k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    John Muir, as a young naturalist and sheep herder, discovers the Sierra Nevada's beauty, changing his life and inspiring a nation to explore Yosemite.

  15. Life Among the Savages

    Shirley Jackson

    ★ 4.0 (5k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    The master of literary macabre, Shirley Jackson, hilariously turns her sharp, unsentimental wit on the domestic chaos of raising four children and countless books in a boisterous Vermont farmhouse.

  16. As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning

    Laurie Lee

    ★ 4.2 (5k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    With a violin and a single Spanish phrase, a young Laurie Lee travels from rural England to Spain in the 1930s, just before the civil war, capturing the country's beauty and underlying tension.

  17. Young Men and Fire

    Norman Maclean

    ★ 4.1 (5k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    Haunted for forty years, a master storyteller reconstructs the horrific 1949 Mann Gulch fire, where a 'blowup' firestorm killed thirteen elite smokejumpers, unraveling a tragedy of nature's violence, human error, and the quest for truth.

  18. First Step 2 Forever

    Justin Bieber

    ★ 4.3 (5k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    From busking on Canadian sidewalks to selling out arenas and singing for presidents, Justin Bieber invites fans into his whirlwind journey of fame, offering never-before-seen photos and intimate stories of his meteoric rise.

  19. The Pregnancy Project

    GaRodriguez

    ★ 3.7 (5k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    A high school senior, tired of the teen pregnancy stereotype looming over her family, fakes her own pregnancy to expose the harsh judgments and shifting perceptions of her community, ultimately sparking an international conversation about prejudice and the power of defying expectations.

  20. Against All Enemies

    Richard A. Clarke

    ★ 3.9 (5k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    America's former counterterrorism chief offers a sharp, insider view of how the Bush administration, focused on Iraq, mishandled the fight against al Qaeda before and after 9/11, leaving the country more exposed.

  21. Casino

    Nicholas Pileggi

    ★ 4.0 (5k) average on GoodreadsHistory

    In the glittering, high-stakes world of 1970s Las Vegas, a sharp Jewish handicapper, his brutal mob enforcer best friend, and his beautiful, treacherous showgirl wife gamble with their lives as the Mafia’s iron grip on the casino empire begins to slip.

  22. Ugly

    Constance Briscoe

    ★ 4.0 (5k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Constance Briscoe's true story recounts her childhood of abuse, starvation, and abandonment, and her will to survive against all odds.

  23. The Education of a Coach

    David Halberstam

    ★ 3.9 (5k) average on GoodreadsBusiness

    David Halberstam's book explores Bill Belichick's strategic mind, showing how his leadership built a football dynasty through an intense focus on the game.

  24. Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea

    Gary Kinder

    ★ 4.3 (5k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    This book tells the true story of the high-stakes effort to recover the S.S. Central America, a legendary sidewheel steamer full of gold that sank in the Atlantic.

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