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Best Books of 2007 Round-up: Nonfiction

Posted January 2nd, 2008 by jon
Bookmarks Issue:
33-Mar-Apr-2008
By:
Jessica Teisch

Each year we create the Ultimate List: the compilation of the critics' "Best of" lists to determine the Best of the Best of Lists. Below are the results for 2007 nonfiction. For each of the critics' lists in the table, we've included those books which were included on more than one list. You may click on the list sources in the table header to view each critic's commentary. Also see our 2007 Best of Fiction List.

Best of the Best of 2007 Nonfiction

Title Author Bookmarks Rating Total Lists NYT Book Review NYT (Kakuntani) NYT (Maslin) NYT (Grimes) Observer (UK) Boston Globe Washington Post Christian Science Monitor KCRW Bookworm (Silverblatt) Time NYMag LA Times Salon (Miller) NBCC St. Louis Post-Dispatch Economist Newsweek Village Voice Slate Seattle Times (Gwinn) Seattle Times (Upchurch) Entertainment Weekly Esquire Independent (UK) SFChronicle USA Today
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA Tim Weiner 4 of 5 Stars 10 • • • • • • • • • •
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century Alex Ross 4 of 5 Stars 8 • • • • • • • •
Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography David Michaelis 4 of 5 Stars 8 • • • • • • • •
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court Jeffrey Toobin 3 of 5 Stars 7 • • • • • • •
Brother, I'm Dying Edwidge Danticat 4 of 5 Stars 6 • • • • • •
Edith Wharton Hermione Lee 4 of 5 Stars 5 • • • • •
The Shock Doctrine Naomi Klein 3.5 of 5 Stars 5 • • • • •
The World Without Us Alan Weisman 3 of 5 Stars 5 • • • • •
Young Stalin Simon Sebag Montefiore 5 • • • • •
The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War David Halberstam 3.5 of 5 Stars 4 • • • •
Einstein: His Life and Universe Walter Isaacson 4 of 5 Stars 4 • • • •
The Long Embrace: Raymond Chandler... Judith Freeman 4 • • • •
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Ishmael Beah 4 of 5 Stars 4 • • • •
Ralph Ellison: A Biography Arnold Rampersad 4 of 5 Stars 4 • • • •
Agent Zigzag Ben Macintyre 4.5 of 5 Stars 3 • • •
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Barbara Kingsolver 4 of 5 Stars 3 • • •
Arsenals of Folly Richard Rhodes 4 of 5 Stars 3 • • •
The Atomic Bazaar: The Rise of the Nuclear Poor William Langewiesche 3.5 of 5 Stars 3 • • •
The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 Rick Atkinson 4 of 5 Stars 3 • • •
The Father of All Things Tom Bissell 3 • • •
Imperial Life in the Emerald City (2006) Rajiv Chandrasekaran 4 of 5 Stars 3 • • •
Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice Janet Malcolm 3.5 of 5 Stars 3 • • •
The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story Diane Ackerman 3 • • •
About Alice Calvin Trillin 4.5 of 5 Stars 2 • •
Agatha Christie Laura Thompson 2 • •
The Art of Political Murder Francisco Goldman 2 • •
Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature Linda Lear 2 • •
Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life Steve Martin 2 • •
Cultural Amnesia Clive James 3 of 5 Stars 2 • •
Down the Nile Rosemary Mahoney 3.5 of 5 Stars 2 • •
Eden's Outcasts John Matteson 4 of 5 Stars 2 • •
FDR Jean Edward Smith 4 of 5 Stars 2 • •
Here If You Need Me Kate Braestrup 2 • •
Ike: An American Hero Michael Korda 3.5 of 5 Stars 2 • •
India After Gandhi Ramachandra Guha 4 of 5 Stars 2 • •
Journals: 1952-2000 Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. 4 of 5 Stars 2 • •
Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl Steven Bach 2 • •
Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America Eric Jay Dolin 2 • •
Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm... Mildred Armstrong Kalish 2 • •
The Long Road Home Martha Raddatz 2 • •
The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh: A Woman in World History Linda Colley 3.5 of 5 Stars 2 • •
Peeling the Onion Gunter Grass 2 • •
Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President... Vincent Bugliosi 3.5 of 5 Stars 2 • •
The Second Civil War: How Extreme... Ronald Brownstein 2 • •
Soldier's Heart: Reading Literature... Elizabeth D. Samet 4 of 5 Stars 2 • •
Stanley: The Impossible Life Tim Jeal 2 • •
Thomas Hardy Claire Tomalin 2 • •