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The Economist

The Economist Books of the Year 2023

The Economist Books of the Year 2023 names 55 books across 7 categories. 22 of them also won or were shortlisted for an award.

Biography and memoir

  1. Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelsteinsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Ian Fleming by Nicholas Shakespearesource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Into the Amazon by Larry Rohtersource (opens in a new tab)
  4. J.L. Austin by M.W. Rowesource (opens in a new tab)
  5. King by Jonathan Eigsource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Milton Friedman by Jennifer Burnssource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Monet by Jackie Wullschlägersource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Still Pictures by Janet Malcolmsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. Waiting to Be Arrested at Night by Tahir Hamut Izgil, translated by Joshua Freemansource (opens in a new tab)
  10. Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Fundersource (opens in a new tab)

Culture

  1. A Thread of Violence by Mark O'Connellsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Eight Bears by Gloria Dickiesource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Gradual by Greg Berman and Aubrey Foxsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. High Caucasus by Tom Parfittsource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Magisteria by Nicholas Spencersource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Pandora's Box by Peter Biskindsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Sailing Alone by Richard Kingsource (opens in a new tab)
  8. The Identity Trap by Yascha Mounksource (opens in a new tab)

Economics and business

  1. Anansi's Gold by Yepoka Yeebosource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Best Things First by Bjorn Lomborgsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardnersource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Material World by Ed Conwaysource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Scaling People by Claire Hughes Johnsonsource (opens in a new tab)
  6. The Fiscal Theory of the Price Level by John Cochranesource (opens in a new tab)
  7. The Geek Way by Andrew McAfeesource (opens in a new tab)
  8. The Missing Billionaires by Victor Haghani and James Whitesource (opens in a new tab)
  9. Unscripted by James Stewart and Rachel Abramssource (opens in a new tab)

Fiction

  1. Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmannsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. North Woods by Daniel Masonsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Prophet Song by Paul Lynchsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroysource (opens in a new tab)
  5. The Bee Sting by Paul Murraysource (opens in a new tab)
  6. The Fraud by Zadie Smithsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Western Lane by Chetna Maroosource (opens in a new tab)

History

  1. A Day in the Life of Abed Salama by Nathan Thrallsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Emperor of Rome by Mary Beardsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. In Her Nature by Rachel Hewittsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Judgment at Tokyo by Gary Basssource (opens in a new tab)
  5. On Savage Shores by Caroline Dodds Pennocksource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Revolutionary Spring by Christopher Clarksource (opens in a new tab)
  7. The Blazing World by Jonathan Healeysource (opens in a new tab)
  8. The Lumumba Plot by Stuart Reidsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. The Wager by David Grannsource (opens in a new tab)

Politics and current affairs

  1. Deadly Quiet City by Murong Xuecunsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Fear Is Just a Word by Azam Ahmedsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Flowers of Fire by Hawon Jungsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Some People Need Killing by Patricia Evangelistasource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Sparks by Ian Johnsonsource (opens in a new tab)
  6. The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory by Tim Albertasource (opens in a new tab)

Science and technology

  1. Outlive by Peter Attiasource (opens in a new tab)
  2. The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman and Michael Bhaskarsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Heat Will Kill You First by Jeff Goodellsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Time to Think by Hannah Barnessource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tullekensource (opens in a new tab)
  6. What an Owl Knows by Jennifer Ackermansource (opens in a new tab)

About the The Economist Books of the Year

The Economist's annual books-of-the-year round-up, published in late November or early December. One list a year, split into the paper's own sections. Section names drift, so they are folded into seven: Politics and current affairs, Biography and memoir, History, Economics and business, Science and technology, Culture, and Fiction. Culture covers "Culture and digressions", "Culture, society and travel", "Culture and ideas", "Culture and the arts" and similar names. Fiction includes the 2006-2008 "Fiction and memoirs" section and the 2010-2012 poetry sections. The 2024 "Science and health" section is filed under Science and technology and "Business, economics and technology" under Economics and business. Left out: the 2025 Food (cookbooks) section, lists of books by Economist staff, and the mid-year "best books so far" lists. Edited volumes credit the editor the page names. Titles drop a trailing ": A Novel". No list is ranked. economist.com disallows Claude-User in robots.txt, so 2006-2023 pages were read through Wayback Machine copies; the 2007 list is the old displayStory URL because no capture of its newer URL was found. Every 2024 and 2025 Wayback copy is cut off by the paywall, so those lists come from yearendlists.com, which matched the Economist pages title for title for 2021-2023. The 2023 page misprints Claire Kilroy's "Soldier Sailor" as "Solider Sailor"; the yearendlists spelling is used.

Organization: The Economist. Official site (opens in a new tab)

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