The National Book Award for Nonfiction
The prestigious National Book Awards were established in 1950 to recognize American literary works of exceptional merit. The finalists for the fiction category (as well as other categories) are selected by independent judging panels. While sponsored for most years by the National Book Foundation, the awards from 1980 to 1986 were sponsored by the Association of American Publishers, who renamed them the American Book Awards, and made awards in many more categories. (This award description was taken from NoveList, a database dedicated to helping readers find fiction titles, award winning books, and similar titles and authors.) Visit the National Book Foundation official website for more information about this award and past winners.
All of these titles are located in the Adult Nonfiction section of the Library unless otherwise noted.
| 2010 | Smith, Patti. Just Kids. Also available: CD |
| 2009 | Stiles, T.J. The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Also available: CD |
| 2008 | Gordon-Reed, Annette. The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family. Also available: CD, eAudiobook |
| 2007 | Weiner, Tim. Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.
Also available: CD |
| 2006 | Egan, Timothy. The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl. Also available: CD |
| 2005 | Didion, Joan. The Year of Magical Thinking.
Also available: Large Type, CD, Digital Player |
| 2004 | Boyle, Kevin. Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age. Also available: CD |
| 2003 | Eire, Carlos. Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy. |
| 2002 | Caro, Robert A. Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson. |
| 2001 | Solomon, Andrew. The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression. |
| 2000 | Philbrick, Nathaniel. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex.
Also available: Large Type, CD |
| 1999 | Dower, John W. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. |
| 1998 | Ball, Edward. Slaves in the Family.
Also available: Large Type |
| 1997 | Ellis, Joseph J. American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson. |
| 1996 | Carroll, James. An American Requiem: God, My Father, and the War that Came Between Us. |
| 1995 | Rosenberg, Tina. The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism. |
| 1994 | Nuland, Sherwin B. How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter. |
| 1993 | Vidal, Gore. United States: Essays 1952-1992. |
| 1992 | Monette, Paul. Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story. |
| 1991 | Patterson, Orlando. Freedom. |
| 1990 | Chernow, Ron. The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance. |
| 1989 | Friedman, Thomas L. From Beirut to Jerusalem. |
| 1988 | Sheehan, Neil. A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. |
| 1987 | Rhodes, Richard. The Making of the Atomic Bomb. |
| 1986 | Lopez, Barry Holstun. Arctic Dreams. |
| 1985 | Lukas, J. Anthony. Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families. |
| 1984 | Remini, Robert V. Andrew Jackson & the Course of American Democracy, 1833-1845. |
| 1983 | Autobiography/Biography Thurman, Judith. Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller. |
| General Nonfiction Butterfield, Fox. China: Alive in the Bitter Sea. |
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| History Brinkley, Alan. Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin and the Great Depression. |
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| Science Pais, Abraham. "Subtle is the Lord...": The Science and Life of Albert Einstein. |
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| 1982 | Autobiography/Biography McCullough, David. Mornings on Horseback. Also available: CD |
| General Nonfiction Kidder, Tracy. The Soul of a New Machine. |
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| History Powell, Father Peter John. People of the Sacred Mountain: A History of the Northern Cheyenne Chiefs and Warrior Societies, 1830-1879. |
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| Science Johanson, Donald C. and Edey, Maitland A. Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind. |
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| 1981 | Autobiography/Biography Kaplan, Justin. Walt Whitman. |
| History Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality. |
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| Science Gould, Stephen Jay. The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections on Natural History. |
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| 1980 | Autobiography Bacall, Lauren. By Myself. Also available: Large Type |
| Biography Morris, Edmund. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. Also available: CD |
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| Current Interest Child, Julia. Julia Child & More Company. |
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| General Nonfiction Wolfe, Tom. The Right Stuff. Also available: Large Type |
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| General Reference Books Witt, Elder, ed. The Complete Directory |
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| History Kissinger, Henry A. The White House Years. |
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| Religion/Inspiration Pagels, Elaine. The Gnostic Gospels. Also available: CD |
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| Science Hofstadter, Douglas R. Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. |
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| 1979 | Biography and Autobiography Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. Robert Kennedy and His Times. |
| Contemporary Thought Matthiessen, Peter. The Snow Leopard. |
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| History Davis, Richard Beale. Intellectual Life in the Colonial South, 1585-1763. |
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| 1978 | Biography and Autobiography Bate, W. Jackson. Samuel Johnson. |
| Contemporary Thought Emerson, Gloria. Winners & Losers. |
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| History McCullough, David. The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914. Also available: CD |
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| 1977 | Biography and Autobiography Swanberg, W. A. Norman Thomas: The Last Idealist. |
| Contemporary Thought Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. |
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| History Howe, Irving. World of Our Fathers. |
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| 1976 | Arts and Letters Fussell, Paul. The Great War and Modern Memory. |
| Contemporary Affairs Arlen, Michael J. Passage to Ararat. |
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| History and Biography Davis, David Brion. The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770-1823. |
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| 1975 | Arts and Letters Shattuck, Roger. Marcel Proust and Thomas, Lewis. The Lives of a Cell: Notes on a Biology Watcher. |
| Biography Sewall, Richard B. The Life of Emily Dickinson. |
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| Contemporary Affairs Rosengarten, Theodore, comp. All God's Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw . |
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| History Bailyn, Bernard. The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson. |
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| Philosophy and Religion Nozick, Robert. Anarchy, State and Utopia. |
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| The Sciences Arieti, Silvano. Interpretation of Schizophrenia and Thomas, Lewis. The Lives of a Cell: Notes on a Biology Watcher. |
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| 1974 | Arts and Letters Kael, Pauline. Deeper into Movies. |
| Biography Clive, John. Macaulay: The Shaping of the Historian and Day, Douglas. Malcolm Lowry: A Biography. | |
| Contemporary Affairs Kempton, Murray. The Briar Patch. |
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| History Clive, John. Macaulay: The Shaping of the Historian. |
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| Philosophy and Religion Natanson, Maurice. Edmund Husserl: Philosopher of Infinite Tasks. |
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| The Sciences Luria, S. E. Life: The Unfinished Experiment. |
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| 1973 | Arts and Letters Wilson, Arthur M. Diderot. |
| Biography Flexner, James Thomas. George Washington, Vol. IV: Anguish and Farewell, 1793-1799. |
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| Contemporary Affairs FitzGerald, Frances. Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam. |
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| History Myers, Robert Manson. The Children of Pride and Trunk, Isaiah. Judenrat. |
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| Philosophy and Religion Ahlstrom, S. E. A Religious History of the American People. |
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| The Sciences Schaller, George B. The Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator-Prey Relations. |
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| 1972 | Arts and Letters Rosen, Charles. The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven. |
| Biography Lash, Joseph P. Eleanor and Franklin: The Story of Their Relationship, Based on Eleanor Roosevelt's Private Papers. |
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| Contemporary Affairs Brand, Stewart, ed. The Last Whole Earth Catalogue. |
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| History Nevins, Allan. Ordeal of the Union, Vols. VII & VIII: The Organized War, 1863-1864 and The Organized War to Victory. |
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| Philosophy and Religion Marty, Martin E. Righteous Empire: The Protestant Experience in America. |
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| The Sciences Small, George L. The Blue Whale. |
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| 1971 | Arts and Letters Steegmuller, Francis. Cocteau: A Biography. |
| History and Biography Burns, James MacGregor. Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom. |
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| The Sciences Sterns, Raymond Phineas. Science in the British Colonies of America. |
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| 1970 | Arts and Letters Hellman, Lillian. An Unfinished Woman: A Memoir. |
| History and Biography Williams, T. Harry. Huey Long. |
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| Philosophy and Religion Erikson, Erik H. Gandhi's Truth: On the Origins of Militant Nonviolence. |
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| 1969 | Arts and Letters Mailer, Norman. The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel, The Novel as History. |
| History and Biography Jordan, Winthrop D. White over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812. |
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| The Sciences Lifton, Robert J. Death in Life: Survivors of Hiroshima. |
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| 1968 | Arts and Letters Troy, William. Selected Essays. |
| History and Biography Kennan, George F. Memoirs: 1925-1950. |
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| Science, Philosophy, and Religion Kozol, Jonathan. Death at an Early Age. |
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| 1967 | Arts and Letters Kaplan, Justin. Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain: A Biography. |
| History and Biography Gay, Peter. The Enlightenment, Vol. I: An Interpretation the Rise of Modern Paganism. |
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| Science, Philosophy, and Religion Lewis, Oscar. La Vida. |
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| 1966 | Arts and Letters Flanner, Janet. Paris Journal, 1944-1965. |
| History and Biography Schlesinger Jr, Arthur M. A Thousand Days. |
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| 1965 | Arts and Letters Clark, Eleanor. Oysters of Locmariaquer. |
| History and Biography Fischer, Louis. The Life of Lenin. |
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| Science, Philosophy, and Religion Wiener, Norbert. God and Golem, Inc: A Comment on Certain Points where Cybernetics Impinges on Religion. |
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| 1964 | Arts and Letters Ward, Aileen. John Keats: The Making of a Poet. |
| History and Biography McNeill, William H. The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community. |
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| Science, Philosophy, and Religion Tunnard, Christopher and Pushkarev, Boris. Man-made America. |
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| 1963 | Edel, Leon. Henry James, Vol. II: The Conquest of London, Henry James, Vol. III: The Middle Years. |
| 1962 | Mumford, Lewis. The City in History: Its Origins, its Transformations and its Prospects. |
| 1961 | Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. |
| 1960 | Ellmann, Richard. James Joyce. |
| 1959 | Herold, J. Christopher. Mistress to an Age: A Life of Madame De Stael. |
| 1958 | Bowen, Catherine Drinker. The Lion and the Throne. |
| 1957 | Kennan, George F. Russia Leaves the War. |
| 1956 | Kubly, Herbert. An American in Italy. |
| 1955 | Krutch, Joseph Wood. The Measure of Man. |
| 1954 | Catton, Bruce. A Stillness at Appomattox. |
| 1953 | De Voto, Bernard A. The Course of Empire. |
| 1952 | Carson, Rachel. The Sea Around Us. |
| 1951 | Arvin, Newton. Herman Melville. |
| 1950 | Rusk, Ralph L. The Life of Ralph Waldo Emerson. |