| Don Revie |
Don Revie: The Definitive Biography by Christopher Evans |
Dec 21 |
| John Milton |
Making Darkness Light: A Life of John Milton by Joe Moshenska |
Dec 7 |
| Gretta Garbo |
Garbo by Robert Gottlieb |
Dec 7 |
| René Magritte |
Magritte: A Life by Alexander Danchev |
Nov 30 |
| Bette Davis |
Bette Davis: Black and White by Julia Stern |
Nov 26 |
| Winston Churchill |
Churchill, Master and Commander: Winston Churchill at War 1895-1945 by Anthony Tucker-Jones |
Nov 23 |
| George Platt Lynes |
George Platt Lynes: The Daring Eye by Allen Ellenzweig |
Nov 23 |
| Picasso |
A Life of Picasso The Minotaur Years (Vol 4) by John Richardson |
Nov 16 |
| Muhammad |
Muhammad, the World-Changer: An Intimate Portrait by Mohamad Jebara |
Nov 16 |
| Elizabeth Hardwick |
A Splendid Intelligence: The Life of Elizabeth Hardwick by Cathy Curtis |
Nov 16 |
| Sarah Churchill |
Wayward Daughter: Sarah Churchill and Her World by Miranda Brooke |
Nov 15 |
| E. O. Wilson |
Scientist: E. O. Wilson: A Life in Nature by Richard Rhodes |
Nov 9 |
| Catherine Dior |
Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture by Justine Picardie |
Nov 9 |
| King George III |
The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III by Andrew Roberts |
Nov 9 |
| Benedict XVI |
Benedict XVI: A Life (Vol 2) by Peter Seewald |
Nov 9 |
| Led Zeppelin |
Led Zeppelin: The Biography by Bob Spitz |
Nov 9 |
| Leonid Brezhnev |
Brezhnev: The Making of a Statesman by Susanne Schattenberg |
Nov 4 |
| Polly Adler |
Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age by Debby Applegate |
Nov 2 |
| Cokie Roberts |
Cokie: A Life Well Lived by Steven Roberts |
Nov 2 |
| H G Wells |
The Young H. G. Wells: Changing the World by Claire Tomalin |
Nov 2 |
| Princess Mary |
Princess Mary: The First Modern Princess by Elisabeth Basford |
Nov 1 |
| Stephen Crane |
Burning Boy: The Life and Work of Stephen Crane by Paul Auster |
Oct 26 |
| Winston Churchill |
Churchill’s Shadow: The Life and Afterlife of Winston Churchill by Geoffrey Wheatcroft |
Oct 26 |
| Robert Bellah |
A Joyfully Serious Man: The Life of Robert Bellah by Mattteo Bortolini |
Oct 19 |
| Charles Addams |
Charles Addams: A Cartoonist’s Life by Linda Davis |
Oct 19 |
| Willis A. Lee Jr. |
Battleship Commander: The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr. by Paul Stillwell |
Oct 15 |
| Tony Hillerman |
Tony Hillerman: A Life by James Morris |
Oct 14 |
| Franklin Graham |
Franklin Porter Graham: Southern Liberal by William Link |
Oct 14 |
| Adolf Hitler |
The Hitler Years: Disaster, 1940-1945 (Vol 2) by Frank McDonough |
Oct 12 |
| Oscar Wilde |
Oscar Wilde: A Life by Matthew Sturgis |
Oct 12 |
| Harold Rosenberg |
Harold Rosenberg: A Critic’s Life by Debra Bricker Balken |
Oct 6 |
| B. B. King |
King of the Blues: The Rise and Reign of B. B. King by Daniel de Vise |
Oct 5 |
| Harry Guggenheim |
The Business of Tomorrow: The Visionary Life of Harry Guggenheim by Dirk Smillie |
Oct 5 |
| Hans Holbein |
The King’s Painter: The Life of Hans Holbein by Franny Moyle |
Oct 5 |
| W. G. Sebald |
Speak, Silence: In Search of W. G. Sebald by Carole Angier |
Oct 5 |
| Anthony Bourdain |
Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography by Laurie Woolever |
Sept 28 |
| Robt E Lee |
Robert E. Lee: A Life by Allen Guelzo |
Sept 28 |
| B.H. Roberts |
B.H. Roberts: A Life in the Public Arena by John Stillito |
Sept 27 |
| Vanderbilt family |
Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe |
Sept 21 |
| George Rickey |
George Rickey: A Life in Balance by Belinda Rathbone |
Sept 14 |
| Howard Kazanjian |
Howard Kazanjian: A Producer’s Life by J. W. Rinzler |
Sept 14 |
| Oliver Cromwell |
The Making of Oliver Cromwell by Ronald Hutton |
Sept 7 |
| Fannie Lou Hamer |
Walk with Me: A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer by Kate Clifford Larson |
Sept 1 |
| Joseph P. Kennedy |
Tempting All the Gods: Joseph P. Kennedy by Jane Karoline Vieth |
Sept 1 |
| Queen Eliz II |
The Queen by Matthew Dennison |
Sept 1 |
| Lafayette |
Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution by Mike Duncan |
Aug 24 |
| George Hearst |
George Hearst: Silver King of the Gilded Age by Matthew Bernstein |
Aug 19 |
| D.H. Lawrence |
Burning Man: The Trials of D. H. Lawrence by Frances Wilson |
Aug 17 |
| Elizabeth Barrett Browning |
Two-Way Mirror: The Life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning by Fiona Sampson |
Aug 17 |
| Prince Philip |
Philip: The Final Portrait by Gyles Brandreth |
Aug 17 |
| Nico |
You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone: The Biography of Nico by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike |
Aug 10 |
| Joseph P. Kennedy |
The Ambassador:Joseph P. Kennedy at the Court of St. James by Susan Ronald |
Aug 3 |
| Mark Catesby |
Illuminating Natural History: The Art and Science of Mark Catesby by Henrietta McBurney |
Aug 3 |
| Genl John Rawlins |
General John A. Rawlins: No Ordinary Man by Allen Ottens |
Aug 3 |
| Lowitja O’Donoghue |
Lowitja: The Authorised Biography by Stuart Rintoul |
Aug 1 |
| Fernando Pessoa |
Pessoa: A Biography by Richard Zenith |
July 20 |
| Edgar Hoover |
The Director: My Years Assisting J. Edgar Hoover by Paul Letersky |
July 13 |
| Ivor Gurney |
Dweller in Shadows: A Life of Ivor Gurney by Kate Kennedy |
July 13 |
| Barbara Hepworth |
Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life by Eleanor Clayton |
July 13 |
| Lise Meitner |
The Amazing Story of Lise Meitner by Andrew Norman |
July 8 |
| Clive Bell |
Clive Bell and the Making of Modernism: A Biography by Mark Hussey |
July 6 |
| Al Hirschfeld |
Hirschfeld: The Biography by Ellen Stern |
July 6 |
| Jayne Mansfield |
Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldn’t Help It by Eve Golden |
June 29 |
| James Otis & Mercy Warren |
Minds and Hearts: The Story of James Otis Jr. and Mercy Otis Warren by Jeffrey Hacker |
June 25 |
| Etta Place |
Etta Place: Riding Into History with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid by D.J. Herda |
June 23 |
| John Craxton |
John Craxton: A Life of Gifts by Ian Collins |
June 22 |
| Sydney Taylor |
From Sarah to Sydney: The Woman Behind All-of-a-Kind Family by June Cummins |
June 22 |
| Elizabeth Fox-Genovese |
Elizabeth Fox-Genovese: Paternalism’s Daughter by Deborah Symonds |
June 15 |
| Ian Fleming |
The World is Not Enough: A Biography of Ian Fleming by Oliver Buckton |
June 12 |
| Ethel Rosenberg |
Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy by Anne Sebba |
June 8 |
| John Marshall Harlan |
The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan by Peter Canellos |
June 8 |
| Paulo Freire |
Paulo Freire: A Philisophical Biography by Walter Omar Kohan |
June 3 |
| C.S. Lewis |
The Making of C.S. Lewis: From Atheist to Apologist by Harry Lee Poe |
June 1 |
| Horace Stoneham |
Forty Years a Giant: The Life of Horace Stoneham by Steven Treder |
June 1 |
| Charlotte Delbo |
Charlotte Delbo: A Life Reclaimed by Ghislaine Dunant |
May 28 |
| Mary Wortley Montagu |
The Pioneering Life of Mary Wortley Montagu by Jo Willett |
May 26 |
| Joseph Ritson |
Discovering Robin Hood: The Life of Joseph Ritson by Stephen Basdeo |
May 26 |
| Lucas Alaman |
A Life Together: Lucas Alaman and Mexico, 1792-1853 by Eric Van Young |
May 25 |
| Vito Genovese |
The Deadly Don: Vito Genovese, Mafia Boss by Anthony DeStefano |
May 25 |
| John Browning |
The Guns of John Moses Browning: The Remarkable Story of the Man Whose Firearms Changed the World by Nathan Gorenstein |
May 25 |
| Thomas Sowell |
Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell by Jason L. Riley |
May 25 |
| Norman Jewison |
Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life by Ira Wells |
May 18 |
| Joseph Smith |
Joseph Smith for President: The Prophet, the Assassins, and the Fight for American Religious Freedom by Spencer McBride |
May 11 |
| Kurt Gödel |
Journey to the Edge of Reason: The Life of Kurt Gödel by Stephen Budiansky |
May 11 |
| Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings |
The Life She Wished to Live: A Biography of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings by Ann McCutchan |
May 11 |
| Henrietta Szold |
To Repair a Broken World: The Life of Henrietta Szold by Dvora Hacohen |
May 11 |
| Karl Barth |
Karl Barth: A Life in Conflict by Christiane Tietz |
May 4 |
| George Berkeley |
George Berkeley: A Philosophical Life by Tom Jones |
May 4 |
| Nikolay Myaskovsky |
Nikolay Myaskovsky: A Composer and his Times by Patrick Zuk |
May 3 |
| John Omohundro |
Texas Jack: America’s First Cowboy Star by Matthew Kerns |
May 1 |
| Genl David Gregg |
Unsung Hero of Gettysburg: The Story of Union General David McMurtrie Gregg by Edward Longacre |
May 1 |
| Jim Bridger |
Trailblazer of the American West by Jerry Enzler |
Apr 29 |
| Fred Reines |
Chasing the Ghost: Nobelist Fred Reines and the Neutrino by Leonard Cole |
Apr 22 |
| Clarence Darrow |
Darrow’s Nightmare: The Forgotten Story of America’s Most Famous Trial Lawyer by Nelson Johnson |
Apr 20 |
| Nancy Pelosi |
Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power by Susan Page |
Apr 20 |
| Georgina Weldon |
Georgina Weldon: The Fearless Life of a Victorian Celebrity by Joanna Martin |
Apr 6 |
| Louis Lomax |
The Life and Times of Louis Lomax by Thomas Aiello |
Apr 2 |
| Genl John Slough |
John P. Slough: The Forgotten Civil War General by Richard Miller |
Apr 1 |
| Winston & Randolph Churchill |
Churchill & Son by Josh Ireland |
Mar 30 |
| Philip Roth |
Philip Roth: A Counterlife by Ira Nadel |
Mar 29 |
| James Hughes Callahan |
Texas Rangers, Ranchers, and Realtors: James Hughes Callahan by Thomas O. McDonald |
Mar 25 |
| Nipsey Hussle |
The Marathon Don’t Stop: The Life and Times of Nipsey Hussle by Rob Kenner |
Mar 23 |
| Edward Said |
Places of Mind: A Life of Edward Said by Timothy Brennan |
Mar 23 |
| Eugene H. Peterson |
A Burning in My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene H. Peterson by Winn Collier |
Mar 23 |
| Francis Bacon |
Francis Bacon: Revelations by Mark Stevens |
Mar 23 |
| Salvador Dali |
The Dali Legacy: How an Eccentric Genius Changed the Art World and Created a Lasting Legacy by Christopher Heath Brown |
Mar 23 |
| Edward Said |
Places of Mind: A Life of Edward Said by Timothy Brennan |
Mar 23 |
| Steve Marriott |
All or Nothing: The Story of Steve Marriott by Simon Spence |
Mar 18 |
| Louis Duportail |
Washington’s Engineer: Louis Duportail and the Creation of an Army Corps by Norman Desmarais |
Mar 16 |
| Lady Bird Johnson |
Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight by Julia Sweig |
Mar 16 |
| Sir Francis Drake |
In Search of a Kingdom: Francis Drake, Elizabeth I, and Perilous Birth of the British Empire by Laurence Bergreen |
Mar 16 |
| Herman Ehrenberg |
Inside the Texas Revolution: The Enigmatic Memoir of Herman Ehrenberg by James Crisp |
Mar 15 |
| Katherine Parr |
Katherine Parr: Opportunist, Queen, Reformer by Don Matzat |
Mar 15 |
| Fitz John Porter |
Radical Sacrifice: The Rise and Ruin of Fitz John Porter by William Marvel |
Mar 8 |
| Thomas Sankara |
Thomas Sankara: A Revolutionary in Cold War Africa by Brian Peterson |
Mar 2 |
| Thaddeus Stevens |
Thaddeus Stevens: Civil War Revolutionary, Fighter for Racial Justice by Bruce Levine |
Mar 2 |
Russell Lee
|
Russell Lee: A Photographer’s Life and Legacy by Mary Jane Appel |
Mar 2 |
| R.C. Sproul |
R.C. Sproul: A Life by Stephen Nichols |
Mar 2 |
| John Marshall |
John Marshall: The Final Founder by Robert Strauss |
Mar 1 |
| William Butterfield |
The Master Builder: William Butterfield and his Times by Nicholas Olsberg |
Feb 28 |
| Jane Street |
The Girl Who Dared to Defy: Jane Street and the Rebel Maids of Denver by Jane Little Botkin |
Feb 25 |
| Tom Stoppard |
Tom Stoppard: A Life by Hermione Lee |
Feb 23 |
| Rabbi Yudel Rosenberg |
A Kabbalist in Montreal: The Life and Times of Rabbi Yudel Rosenberg by Ira Robinson |
Feb 23 |
| Ivan Illich |
Ivan Illich: An Intellectual Journey by David Cayley |
Feb 18 |
| John Calhoun |
Calhoun: American Heretic by Robert Elder |
Feb 16 |
| Stan Lee |
True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee by Abraham Riesman |
Feb 16 |
| William Parker |
Universal Tonality: The Life and Music of William Parker by Cisco Bradley |
Feb 12 |
| Vera Rubin |
Vera Rubin: A Life by Jacqueline and Simon Mitton |
Feb 11 |
| Bugsy Siegel |
Bugsy Siegel: The Dark Side of the American Dream by Michael Shnayerson |
Feb 9 |
| Rosa Bonheur |
Art is a Tyrant: The Unconventional Life of Rosa Bonheur by Catherine Hewitt |
Feb 9 |
| Robert Maxwell |
Fall: The Mysterious Life and Death of Robert Maxwell by John Preston |
Feb 9 |
| Margaret Murray Washington |
Margaret Murray Washington: The Life and Times of a Career Clubwoman by Sheena Harris |
Feb 4 |
| Mike Nichols |
Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris |
Feb 2 |
| Sybille Bedford |
Sybille Bedford: A Life by Selina Hastings |
Feb 2 |
| Bob Gersony |
The Good American: The Epic Life of Bob Gersony by Robert Kaplan |
Jan 26 |
| Ida Wells |
Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells by Michelle Duster |
Jan 26 |
Herman Melville
|
Herman Melville: A Half-Known Life by John Bryant |
Jan 19 |
| Lucian Freud |
The Lives of Lucian Freud: Fame, 1968-2011 by William Feaver |
Jan 19 |
| Isaac Newton |
The World of Isaac Newton by Toni Mount |
Jan 15 |
| Graham Greene |
The Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham Greene by Richard Greene |
Jan 12 |
| Rabbi Louis Jacobs |
Reason to Believe: The Controversial Life of Rabbi Louis Jacobs by Harry Freedman |
Jan 12 |
| Ben Fletcher |
Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly by Peter Cole |
Jan 12 |
Reading the Best Biographies of All Time 
There is a new bio on John Marshall by Joel Richard Paul: Without Precedent: Chief Justice John Marshall and His Times. I am not sure if it will supplant Baker or Smith though.
I just finished Washington, A Life, based on your recommendation. Fantastic. I am really blown away. Thank you so much!
A small token of my appreciation: earlier this year I read the bio of Kurt Gödel you have listed above, Journey to the Edge of Reason, by Budiansky. Excellent. Highly recommended. There’s a little math that I kind of skimmed over, but it’s not important really.
Thanks so much! I won’t mind the math…though I’ve forgotten almost everything past the first year of calculus 🙂