Notable upcoming biographies are shown below (recent changes in bold). A more exhaustive list focused on U.S. Presidents can be found here. This list was updated April 11, 2024.
| Joachim Buddecke | The Hunting Falcon: The Story of World War I German Ace Joachim Buddecke by Christopher Lawrence | Apr 18 |
| Charles Sumner | The Great Abolitionist: Charles Sumner and the Fight for a More Perfect Union by Stephen Puleo | Apr 23 |
| Barbara Walters | The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters by Susan Page | Apr 23 |
| Dan Doctoroff | The Urbanist: Dan Doctoroff and the Rise of New York by Sophia Hollander | Apr 25 |
| Chaim Weizmann | Chaim Weizmann: A Biography by Jehuda Reinharz | Apr 30 |
| Abigail Adams | The Unexpected Abigail Adams by John L. Smith Jr. | Apr 30 |
| Gilbert Spencer | Gilbert Spencer: The Life and Work of a Very English Artist by Paul Gough | Apr 30 |
| Joaquín Rodrigo | A Light in the Darkness: The Music and Life of Joaquín Rodrigo by Javier Suárez-Pajares | May 7 |
| Zhou Enlai | Zhou Enlai: A Life by Jian Chen | May 7 |
| Hank Aaron | Home Run King: The Remarkable Record of Hank Aaron by Dan Schlossberg | May 14 |
| Queen Elizabeth | Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait by Gyles Brandreth | May 14 |
| Daniel Butterfield | Union General Daniel Butterfield: A Civil War Biography by James S. Pula | May 15 |
| Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy | Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy by Elizabeth Beller | May 21 |
| John Trumbull | Glorious Lessons: John Trumbull, Painter of the American Revolution by Richard Brookhiser | May 28 |
| Catherine de Medici | Catherine de Medici: The Life and Times of the Serpent Queen by Mary Hollingsworth | July 2 |
| Bernie Madoff | Madoff: The Final Word by Richard Behar | July 9 |
| Pancho Villa | Pancho Villa: The Definitive Biography by Paco Ignacio Taibo II | July 16 |
| Alexander the Great | Alexander at the End: The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander the Great by Rachel Kousser | July 16 |
| YSL | Yves Saint Laurent: Inside Out by Carlos Muñoz Yagüe | Oct 8 |
| Woody Allen | Woody Allen: Life and Legacy by Patrick McGilligan | Nov 12 |
| Xi Jinping | Xi Jinping: The Red Emperor by Michael Sheridan | [2024] |
| Desi Arnaz | [Untitled] by Todd Purdum | tbd |
| Amelia Earhart | [Untitled] by Laurie Gwen Shapiro | tbd |
| Warren Berger | [Untitled] by Todd Peppers | tbd |
| Alexander Twilight | [Currently untitled] by William Hart | tbd |
| Francis Crick | [Untitled] by Matthew Cobb | tbd |
| Edward Kennedy | [Untitled] by Chris Matthews | tbd |
| Roy Cohn |
[Currently untitled] by Kai Bird |
tbd |
| Wm F Buckley |
[Currently untitled] by Sam Tanenhaus |
tbd |
| Nikita Khrushchev |
[Currently untitled] by Nina Khrushchev |
tbd |
| James Watson |
[Currently untitled] by Nathaniel Comfort |
tbd |
| Edward Robinson | [Currently Untitled] by Emina Melonic | tbd |
| Thurgood Marshall | [Currently untitled] by A. Scott Berg |
tbd |
| Mark Twain | [Currently untitled] by Ron Chernow | tbd |
| Henry Kissinger | [Currently untitled – Kissinger volume II] by Niall Ferguson | tbd |
| Ezra Taft Benson | [Currently untitled] by Patrick Mason | tbd |
| Joseph Smith | [Currently untitled] by John Turner | tbd |
| John Lewis | [Currently untitled] by David Greenberg | tbd |
| Gertrude Stein | [Currently untitled] by Francesca Wade | tbd |
| Peter O’Toole | [Currently untitled] by Alexander Larman | tbd |
| Anne Frank | [Currently untitled] by Ruth Franklin |
tbd |
| Alexander Twilight | [Currently untitled] by Bill Hart |
tbd |
| Christopher Hitchens | [Currently untitled] by Stephen Phillips |
tbd |
| Stalin | [Stalin: Miscalculation – Vol 3] by Stephen Kotkin | tbd |
| James Weldon Johnson | [Currently untitled] by David W. Blight |
2024 |
| John Brown | [Currently untitled] by Walter Johnson | [2024] |
This list is derived from sources believed to be accurate; dates and titles are subject to change prior to publication.
Every book I review has been purchased by me. TheBestBiographies.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Reading the Best Biographies of All Time 
William Taubman who did a biography of Khruschev in 2003 is coming out with a biography of Gorbachev in September.
Thanks for the tip – I recently added Taubman’s bio of Khrushchev to my “Related Reading” page on my sister website about presidential biographies. From what I gathered, that biography is excellent, so I can’t wait to see how he does with Gorbachev!
David Levering Lewis is doing a biography of Wendell Willkie to be released on May 1, 2018.
Thanks – I wanted to add Wendell Willkie to my “www.bestpresidentialbios.com” related-reading list but I seem to remember coming up short on compelling bios of him. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Lewis’s biography is worth a read-
Due on September 18th with a very impressive blurb lineup (Meachem, Brinkley, Nasaw, Gellman, and Cook (Blanche Wiesen):
https://www.amazon.com/Improbable-Wendell-Willkie-Businessman-Republican/dp/0871404575
That looks great! Thanks for posting it.
H.W. Brands is publishing a new book later this year (Nov 13th): Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants. Although not necessarily a biography, the author and subject matter may have some appeal.
I missed this one as well – given the topic / subject matter and the author this book could be incredibly compelling. Fingers crossed!
Gave up reading this one after about 50 pages. Its hard to get into a book when almost half of it is direct quotations. Im guessing this is how Brands is able to pump out books so fast.
Andrew Roberts (author of Napoleon) will be releasing his massive Churchill biography in November.
Thank you for posting this as I completely missed it.
Yes, thanks – this has the potential to be incredible and it fell just outside the scope of my last search (coming post-summer). I’m really looking forward to this one!
Just curious, has anyone read anything by David Blight? If so, would you recommend him? I am thinking of getting his upcoming book on Frederick Douglass. (To give you a sense of the kind of biographical writing I like, I am a big fan of Robert Caro and Ron Chernow).
He’s no Chernow or Caro, but they are in an elite category. I read Race and Reunion many years ago and recall it being very good. It won the Bancroft Award. He is a well-respected scholar so I wouldn’t hesitate buying the Douglass bio. The other major bio of Douglass by Wm. McFeely was published in 1990.
For anyone interested, C-SPAN broadcast a recent interview by Brian Lamb of Robert Moses’s biographer Robert Caro. [Also available as a podcast.] According to Mr. Lamb, it was their 8th one-hour interview.
Very sad news concerning Edmund Morris:
Steve Inskeep’s new dual-biography of John and Jessie Fremont is getting good reviews. The NYT compares it to Candice Millard’s Destiny of the Republic. It’s next up on my reading pile.
If you want related reading to that, I recommend Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides
David Maraniss is writing a biography of Jim Thorpe with a release date TBD.
I did not realize a new Henry Adams bio was forthcoming. It looks interesting.
Robert Strauss is publishing a new book on John Marshall which is slated for a March 1, 2021 release. Based on Mr. Strauss’ prior work, it will be a readable Unger-like book.
This could be good: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1101946229?ref=em_1p_0_im&ref_=pe_2313400_568053690
Upcoming biography of Robert E. Lee by Allen C. Guelzo.
Indeed. Thank you for the heads up on it. Dr. Guelzo’s works on Lincoln are first rate.
Thanks for the heads-up! That might be a book I need to read upon its release 🙂
Upcoming biography of George III by Andrew Roberts.
That is fabulous news – thanks for noticing I missed this one!
You are very welcome. I love your websites. Keep up the great work.
Upcoming biography of Lafayette by Mike Duncan. Release date August 24.
Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution
A modern scholarly biography for Thomas Reed is coming in July:
James Grant called Speaker Reed The Most Important Politician You’ve Never Heard Of
https://www.npr.org/2011/05/29/136689237/the-most-important-politician-youve-never-heard-of
Thanks for sharing! I will sheepishly admit I had to look up Thomas Reed to figure out why I didn’t think I had ever heard of him 🙂
A new bio of Joseph McCarthy is expected in the fall:
A Genius for Confusion: Joseph R. McCarthy and the Politics of Deceit by Richard Fried, October 15, 2022
Thanks – the world does not yet have enough McCarthy bios (which I say as someone trying to convince myself to read Oshinsky’s…or not) so I’m looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
I am contemplating Larry Tye’s 2020 book Demagogue. It appears to be based on newly available information since Oshinsky’s book was published in 1983.
The other one I am struggling with is Spiro Agnew. After reading Graff’s new Watergate book I decided to seek out a good Agnew biography. The two which seem to standout are Jules Witcover’s Strange Bedfellows (2007) and Justin Coffey’s Spiro Agnew and the Rise of the Republican Right (2015).
I forgot one coming in August on Jay Gould.
Jonathan Eig’s KING: A LIFE is scheduled for May 16, 2023.
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374719678/king
Fabulous – thanks! Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
not sure if you have seen these but a few upcomings on my list – super excited for the James Wilkinson and the TR/Lodge works.
American Traitor – Howard Cox (Wilkinson)
Truman and the Bomb – D.M. Giangreco
The Rough Rider and the Professor – Laurence Jurdem
The Devils Will Get No Rest – James B. Conroy (Churchill/FDR)
Camera Girl – Carl Sferrazza (Jackie Kennedy)
Jackie: Public, Private, Secret – J. Randy Taraborrelli
You’re really looking out quite a distance! The ones I’m really looking forward to are the book on TR & Henry Cabot Lodge and upcoming bios of First Ladies Edith Wilson and Jackie Kennedy. And, of course, the last volume on LBJ by Robert Caro but I’m not holding my breath on that one…
The highest ranked official in the history of the U.S. Navy, George Dewey, is getting a new biography. The biography is entitled “A New Force at Sea: George Dewey and the Rise of the American Navy”, is written by David A. Smith (author of a book on Audie Murphy, one of the most decorated soldiers in U.S. history, as well as a successful film actor), and releases on April fifteenth of this year.
A Churchill biography from David Reynolds opens up 2024:
A belated thanks!
For those of us needing more John Hancock in our libraries:
Patrick Henry, For the People For the Country – John Ragosta
Thanks! UVA (Press) sent me a note about this, but I can’t tell if it’s more a biography or an exploration of just one part of his public service. I’m waiting for a reply from UVA – or a peek at the table of contents – to know whether it’s appropriate to add to the list. (For upcoming releases of presidents, I allow a book’s topic to be more tangential, for non-presidents I try to stick closer to “real” biographies).