| 2025 | Storyteller | The Wall Street Journal Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · 10 Best Books | |
| 2025 | Storyteller | The Economist Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Biography and memoir | |
| 2025 | Storyteller: The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson | Washington Post Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Notable Nonfiction | |
| 2019 | The Club: Johnson, Boswell and the Friends Who Shaped an Age | Los Angeles Times Book Prizes source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Finalist · Biography | |
| 2019 | The Club | Kirkus Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Nonfiction | |
| 2019 | The Club | New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Nonfiction | |
| 2019 | The Club | New York Times 100 Notable Books source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Nonfiction | |
| 2019 | The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age | Publishers Weekly Best Books source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Nonfiction | |
| 2015 | Eternity's Sunrise: The Imaginative World of William Blake | National Book Critics Circle Awards source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Finalist · Criticism | |
| 2015 | Eternity's Sunrise | Kirkus Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Nonfiction | |
| 2014 | Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World | Pulitzer Prize (Biography and History) source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Finalist · Biography or Autobiography | |
| 2014 | Jonathan Swift | Kirkus Prize source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Finalist · Nonfiction | |
| 2013 | Jonathan Swift: His Life And His World | National Book Critics Circle Awards source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Winner · Biography | |
| 2013 | Jonathan Swift | New York Times 100 Notable Books source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Nonfiction | |
| 2010 | Tocqueville's Discovery of America | Washington Post Best Books of the Year source ↗ (opens in a new tab) | Selection · Notable Nonfiction | |