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The Economist

The Economist Books of the Year 2016

The Economist Books of the Year 2016 names 52 books across 7 categories. 18 of them also won or were shortlisted for an award.

Biography and memoir

  1. Born to Run by Bruce Springsteensource (opens in a new tab)
  2. But You Did Not Come Back by Marceline Loridan-Ivens, translated by Sandra Smithsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years by John Guysource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Half-Lion: How P.V. Narasimha Rao Transformed India by Vinay Sitapatisource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Karl Marx: Greatness and Illusion by Gareth Stedman Jonessource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Kenneth Clark: Life, Art and “Civilisation” by James Stourtonsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Negroland: A Memoir by Margo Jeffersonsource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Outlandish Knight: The Byzantine Life of Steven Runciman by Minoo Dinshawsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe: A Biography by Elaine Showaltersource (opens in a new tab)
  10. The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between by Hisham Matarsource (opens in a new tab)
  11. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithisource (opens in a new tab)

Culture

  1. Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives by Gary Youngesource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Beethoven for a Later Age: Living with the String Quartets by Edward Dusinberresource (opens in a new tab)
  3. City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee Camp by Ben Rawlencesource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Cleverlands: The Secrets Behind the Success of the World's Education Superpowers by Lucy Crehansource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Free Speech: Ten Principles for a Connected World by Timothy Garton Ashsource (opens in a new tab)
  6. How to Listen to Jazz by Ted Gioiasource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts by Christopher de Hamelsource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future by Johan Norbergsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. The End of Karma: Hope and Fury Among India's Young by Somini Senguptasource (opens in a new tab)
  10. The Life Project: The Extraordinary Story of Our Ordinary Lives by Helen Pearsonsource (opens in a new tab)

Economics and business

  1. Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clarksource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Eccentric Orbits: The Iridium Story by John Bloomsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalisation by Branko Milanovicsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Great Convergence: Information Technology and the New Globalization by Richard Baldwinsource (opens in a new tab)
  5. The Man Who Knew: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan by Sebastian Mallabysource (opens in a new tab)
  6. The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The US Standard of Living since the Civil War by Robert Gordonsource (opens in a new tab)

Fiction

  1. Swing Time by Zadie Smithsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047 by Lionel Shriversource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smithsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans, translated by David McKaysource (opens in a new tab)

History

  1. East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity by Philippe Sandssource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire by Peter Wilsonsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Lenin on the Train by Catherine Merridalesource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815-1914 by Richard Evanssource (opens in a new tab)
  5. The Romanovs: 1613-1918 by Simon Sebag Montefioresource (opens in a new tab)
  6. The Water Kingdom: A Secret History of China by Philip Ballsource (opens in a new tab)

Politics and current affairs

  1. Black Wind, White Snow: The Rise of Russia's New Nationalism by Charles Cloversource (opens in a new tab)
  2. CEO, China: The Rise of Xi Jinping by Kerry Brownsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. China's Crony Capitalism: The Dynamics of Regime Decay by Minxin Peisource (opens in a new tab)
  4. China's Future by David Shambaughsource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vancesource (opens in a new tab)
  6. The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liewsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. The Egyptians: A Radical Story by Jack Shenkersource (opens in a new tab)
  8. The Euro and the Battle of Ideas by Markus Brunnermeier, Harold James and Jean-Pierre Landausource (opens in a new tab)
  9. The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine by Ben Ehrenreichsource (opens in a new tab)
  10. Trials: On Death Row in Pakistan by Isabel Buchanansource (opens in a new tab)

Science and technology

  1. Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body by Jo Marchantsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yongsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Patient HM: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets by Luke Dittrichsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjeesource (opens in a new tab)
  5. The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars by Dava Sobelsource (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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