Nonfiction, A L-H.L
The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth! Or that's the idea, at least. Nonfiction works center on facts and real events. Although there is some debate about which kinds of literature qualify as nonfiction, the genre typically includes books in the categories of biography, memoir, science, history, self-help, cooking, health and fitness, business, and more.
Nonfiction Encyclopedia Articles By Title
A Letter Concerning Toleration, in the history of political philosophy, an important essay by the English philosopher......
The Abolition of Man, a book on education and moral values by C.S. Lewis, published in 1943. The book originated......
Abraham Lincoln: The War Years, four-volume biography by Carl Sandburg, published in 1939. It was awarded the 1940......
Acta Sanctorum, vast collection of biographies and legends of the Christian saints. The idea was conceived by Heribert......
The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, nonfiction account by Henry Miller of his travels through the United States, published......
Each year, The Great Ideas Today (1961–98), an Encyclopædia Britannica publication, focused on a topic or issue......
All the President’s Men, nonfictional book written by The Washington Post journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward......
American Notes, nonfiction book written by Charles Dickens, published in 1842. It is an account of his first visit......
Anabasis, prose narrative, now in seven books, by Xenophon, of the story of the Greek mercenary soldiers who fought......
Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays, work of literary criticism by Northrop Frye, published in 1957 and generally......
Anatomy of Melancholy, The, exposition by Robert Burton, published in 1621 and expanded and altered in five subsequent......
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, chronological account of events in Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, a compilation of seven......
Aparimitayus-sutra-shastra, in Buddhism, a short treatise (shastra) on the Aparimitayus-sutra, one of the major......
aphorism, a concise expression of doctrine or principle or any generally accepted truth conveyed in a pithy, memorable......
apology, autobiographical form in which a defense is the framework for a discussion by the author of his personal......
Letter of Aristeas, pseudepigraphal work of pseudo-history produced in Alexandria, probably in the mid-2nd century......
Ars poetica, work by Horace, written about 19–18 bce for Piso and his sons and originally known as Epistula ad......
The Art of Fiction, critical essay by Henry James, published in 1884 in Longman’s Magazine. It was written as a......
Ashtadhyayi, Sanskrit treatise on grammar written in the 6th to 5th century bce by the Indian grammarian Panini.......
Aspects of the Novel, collection of literary lectures by E.M. Forster, published in 1927. For the purposes of his......
Augustan History, a collection of biographies of the Roman emperors (Augusti) from Hadrian to Numerian (117–284),......
autobiography, the biography of oneself narrated by oneself. Autobiographical works can take many forms, from the......
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, book by Gertrude Stein, written in the voice of her lifelong companion, Alice......
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, biography, published in 1965, of the American Black militant religious leader and......
Axel’s Castle, book of critical essays by Edmund Wilson, published in 1931. Subtitled “A Study in the Imaginative......
Babi Yar, prose work by Anatoly Kuznetsov, published serially as Babi Yar in 1966. This first edition, issued in......
Bamboo Annals, set of Chinese court records written on bamboo slips, from the state of Wei, one of the many small......
Letter of Barnabas, an early Christian work written in Greek by one of the Apostolic Fathers (Greek Christian writers......
Bianzong lun, treatise by Xie Lingyun, an early Chinese Buddhist intellectual and renowned poet, valued chiefly......
Biographia Literaria, work by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, published in two volumes in 1817. Another edition of the......
biography, form of literature, commonly considered nonfictional, the subject of which is the life of an individual.......
Black Boy, autobiography by Richard Wright, published in 1945 and considered to be one of his finest works. The......
Black Elk Speaks, the autobiography of Oglala Lakota (Oceti Sakowin, or Sioux) warrior and holy man Black Elk,......
blog, online journal where an individual, group, or corporation presents a record of activities, thoughts, or beliefs.......
The Blue Book, annually revised publication listing notable persons in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia,......
Bollandist, member of a small group of Belgian Jesuits who edit and publish the Acta Sanctorum, the great collection......
The Book of Margery Kempe, medieval memoir that is widely believed to be the first autobiography written in English.......
Borstal Boy, autobiographical work by Irish writer Brendan Behan, published in 1958. The book portrays the author’s......
Bronx Primitive, memoir by Kate Simon, published in 1982. It evokes working-class Jewish immigrant life in the......
Brundtland Report, publication released in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) that......
Brut, any of several medieval chronicles of Britain tracing the history and legend of the country from the time......
Casket Letters, the eight letters and a series of irregular sonnets asserted by James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton,......
casual, an essay written in a familiar, often humorous style. The word is usually associated with the style of......
causerie, in literature, a short informal essay, often on a literary topic. This sense of the word is derived from......
Causeries du lundi, series of informal essays by Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve. The 640 critical and biographical......
character writer, any writer who produced a type of character sketch that was popular in 17th-century England and......
chronicle, a usually continuous historical account of events arranged in order of time without analysis or interpretation.......
Chunqiu, the first Chinese chronological history, said to be the traditional history of the vassal state of Lu,......
Cider with Rosie, autobiographical novel by Laurie Lee (1914–1997), published in 1959. An account of the author’s......
The City of God, philosophical treatise vindicating Christianity, written by the medieval philosopher St. Augustine......
First Letter of Clement, a letter to the Christian church in Corinth from the church of Rome, traditionally ascribed......
The Common Reader, collection of essays by Virginia Woolf, published in two series, the first in 1925 and the second......
confession, in literature, an autobiography, either real or fictitious, in which intimate and hidden details of......
Confessions, spiritual self-examination by St. Augustine, written in Latin as Confessiones about 400 ce. The book......
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, autobiographical narrative by English author Thomas De Quincey, first published......
Costa Book Awards, series of literary awards given annually to writers resident in the United Kingdom and Ireland......
The Crack-Up, essay by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published serially in Esquire magazine in 1936 and posthumously, in......
Critique of Judgment, treatise on the human faculty of judgment as it relates to aesthetics and teleology, by the......
Culture and Anarchy, major work of criticism by Matthew Arnold, published in 1869. In it Arnold contrasts culture,......
Cūlavaṃsa, (Pāli: “Little Chronicle”), Ceylonese historical chronicle that details the history of the island of......
De claris mulieribus, work by Giovanni Boccaccio, written about 1360–74. One of the many Latin works the author......
De Jure Praedae, comprehensive 17th-century work by Hugo Grotius that examines the historical, political, and legal......
De Profundis, letter written from prison by Oscar Wilde. It was edited and published posthumously in 1905 as De......
Debrett’s Peerage, guide to the British peerage (titled aristocracy), first published in London in 1802 by John......
Democratic Vistas, prose pamphlet by Walt Whitman, published in 1871. The work comprises three essays that outline......
dialogue, in its widest sense, the recorded conversation of two or more persons, especially as an element of drama......
diary, form of autobiographical writing, a regularly kept record of the diarist’s activities and reflections. Written......
The Diary of a Young Girl, journal by Anne Frank, a Jewish teenager who chronicled her family’s two years (1942–44)......
The Diary of Alice James, journal kept by Alice James for the last four years of her life, beginning in 1889, until......
Letter to Diognetus, early Christian apologetic work probably dating from the 2nd or 3rd century ce. An insightful......
Down and Out in Paris and London, autobiographical work by George Orwell, published in 1933. Orwell’s first published......
Dust Tracks on a Road, autobiography of Zora Neale Hurston, published in 1942. Controversial for its refusal to......
Dīpavaṃsa, (Pāli: “History of the Island”), oldest extant historical record of Sri Lanka, compiled in the 4th century.......
Ebony, monthly magazine geared to a middle-class African American readership. It was the first Black-oriented magazine......
The Education of Henry Adams, autobiographical work by Henry Adams that was privately printed in 1906 and published......
Elements, treatise on geometry and mathematics written by the Greek mathematician Euclid (flourished 300 bce).......
Elizabeth and Essex, biography of Elizabeth I, queen of England, by Lytton Strachey, published in 1928. Subtitled......
Eminent Victorians, collection of short biographical sketches by Lytton Strachey, published in 1918. Strachey’s......
epigram, originally an inscription suitable for carving on a monument, but since the time of the Greek Anthology......
epistle, a composition in prose or poetry written in the form of a letter to a particular person or group. In literature......
epitaph, an inscription in verse or prose upon a tomb; and, by extension, anything written as if to be inscribed......
essay, an analytic, interpretative, or critical literary composition usually much shorter and less systematic and......
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, work by the English philosopher John Locke, published in 1689, that presents......
An Essay on Man, philosophical essay written in heroic couplets of iambic pentameter by Alexander Pope, published......
Essays, work by the French writer and philosopher Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) that established a new literary......
Ethics, treatise of rationalist metaphysics by the Dutch Jewish philosopher Benedict de Spinoza. Composed in Latin......
Father and Son, autobiography by Edmund Gosse, published anonymously in 1907. Considered a minor masterpiece, Father......
Federalist papers, series of 85 essays on the proposed new Constitution of the United States and on the nature......
The Feminine Mystique, a landmark book by feminist Betty Friedan published in 1963 that described the pervasive......
The Fire Next Time, nonfiction book, published in 1963, comprising two previously published essays in letter form......
Freedom’s Journal—with its masthead slogan “Righteousness Exalteth a Nation,”—was the first Black-owned and operated......
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)—the polymathic poet, philosopher, orator, journalist, superb stylist, and......
The Genius of Christianity, five-volume treatise by François-Auguste-René Chateaubriand, published in French as......
gnomic poetry, aphoristic verse containing short, memorable statements of traditional wisdom and morality. The......
Good-Bye to All That, autobiography by Robert Graves, published in 1929 and revised in 1957. It is considered a......
Grace Abounding, spiritual autobiography of John Bunyan, written during the first years of his 12-year imprisonment......
the Green Book, travel guide published (1936–67) during the segregation era in the United States that identified......
Guide to Kulchur, prose work by Ezra Pound, published in 1938. A brilliant but fragmentary work, it consists of......
The Gulag Archipelago, history and memoir of life in the Soviet Union’s prison camp system by Russian novelist......
The reputation of the journalist and critic H.L. Mencken has seen its ups and downs since his death in 1956. His......