Non-fiction is such a broad categorisation considering the wide range of brilliant titles on so many different topics published this year, but we’ve chosen our favourite hardback non-fiction titles from 2021 for this gift guide, including memoirs, nature writing, art biographies, history books and more.
You can find more of our lists of new hardback non-fiction titles from the past year here, here and here.
Published: 2nd Sep '21
Hardback
£25.00
In this truly gorgeous book, Amy Jeffs reimagines Britain’s mythology, removing medieval anachronisms from the stories, illustrating them with linocut prints, and generally creating a timeless rendition of archetypal, instructive tales that feel both universal and personal even centuries after they were first told.
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Published: 28th Oct '21
Hardback
£20.00
A fascinating and absorbing read about coming of age in a country probably many of us know little about. Lea Ypi grew up in Albania during the final years of state communism. In Free, she describes her childhood and teenage years vividly as the regime falls apart and gives way to neo-liberalism, then leading to violent conflict. She writes beautifully, tenderly and sometimes humorously about family, her political awakening, the meaning of freedom and truth.
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Published: 19th Aug '21
Hardback
£20.00
The patience and crystalline clarity of Amia Srinivasan’s prose conceals the urgency of her attempt to answer a particularly difficult question: who gets to be desirable, and why?
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Published: 23rd Nov '21
Hardback
£16.99
Published: 19th Oct '21
Hardback
£30.00
Ten years in the making, and completed just prior to the tragic death of anthropologist David Graeber last year, The Dawn of Everything, co-written with archaeologist David Wengrow, is a dazzling reinterpretation of human history and challenges existing narratives about social evolution.
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Published: 9th Nov '21
Hardback
£16.99
I loved this collection. Exploring power, beauty, shame and the male gaze, each essay is framed against experiences which have been formative in Ratajkowski’s life. Her writing is compulsively readable – partly because her lifestyle is fascinating and unfamiliar – but mainly because her voice is very engaging and sincere. She writes with clarity and honesty, not glossing over her flaws and internalised misogyny.
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Published: 27th May '21
Hardback
£25.00
Love him or hate him, this D. H. Lawrence biography was the most exciting, gripping, and well crafted book I read this year. Wilson looks at Lawrence both lovingly and critically, and conveys the thrill of his itinerant life so well in the form of a dizzying travel narrative. I had so much fun reading this, it felt like I was listening in to the best literary gossip of his time and learning the best and the worst of a writer who has always fascinated me. Hats off to Frances Wilson!
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Published: 4th Mar '21
Hardback
£16.99
I read this during lockdown and it was glorious to revel in the sights, sex, soundtracks and sensations of gay bars past and present. The fusion of Atherton Lin’s own experiences with existing literature on queer history makes this all-consuming personal and socio-cultural history of the gay bar an incredibly enjoyable read.
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Published: 5th Aug '21
Hardback
£14.99
Something about Powles’s writing has captivated me since I first read Tiny Moons. This essay collection moves from redefining nature writing to essays about Mitski, Miyazaki and wild swimming, all in the same dreamy writing style. I’m such a fan.
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Published: 12th Oct '21
Hardback
£16.99
This is peak Daniel Sloss. If you are a fan of his stand-up, this book is for you. It reads like a loosely-structured comedy set but will last you longer than a Netflix special. He is rude and sweary and offensive but he is kind, observant and funny too. This book is also for you if you don’t know who Daniel Sloss is but are wondering what one white middle-class Scottish comedian thinks of the US, love, death and friendships. If you know for a fact that you do not like either of those things, I would not recommend you buy this book.
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Published: 7th Oct '21
Hardback
£14.99
Manifesto is a fascinating read. I loved reading about different episodes of Evaristo’s life as well as the commentary and understanding she brings to so many different themes that arise along the way (race, gender discrimination, the constant work it takes to make it as a creative and to have your voice heard when so many things are weighted against that happening). Evaristo has been writing for a long time, and had many well-loved books published long before her Booker-winning Girl, Woman, Other but, as she discusses in Manifesto, there are always those who will want to paint you as an ‘overnight success’ because of an award win. What people will take away from this book is how much work and time it takes to actually achieve that Booker win, and I’m sure anyone who’s less familiar with Evaristo’s previous work will find many reasons to go and pick up her other books if Manifesto is the first one they’ve read.
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Published: 19th Aug '21
Hardback
£25.00
Elegantly written, engaging and original, this hybrid between a group biography and art criticism explores the lives and work of women artists loosely associated with the Bloomsbury group. I found it fascinating!
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Published: 5th Aug '21
Hardback
£16.99
An unapologetic account of a daughter’s harrowing grief following her mother’s short and agonising battle with cancer. Focussed on their bond over Korean food, this memoir is beautiful in its connection of grief with food and memory.
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Published: 14th Oct '21
Hardback
£20.00
This is a definitive biography of the life of B.B. King, the iconic blues superstar, but also an examination of the progress of civil rights in America, as both of those stories are undeniably intertwined.
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Published: 18th Mar '21
Hardback
£14.99
This book was more moving and special to me than I could have anticipated. Much loved poet and children’s writer Michael Rosen shares poems, emails, diary entries and messages that were created and sent whilst he fought to stay alive after contracting Covid-19. The extracts written by nurses and NHS staff caring for Michael were by far the stand out element of this book for me. Chris Riddell’s accompanying illustrations are wonderful as always.
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Published: 27th Apr '21
Hardback
£20.00
What started as personal fascination and several episodes dotted throughout his podcast series ‘Revisionist History’ has now grown into this book. It is a concise explanation of the philosophy of The Bomber Mafia, that of minimising civilian casualties, and how they tried to achieve it. This is an excellent read for anyone with an interest in the way warfare was conducted from the air in the 20th century, a fascinating bit of history passionately told by Gladwell.
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Published: 7th Sep '21
Hardback
£9.99
Like many I watched and loved I May Destroy You, and fans of Cole’s work will find a lot to like in her first book. It’s a short work of non-fiction based around her MacTaggert lecture, which she gave in Edinburgh in 2018. It details her upbringing in East London and discovery of theatre and storytelling and discusses the value of individuality, non-conformity and creativity. A short and important read.
Published: 8th Apr '21
Hardback
£18.99
Rachel Kushner is just too cool… These are some of the most gripping, exciting essays I’ve read this year. She manages to be both intimate and hugely informative touching on a very diverse range of topics, from social issues to meditations on art and literature, and even vintage cars and motorcycles!
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