Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made | 1986 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 2 | Kissinger | 1992 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 3 | People of the Century: One Hundred Men & Women Who Shaped the Last One Hundred Years | 1999 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 4 | Benjamin Franklin: An American Life | 2003 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 5 | A Benjamin Franklin Reader | 2005 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 6 | Einstein: His Life and Universe | 2007 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 7 | Einstein: The Life of a Genius | 2009 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 8 | American Sketches: Great Leaders, Creative Thinkers, and Heroes of a Hurricane | 2009 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 9 | Profiles in Leadership: Historians on the Elusive Quality of Greatness | 2010 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 10 | Steve Jobs | 2011 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 11 | The Innovators: How a Group ofHackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution | 2014 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 12 | Leonardo da Vinci | 2017 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 13 | Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos | 2020 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 14 | The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race | 2021 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 15 | Albert Einstein | 2021 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 16 | Elon Musk | 2023 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
| 17 | The Greatest Sentence Ever Written | 2025 | Walter Isaacson | Buy |
Walter Isaacson’s nonfiction career began with The Wise Men (1986), co-written with Evan Thomas, about the six Cold War-era diplomats who shaped American foreign policy. His first solo biography, Kissinger (1992), drew on his journalist’s instinct for detail. But it was Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003) that established his signature style: thorough research, a readable narrative, and a focus on how creative minds work.
From there, Isaacson wrote a string of biographies that became bestsellers. Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007) connected Einstein’s rebellious personality to his scientific breakthroughs. Steve Jobs (2011) was published weeks after Jobs died and became one of the best-selling biographies of the decade. Leonardo da Vinci (2017) used newly available notebooks to paint a detailed picture of the Renaissance artist’s mind. The Code Breaker (2021) told the story of Jennifer Doudna and the race to develop CRISPR gene editing. His Elon Musk biography (2023) was a number-one New York Times bestseller. The Greatest Sentence Ever Written (2025) is a short book analyzing the Declaration of Independence, published ahead of America’s 250th birthday.