This is a list of controversial non-fiction books aimed at the general reader which discuss controversial issues, or are (or were at the time of writing) controversial for other reasons. For controversial fictional books, see list of banned books.

The intention is to provide

  1. a reading list of the pivotal works, good or bad, in controversial subjects
  2. a list of topics for Wikipedia articles on those books and their authors

Criteria for inclusion:

  • This list is intended to be selective, not exhaustive.
  • The standard for books written in the last 40 years is necessarily weaker than that for older books, as there is no way of knowing whether these books will be as highly regarded (or reviled) in the decades to come. Their topical nature makes them important, and so they should be included here.

This list is alphabetical by topic, and books should be ordered by publication date within topics

Anthropology Artificial intelligence and the nature of consciousness: Cosmology: Drug culture: Environmentalism: Evolution: Feminist Theory: Futurology:
  • 1982: Megatrends by John Naisbitt
  • 2003: Our Final Hour (UK title: Our Final Century) by Martin Rees

Globalization: History:
  • 1987: Black Athena (volume I) by Martin Bernal
  • 1992: The End of History by Francis Fukuyama
  • 1994: ''Empirico-Statistical Analysis of Narrative Material and Its Applications to Historical Dating: The Development of the Statistical Tools by Anatoly Timofeevich Fomenko
  • 1996: The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel P. Huntington
  • 1999: ''New Methods of Statistical Analysis of Historical Texts: Applications to Chronology by Anatoly Timofeevich Fomenko

Politics: Psychiatry: Race and intelligence: Religion: See also:
  • Wikipedia:List of controversial issues