The 10 Best Non-Fiction Books of 2022

1. "The True Story of Anna Karenina", Pavel Basinsky

It was this work that the jury of the "Big Book" award recognized as the best in the past season. Philologist Pavel Basinsky refers to Tolstoy's immortal novel Anna Karenina. The philologist repeatedly re-read it and each time discovered unexpected details, and now he shares his findings with everyone.

"The True Story of Anna Karenina" is a study of the image of the main character, a guide to the world of the writer, which includes an explanation of the customs and way of life of a bygone era.

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2. Dressmakers of Auschwitz. The True Story of Women Who Sew to Survive by Lucy Edlington

Journalist Lucy Edlington wrote a book about women who worked in a fashion atelier under concentration camp. Yes, yes, this is not a joke. During the Holocaust, the camp commandant's wife created the Upper Atelier workshop. In it, Jewish (and then non-Jewish) girls sewed clothes for the ladies of high society and the SS men themselves. This skill saved the workers from a terrible death: while they were creating outfits, they were alive. Salvation was granted by their talent.

"The Dressmakers of Auschwitz" makes us remember another book about the terrible fate of women - "Radium Girls» Keith Moore. It tells about factory workers who received a dose of radiation while painting the dials of army watches with luminous paint. Both texts describe real events, and so important that it is simply impossible not to include Edlington in the list of the most notable books of 2022.

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3. "Status. Why we unite, compete and destroy each other, Will Storr

Book by British journalist Will StorrSelfie» published by Individuum in 2019. It talked about the destructive desire for self-improvement, social pain and ostracism.

In Status, Storr continues to closely examine people and their deepest motives, drawing on the work of anthropologists, psychologists, and neuroscientists. The author analyzes the formula for success and the tools that humanity uses on the way to obtaining status. The result is simple: the desire for a better life and gaining a high social position contributes to the development of the whole society, and also provokes the emergence of competition.

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4. “Love in the Age of Hate. Chronicle of a Feeling, 1929-1939 by Florian Illies

The German art critic Florian Illies describes in Love in the Age of Hate an interesting historical period - the end of the Roaring 20s and the rise of the Nazis. The author talks about the confusion of society and cultural figures in the face of a catastrophe: someone emigrated, leaving everything, and someone lost his life, unable to escape from the clutches of the bloody regime.

Illies shows great lovers - Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, Man Ray and his student Lee Miller, Anais Ning and Henry Miller, Bertolt Brecht and Helena Weigel - and fascinatingly describes their difficult relationship. This is a "chronicle of one feeling" - saving love that comforts in the darkest times.

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5. "Shelf. On the main books of Russian literature, 4 volumes

«Shelf” is an educational project about the most important books in Russian literature. Journalist Yuri Saprykin created it in 2018. The site featured articles about works selected by experts, from The Tale of Igor's Campaign to Victor Pelevin's post-Soviet novel Chapaev and the Void. Later, the editors launched a podcast about Russian literature.

In 2022, "Shelf" was published in the form of four books, which collected detailed commentary articles from literary critics, cultural scientists, philologists and journalists. If you've ever wondered, "What is this book really about?" and “What did the author want to say?”, then detailed explanations can be found in these editions.

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6. “The other side of love. Breakup History, Sabine Melchior-Bonnet

Sabine Melchior-Bonnet touches on a difficult topic - a story of love and parting. The breakup of relationships is always accompanied by dramatic events, difficult experiences and confrontations. The author considers the stories of very different lovers: both medieval heroes (Eloise and Abelard), and modern ones (Prince Charles and Diana).

How did the breakup occur within the royal families and how is it different from what we see today? It is interesting to trace how ideas about reputation, freedom, duty, morality and love have changed. The book will especially delight fans of the epistolary genre - love speech in the form of letters has been an important element for many centuries.

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7. “Go up. Longing for the passing season, Ryoko Sekiguchi

Publishing house Ad Marginem has released a small but spellbindingly poetic book by Japanese writer Ryoko Sekiguchi. This essay is about the Highlands, which is how the Land of the Rising Sun calls the end of the season, the transition from reality to memory. “Experience nagori” means “to be sad because of parting or departure”, and “nagori cup” means “a farewell glass before parting”.

Sekiguchi tried to describe this fragile feeling of loss, to indicate the borderline state between life and death. According to Sekiguchi, the uplands follow us everywhere: in nature, the change of seasons, travel and love.

8. "Imaginary Enemy", Mikhail Mayzuls

This book in 2022 received the Enlightener award, which is awarded for the best popular science work in Russian. Medievalist, Candidate of Historical Sciences Mikhail Maizuls immerses in the context and tells how the image of the enemy was formed from the 12th to the 16th centuries. "Imaginary Enemy" is a serious and fascinating study from the author of "The Suffering Middle Ages».

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9. Formula of Dreams, Katya Kolpinets

Media researcher Katya Kolpinets deals with the image of an ideal life in her work. Many of us spend our time fighting for the mythical standard of beauty imposed by social media, but that doesn't bring happiness any closer. Katya Kolpinets shows what lies behind flawless photographs and what stories you really need to know so as not to dream in vain.

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10. The Bell of Nagasaki, Takashi Nagai

"The Bell of Nagasaki" is an essay about a terrible episode in the life of the Japanese doctor Takashi Nagai. He was an eyewitness bombing in Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, after which Japan signed the act of surrender. Nagai, his colleagues and students were in a university hospital near the epicenter of events. Many died on the spot, the survivors were horribly injured. Together with other doctors, Dr. Nagai tried to save the victims.

In his candid essay, the author shares the thoughts that arose at that moment and tells how it all happened. Two years after writing the work, the doctor died of leukemia - the consequences of that exposure.

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By special promo code 15LIFEHACKER on website "LitRes" all readers will receive a book as a gift from a special selection, as well as a 15% discount on almost the entire range.