List of controversial non-fiction books

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.

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

Artificial intelligence and the nature of consciousness:
 * 1976: The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes
 * 1986: The Society of Mind by Marvin Minsky
 * 1990: The Emperor's New Mind by Roger Penrose
 * 1991: Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett

Cosmology:
 * 1986: The Anthropic Cosmological Principle by John D. Barrow and Frank J. Tipler

Environmentalism:
 * 1798: An Essay on the Principle of Population by Thomas Malthus
 * 1962: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
 * 1968: The Population Bomb by Paul R. Ehrlich
 * 1972: The Limits to Growth; A Report for the Club of Rome's Project on the Predicament of Mankind
 * 2001: The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bj&oslash;rn Lomborg

Evolution:
 * 1859: The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
 * 1976: The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
 * 1995: Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennett

Feminist Theory
 * The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer

Globalization:
 * 2000: No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies by Naomi Klein

History
 * 1992: The End of History by Francis Fukuyama

Psychiatry
 * 1961: The Myth of Mental Illness by Thomas Szasz

Politics:
 * 1651: Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
 * 1791: The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine
 * 1848: The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
 * 1925/1926: Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler

Race and intelligence:
 * 1981/1996: The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould
 * 1994: The Bell Curve

Religion:
 * 1965: The Passover Plot by Hugh J. Schonfield

See also:
 * List of controversial issues