Best Gore Vidal Books

The best books by Gore Vidal — 7 titles spanning Historical Fiction, averaging 3.90 BLT stars.

Read more

Gore Vidal rewrote American history as literature — and he did it with a wit sharp enough to draw blood. His Narratives of Empire sequence, running from Burr through Lincoln to The Golden Age, reimagines the republic's founding and expansion through the eyes of insiders who are cynical, ambitious, and almost always right about power. Vidal's prose is elegant and ironic, dense with period detail but never stuffy — he writes historical figures as fully human, which means flawed, scheming, and occasionally great. Lincoln in particular is a masterwork of quiet revelation, building a portrait of the sixteenth president through the perceptions of those around him. Creation ventures further back, into the ancient world, with similar authority. Readers who want history that argues with itself, delivered in prose with genuine literary polish, will find Vidal indispensable.

Gore Vidal's highest-rated book in our collection is Lincoln (4.37 BLT stars). Browse the full list below.

Where to Start with Gore Vidal

  1. 1
    Lincoln cover

    Lincoln

    Narratives of Empire • Book 2

    by Gore Vidal

    ★ 4.37 BLT Score (9.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.25 Goodreads (9.9K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  2. 2
    Creation cover

    Creation

    by Gore Vidal, Anthony Burgess

    ★ 4.06 BLT Score (5.1K ratings)
    ★ 4.22 Goodreads (5.1K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  3. 3
    Empire cover

    Empire

    Narratives of Empire • Book 4

    by Gore Vidal

    ★ 3.95 BLT Score (2.5K ratings)
    ★ 3.86 Goodreads (2.5K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  4. 4
    1876 cover

    1876

    Narratives of Empire • Book 3

    by Gore Vidal

    ★ 3.87 BLT Score (3.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.86 Goodreads (3.4K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  5. 5
    Washington, D.C. cover

    Washington, D.C.

    Narratives of Empire • Book 6

    by Gore Vidal

    ★ 3.81 BLT Score (2.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.74 Goodreads (2.0K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  6. 6
    Hollywood cover

    Hollywood

    Narratives of Empire • Book 5

    by Gore Vidal

    ★ 3.70 BLT Score (1.5K ratings)
    ★ 3.64 Goodreads (1.5K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  7. 7
    The Golden Age cover

    The Golden Age

    Narratives of Empire • Book 7

    by Gore Vidal

    ★ 3.52 BLT Score (1.2K ratings)
    ★ 3.72 Goodreads (1.2K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →

Browse Related Lists

Best Gore Vidal Audiobooks Gore Vidal — Author Profile James Patterson Jonathan Maberry Nora Achrati J.D. Robb Anne Perry Agatha Christie Ed McBain Stephen King Terry Pratchett Nora Roberts Michael Connelly Daniel Schinhofen Kevin J. Anderson Clive Cussler Brandon Sanderson Unknown Author Lee Child Craig Alanson Lois McMaster Bujold Terence Aselford Best Fantasy Best Sci-Fi Best Thriller Best Mystery Best Horror Best Literature & Fiction

How We Rank Audiobooks

Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.

Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.

We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.

Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.

Read our full ranking methodology →