Editor's Choice Awards / Best Books of 2005

As promised, History Wire today announces its pick of the ten best books it has reviewed in 2005. The task grows more daunting every year, since publishers' releases are growing geometrically. So we recognize that, in selecting ten, we are leaving behind scores and  scores of worthy entries.

This year's winners include fiction, non-fiction and biography as well as one notable reference book. Some will be no surprise -- the books would probably appear on nearly everyone's lists. We're gratified, though, to be able to shine the spotlight on some lesser-known authors, from whom we expect to see great things in the future. We list the winners in no special order or ranking. This year's winners are:

Rising From The Rails by Larry Tye, published by Henry Holt.

Five Days in Philadelphia by Charles Peters, published by Public Affairs.

Encyclopedia of New England, Bart Feintuch and David Watters, Eds., published by the University Press of New England.

Matisse the Master, A Life of Henri Matisse, The Conquest of Color, 1909-1954, by Hilary Spurling, published by Knopf.

The March by E. L.  Doctorow, published by Random House.

Curse of the Narrows by Laura M. MacDonald, published by Walker & Co.

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, published by Simon & Schuster.

The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, published by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.

Dream Boogie: The Triumph of  Sam Cooke, by Peter Guralnick, published by Little Brown.

Mao -- The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and  Jon Halliday, published by Knopf.