The best Navajo (Diné) books start with Peter Iverson's Diné: A History of the Navajos for the history, Joseph Bruchac's Code Talker for the Code Talker story, and Luci Tapahonso's poetry for the contemporary Diné voice — with Hillerman's mysteries and the Long Walk histories rounding out the shelf. The Navajo Nation reaches across northwestern New Mexico, and the literature of the Diné — by Navajo writers and by outsiders who documented the nation — is among the richest of any Native people. This is a reader's path in, written with respect for a living nation. For the deeper record, see the guides to New Mexico Native American literature and the Long Walk and Bosque Redondo.
Published June 2026 · Curated by Josh Eldred, New Mexico Literacy Project · Written with respect for the Navajo Nation
Diné: A History of the Navajos — Peter Iverson
The essential modern history of the Navajo Nation, written with the cooperation of the Navajo people and incorporating Diné voices throughout. From origins through the Long Walk, the reservation era, and the modern nation. The best single book to start with.
Code Talker — Joseph Bruchac
A novel of the Navajo Code Talkers, told by a fictional Diné Marine who was punished as a boy for speaking Navajo in boarding school — then used that same language to build the unbreakable code of the Pacific war. The most accessible entry point to one of the great stories of World War II.
The Navaho — Clyde Kluckhohn & Dorothea Leighton
The classic mid-century anthropological study — dated in places, but a foundational reference that shaped outside understanding of Diné life, religion, and social organization. Read it as a historical document alongside the Diné-authored works.
Sáanii Dahataał: The Women Are Singing — Luci Tapahonso
The Navajo Nation's first poet laureate, born at Shiprock, writes warm poetry and prose steeped in Diné language, family, and the Four Corners landscape. The best introduction to a beloved living Diné voice — the contemporary heart of this list.
The Leaphorn & Chee novels — Tony Hillerman
Hillerman's mysteries, set among the Navajo Tribal Police, brought the Diné landscape and worldview to millions of readers — so respectfully that the Navajo Nation honored him as a Special Friend of the Diné. Start with A Thief of Time. (Anne Hillerman continues the series with a Navajo woman, Bernadette Manuelito, at its center.)
Blood and Thunder — Hampton Sides
For the wrenching central event of Navajo history — the 1860s Long Walk and the imprisonment at Bosque Redondo in New Mexico — Sides's narrative history sets it in the wider story of the American conquest. Read alongside the Long Walk guide.
Going further
The Diné shelf runs deep: the weaving and silverwork traditions documented in the Navajo weaving guide, the broader Native canon of New Mexico in Best Pueblo & Native New Mexico Books, and the histories of the other nations of the region. As with all Native literature, read with attention to what the communities themselves choose to share.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best history of the Navajo Nation?
Peter Iverson's Diné: A History of the Navajos, written with the cooperation of the Navajo Nation.
What book tells the Code Talker story?
Joseph Bruchac's novel Code Talker is the most accessible account.
Who is a major Navajo poet?
Luci Tapahonso, the Navajo Nation's first poet laureate; start with Sáanii Dahataał.
Cite This Guide
Eldred, J. (June 2026). Best Navajo (Diné) Books to Read. New Mexico Literacy Project.
https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/best-navajo-dine-books
Original curation by Josh Eldred. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.