Which books are best for reading about the prophet's life (seerah)?

In a Nutshell:  I can't say there is a best source for everyone to read; it depends on what you want from the source ie your purpose of reading. There are books that are more suitable to scholars; for a general reader, for Western readers, for children and others provide overviews. Outlines of Seera If you are a non-specialist who just needs an overview of the Prophet's (saw) life, you could read the following, both of which are accurate, well written and accurate: Ibn Kathir, al-Fusul fi Seerat al-Rasul; Mubarakpuri, ar-Raheeq al-Makhtum. Ghazali, Fiqh as-Seera. Western Readers Non-Muslim Western readers usually need an elaboration of events with their context to avoid misconceptions. The books of the academic Karen Armstrong are widely recommended. Having trained as a Christian nun, she comes from a theological background, that permits her to contextualise the seera for a Western audience in a Judeo-Christian civilisation. Like any writer, she has some downsides and quirks but overall her rendition is quite good: A Biography of the Prophet (most important); A Prophet for Our Time. Many recommend Martin Lings' rendition of the seera "Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources" given its beautiful writing style and construction of the narrative that is gripping throughout. Scholars Here the issue became more complicated and views are stratified. If you are targeting scholarly details and you want to read only one book, in my opinion, it would be Ibn Kathir, as-Seera al-Nabawiyah. I always review it when I want to save time and only need to see the key issues surrounding a given event, especially when I have read about the issue in detail previously and I now need a recap. The features of this book are: The author mostly includes Hassan (authenticated) narrations whilst others include weak narrations or even fabricated narrations; He does not exclude the narrations that disagree with his theses, rather he includes them and discusses them; The book is comprehensive, including the vast majority of information you need about any event; Unlike most of the contemporary books, it is not biased to certain trends. But if you do not want to omit any piece of information regarding a certain event, you seriously need to review the following books, besides the above (in this order): Ibn Hisham, as-Seera al-Nabawiyah; Ibn Ishaq, as-Siyar wa al-Maghazi; Tabari, Tarikh at-Tabari; Ya'muri, 'Uyun al-Athar; Kinani, al-Mukhtasar al-Kabir; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil fi at-Tarikh; Sohili, al-Rawd al-Aneef; Ibn Hiban, as-Seera al-Nabawiyah wa Akhbar al-Khulafa'; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwah; Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam; Darami, as-Seera al-Nabawiyah  When you read these books regarding events, you will be able to analyze, check the authenticity, compare narrations and know omitted details of any given narration as well as having a bird's eye view of the events of seera.  Conclusion I can't say there is a best source for everyone to read; it all depends on your purpose of reading. There are books however that are more suitable to scholarly endeavours, beginners, general readers or Western readers.  

The book that provides comprehensive details of the Prophet's (S.A.W.) life is called Seerat al-Nabawi. A number have been written in different languages. Personally, I would recommend the Seerat al-Nabawi by Ibn-Kathir for Enlish readers. For Indian Subcontinent readers, the Seerat al-Nabawi written by Allama Shibli Naumani is considered a beacon of light. Allama Shibli Naumani's book is written in Urdu language but nevertheless, provides substantial details of the Prophet's (S.A.W) life. I can share a softcopy of them if you require one. Simply put a comment.