Looking for nonfiction books to read

[Quimby]

The Mental Floss History of the World. A very readable book for an obviously dense subject.

[Mr Downtown]

I just finished Zeitoun. Quite the page-turner.

[Raguleader]

I recently read Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds, written by (as you might have guessed from the title) Robin Olds. He graduated from Westpoint in 1942 as a Second Lieutenant, and had achieved the rank of Major by the time the war ended 3 years later. He was a triple-ace by the time he retired, with 12 kills in WWII flying P-51s and P-38s, and 4 kills flying F-4 Phantoms over Vietnam. Lots of war stories, lots of thoughts on leadership and responsibility, and many instances of Olds getting himself in trouble because he had no sense of tact and people kept insisting on letting him speak in public.

[Boyo Jim]

Originally Posted by Raguleader

I recently read Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds, written by (as you might have guessed from the title) Robin Olds. ...

In this same tradition, there are some other good ones out there.
Baa Baa Black Sheep by Greg Boyington, the top ace of the Marines in WWII with 28 kills, inspirer of the TV series, perpetual drunk
God Is My Copilot by Robert Scott, one of the Flying Tigers
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo by Ted Lawson, copilot of one of the planes on the Doolittle mission
Samurai by Saburo Sakai, the highest scoring Japanese ace to survive the war

[Plumpudding]

Jumping in to reccomend "Q", by Luther Blisset. It's a Historical novel beginning with the theses posted by Martin Luther and the german peasants war, continuing by detailing various anabaptist movements afterwards from a first person perspective and ending with the appointment of Pope Paul IV.

Jumping out again, goodbye!

[Chefguy]

House of Rain, Craig Childs

Blood and Thunder, Hampton Sides

1491, Charles Mann

A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson

Undaunted Courage, Stephen Ambrose

The Lost City of Z, David Grann

Skeletons on The Zahara, Dean King

[breezman]

I'd recommend any book by William Poundstone, though I'd put Prisoners Dilemma and Gaming the Vote at the top.

[Raguleader]

I also liked A Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of Cowpens by Lawrence E. Babits, which I read for a history class in high school. Gives the background and details on the Battle of Cowpens during the American Revolution. Somehow the author manages to make marching formations sound riveting (granted, they were marching and maneuvering in formation in the midst of a battle. For a marching band geek, that's pretty danged thrilling to think of.)

If you ever saw The Patriot, with Mel Gibson, the final battle was based partially on this engagement.

And on another Mel Gibson note, another book that I read for the same class: We Were Soldiers Once...and Young by Joe Galloway and Lt. General Hal Moore (Retired). Tells about one of the first airborne cavalry battalions, and a pair of battles this unit (and a sister unit of theirs) was involved in around the Ia Drang valley during Vietnam.

Just a word of warning though, reading this book, particularly any parts involving Rick "Hard Corps" Rescorla, will cause you to spontaneously grow a beard and a chest full of hair. That dude was the sort of freaking badass that they used to make Micheal Caine movies and Scandinavian poems about.

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by Chefguy

...Undaunted Courage, Stephen Ambrose

The Lost City of Z, David Grann...

Didn't like the first that much - how could Ambrose make Lewis & Clark's adventures seem boring? - but the second was pretty good.

[One And Only Wanderers]

Just finished a book called Etymologicon which I quite enjoyed. Fun if you like words and where they came from.

[Chefguy]

Originally Posted by Elendil's Heir

Didn't like the first that much - how could Ambrose make Lewis & Clark's adventures seem boring? - but the second was pretty good.

Historical accuracy takes some 'splaining.

[WordMan]

Am I the first to link to the sticky thread at the top of CS?

The Cafe Society Book Recommendation Compendium

I will see if I can link this thread in there, too; lots of good stuff.

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by Chefguy

Historical accuracy takes some 'splaining.

'Splaining is one thing - I don't mind it at all, when it's done well - but boring writing is boring writing.

[Biggirl]

Salt: A World History, already mentioned.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Dibs In Search of Sef

I didn't check to see if they're available on kindle.

[SCAdian]

Originally Posted by Boyo Jim

In this same tradition, there are some other good ones out there.
Baa Baa Black Sheep by Greg Boyington, the top ace of the Marines in WWII with 28 kills, inspirer of the TV series, perpetual drunk
God Is My Copilot by Robert Scott, one of the Flying Tigers
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo by Ted Lawson, copilot of one of the planes on the Doolittle mission
Samurai by Saburo Sakai, the highest scoring Japanese ace to survive the war

Roar of the Tiger, by James H Howard. Howard started as a USN fighter pilot, resigned his commission to join the AVG (Flying Tigers), and ended up as a P-51 pilot in Europe. One of two AVG pilots (the other being Boyington) to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

[Boyo Jim]

Originally Posted by SCAdian

Roar of the Tiger, by James H Howard. Howard started as a USN fighter pilot, resigned his commission to join the AVG (Flying Tigers), and ended up as a P-51 pilot in Europe. One of two AVG pilots (the other being Boyington) to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

I'll have to check this out -- I hadn't heard of it, though I've heard of him. I wonder if it's still in print.

[turtledove river]

I recommend The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

Also the Uncle Johns Bathroom Reader series are fun to have around.

[Boyo Jim]

Divine Wind by Rikihei Inoguchi, the story of Japan's kamikaze forces in WWII.

The Ragged Rugged Warriers by Martin Caidin, the story of the first year or so in the Pacific air war, when the US was getting repeatedly clobbered by the Japanese.

Infamy by John Toland. This is particularly interesting as it espoused one of the earliest big conspiracy theories to catch the attention of the American public. He examine the questions of whether Roosevelt and the high command knew a lot more about the Japanese advance toward Pearl Harbor than they let their field commanders in on. I personally thought he made a very strong case, buy YMMV.


Some other good war memoirs:
Night Fighter by Bob Braham, the top scoring RAF night fighter pilot of the war

Japanese Destroyer Captain, by Tameichi Hara, who begun the war as a detroyer captain and ended it in command of the cruiser that was sunk while escorting the Yamato.

Stuka Pilot by Werner Baumbach, the story of a dive bomber pilot on the Russian front.

The First and the Last by Adolf Galland, high scoring ace and Commander of Fighters in the Luftwaffe by the end of the war.

[Boyo Jim]

To War in a Stringbag by by Charles Lamb, pilot of one of the most ancient aircraft to fly on any side in combat -- the Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber. It was obsolete before the war began, yet achieved a remarkable war record, including putting a torpedo into the Bismark that allowed the Bristish navy to catch and sink her. It was also the bomber used in the historic attack against the Italian navy in Taranto -- the Japanese used this attack as a model for their own later attack on Pearl Harbor.

[Boyo Jim]

Ooh, I forgot one of my all-time favorite reads -- The Good War by Studs Terkel. It is about domestic life in the US in WWII. I cannot say enough good things about it -- it is absolutely brilliant.

[Galwegian]

Anything by Carl Sagan, but especially Cosmos

[SCAdian]

Roar of the Tiger, by James H Howard:

Originally Posted by Boyo Jim

I'll have to check this out -- I hadn't heard of it, though I've heard of him. I wonder if it's still in print.

Don't think so. I got it through the local library as an ILL.

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by Sigmagirl

An enthusiastic second for Destiny of the Republic, one of the best books I've read in recent years. James A. Garfield is now one of my personal heroes....

You'll want to read this: http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/ind...s_a_profo.html

[KarlGauss]

If you like history, especially that of the late 19th or early 20th century, I can't recommend enough the following books (all published in the last five or so years):

The Big Burn (by Timothy Egan) - the incredible story, incredibly well told, of the prochronistic environmental philosophy of Teddy Roosevelt, the founding of the US Forest Service, and the unbelievably huge fire that destroyed much of the forest of several western states in 1910.

King Leopold's Ghost (by Adam Hochschild) - the haunting chronicle of the genocide in the Congo circa 1890, made all the more astounding given that is was carried out as a humanitarian and Christian undertaking, by the execrable King Leopold II of Belgium and his lackey, Henry Stanley (of "Dr. Livingstone, I presume" fame). One of the best books I have ever read.

In the Garden of Beasts (by Erik Larson) - the true story of the US ambassador to Germany in the 1930's who thought the unthinkable was all too possible, while others preferred not to think at all.

To End All Wars (another one by Adam Hochschild) - a study of "the protest movement" during WWI, recounting 'The Great War' from the perspective of those who opposed it, despite the enormous consequences, and often outright ruin, which occurred as a result. Revisionism in the best sense.

Destiny of the Republic (by Candice Millard) - let me add my voice to the chorus of recommendations already made in this thread. Millard weaves biography (of the extraordinary US president James Garfield) with history, science, politics, and medicine (such as it was in the 1880s) in this magnificent book.