# Books about "Interesting times\*" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 6, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-about-interesting-times/640041 "2012-11-06T03:22:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-about-interesting-times/640041/21 "2012-11-07T21:00:17Z")
The pre-war novels of George Orwell, which were realistic unlike his post war ones. In particular, _Keep the Aspidistra Flying_ and _Coming Up for Air_ make one glad not to live in the 1930s. All of his non-fiction stuff would serve the same purpose. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-about-interesting-times/640041/22 "2012-11-07T21:12:37Z")
It’s been said that her work on “_The Rape of Nanking_” (which included interviews with many survivors) had contributed to the author’s depression and eventual suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-about-interesting-times/640041/23 "2012-11-07T21:35:37Z")
[Born Red: A Chronicle of the Cultural Revolution](http://www.amazon.com/Born-Red-Chronicle-Cultural-Revolution/dp/0804713693/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352323792&sr=8-1&keywords=born+red) by Gao Yuan [Man Is Wolf to Man: Surviving the Gulag](http://www.amazon.com/Man-Wolf-Surviving-Gulag/dp/0520221524/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352323914&sr=1-5&keywords=bardach) by Janusz Bardach and Kathleen Gleeson [I Was Saddam’s Son](http://www.amazon.com/Was-Saddams-Son-Latif-Yahia/dp/B007U9O4J2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352323982&sr=1-1&keywords=i+was+saddam%27s+son) by Latif Yahia [The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin’s Russia](http://www.amazon.com/Whisperers-Private-Life-Stalins-Russia/dp/0312428030/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352324095&sr=1-1&keywords=whisperers) by Orlando Figes [The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin’s Russia](http://www.amazon.com/Forsaken-American-Tragedy-Stalins-Russia/dp/0143115421/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352324194&sr=1-1&keywords=tzouliadis) by Tim Tzouliadis ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-about-interesting-times/640041/24 "2012-11-08T07:35:56Z")
The Grapes of Wrath John Dos Passos’s “U.S.A. Trilogy” Michael Herr’s “Dispatches” Mailer’s “The Naked and the Dead” ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-about-interesting-times/640041/25 "2012-11-08T15:42:47Z")
_The Endless Steppe_ by Esther Hautzig. It’s a memoir about how her family was exiled to Siberia just before World War II. It’s written for children, but still very powerful, with many interesting details about how they survived. _Barrayar_ by Lois McMaster Bujold. An adult SF novel about a civil war on another planet. ---
**Author:** ![Silence\_Lenore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Silence\_Lenore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silence_Lenore)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-about-interesting-times/640041/26 "2012-11-08T17:37:16Z")
In the great explorers category: From the Cape to Cairo - The First Traverse of Africa from South to North by Ewart S. Grogan & Arthur H. Sharp. In the late 1890’s, young Ewart fell in love with Gertrude, her stepfather did not approve, Ewart decided to prove himself by walking the length of Africa. It wasn’t easy. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-about-interesting-times/640041/27 "2012-11-08T18:09:05Z")
I’m now reading [Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History](http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060). The Comanches used their absolute mastery of fighting on horseback to rule vast stretches of the plains–including most of what is now Texas. They fought against other tribes (including the gentle Apache), Spaniards, Mexicans, Texans & the US–committing acts of unusual cruelty in a cruel world. Yet Cynthia Ann Parker, kidnapped daughter of settlers & mother of Quanah, preferred her life as a Comanche to life after her “rescue.” It’s a fascinating book but tough to read. Hard men (& women) on both sides… ---
**Author:** ![Hogwash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@Hogwash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogwash)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-about-interesting-times/640041/28 "2012-11-08T18:20:59Z")
For pre-WW1 Europe, try _The Fall of Paris: The Siege and the Commune 1870-71_ by Alistair Horne. People eating cats and zoo animals, daring escapes by hot air balloon, pigeon post, Bismarck, Victor Hugo, Krupp artillery and of course the short-lived Commune. A very interesting time indeed. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-about-interesting-times/640041/29 "2012-11-08T21:15:43Z")
> [@Hogwash](#): > > For pre-WW1 Europe, try _The Fall of Paris: The Siege and the Commune 1870-71_ by Alistair Horne. > > People eating cats and zoo animals, daring escapes by hot air balloon, pigeon post, Bismarck, Victor Hugo, Krupp artillery and of course the short-lived Commune. A very interesting time indeed. I heartily recommend this one, having read it earlier this year and I would add the two other books of his French trilogy : _The Price of Glory_ about the battle of Verdun and _To Lose a Battle_ about the battle of France, 1940. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-about-interesting-times/640041/30 "2012-11-08T21:34:32Z")
Maybe a bit too broad for your specified interests, but [The Fifties](http://www.amazon.com/Fifties-David-Halberstam/dp/0449909336/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352410371&sr=1-1&keywords=the+fifties)by David Halberstam was outstanding - a remarkable (and thoroughly enjoyable) work on a most interesting decade. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-about-interesting-times/640041.md?page=1)