# Looking for nonfiction books to read **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 18, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847 "2012-08-18T02:56:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scholar\_Beardpig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Scholar\_Beardpig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scholar_Beardpig)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/41 "2012-08-21T05:53:08Z")
Sterling Seagrave’s _The Soong Dynasty._ The ultimate book of the history of China in the first half of the 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/42 "2012-08-21T07:21:05Z")
John M. Barry’s _[The Great Influenza](http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Influenza-Deadliest-Pandemic/dp/0143036491/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1345532285&sr=8-17&keywords=epidemic)_ about the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. A history of politics of war, of politics of disease, and of how the studies started with this disease lead to a number of world-changing discoveries. Alfred Lansing’s _[Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage](http://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Incredible-Alfred-Lansing/dp/078670621X)_. An absolutely stunning book, about one of the most amazing feats of survival I’ve ever read. First published in 1959, this is one of the enduring tales of the sea, right up there with Walter Lord’s _[A Night to Remember](http://www.amazon.com/Night-Remember-Walter-Lord/dp/0805077642/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345533136&sr=1-1&keywords=walter+lord+A+Night+to+Remember)._ (Another recommendation.) It tells of what I like to call one of the glorious failures of history: Shackleton and his men intended to cross the Antarctic continent from one end to the other, instead his ship, the _Endurance_ was caught in the pack ice, and sunk, leaving him and his crew to try to survive in one of the most inhospitable environments on Earth. Once he got his crew to a point of relative safety, he and a picked crew, then sailed in an open boat, through the most harrowing seas, to get rescue. Absolutely amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/43 "2012-08-21T11:22:22Z")
For history, try Thucydides, Xenophon, Livy, and Caesar. Max Hastings’ autobiography, _Going to the Wars_, is an interesting read, as is Martin Middlebrook’s _The Falklands War 1982_. For something completely different, try Shaw’s _Fighter Combat_. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/44 "2012-08-21T14:09:23Z")
**Witness** by Whitaker Chambers **The Illusion of Victory** by Thomas Fleming **The Rise of Roosevelt** by Edmund Morris **1491** and **1493** by Charles Mann ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/45 "2012-08-21T14:37:31Z")
[A thread from last December](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634969) with some recommendations. I proposed [**The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars**](http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Century-Scandalized-Sparked-Tabloid/dp/0307592200/) and [**The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York**](http://www.amazon.com/Poisoners-Handbook-Murder-Forensic-Medicine/dp/014311882X/). ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/46 "2012-08-21T14:49:32Z")
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. I am about halfway through _[American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation](http://www.amazon.com/American-Canopy-Forests-Making-Nation/dp/1439193541/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345560456&sr=8-1&keywords=american+canopy)_ by Eric Rutkow. I have had to put it down several times to attend to other things, but it is very engrossing. ---
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/47 "2012-08-22T00:06:52Z")
Anything by Malcolm Gladwell. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/48 "2012-08-22T01:24:38Z")
[Arc of Justice](http://www.amazon.com/Arc-Justice-Rights-Murder-ebook/dp/B003J48BMI/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1345598572&sr=8-1) is about a black doctor who moved into an all-white neighborhood in 1920s Detroit (it doesn’t end well) and the court case that followed. It’s a very interesting read. While it focuses on that one incident it does a very good job of describing race relations in the U.S. then, and sheds a lot of light on why we (as a country) are where we are. ---
**Author:** ![Snite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Snite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snite)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/49 "2012-08-22T01:45:05Z")
The Mother Tounge - English And How It Got That Way, by Bill Bryson is a great read. Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, by Diarmaid McCulloch is a great look into the shaping of today’s western world. As born-again atheist I found it illuminating, and the former seminary student who decided instead to join the Army (still a christian to this day), loved it so much he never did return it to me! What I’m saying is, it’s really meant for everybody. Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789 - 1815, by Gordon S. Wood taught me so much about the early US I had never known before. The depth and level of detail is amazing. I also heartily second Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser. And in my experience: Any biography will do in a pinch. ---
**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/50 "2012-08-22T02:11:34Z")
For the true crime category try: The Mormon Murders by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith (July, 1988) For adventure Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea by Steven Callahan (Oct 17, 2002) Gipsy Moth Circles the World by Sir Francis Chichester (Jun 1968) ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/51 "2012-08-22T02:17:32Z")
The Mental Floss History of the World. A very readable book for an obviously dense subject. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/52 "2012-08-22T04:24:05Z")
I just finished _Zeitoun_. Quite the page-turner. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/53 "2012-08-22T06:33:44Z")
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.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/54 "2012-08-22T06:47:17Z")
> [@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 ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/55 "2012-08-22T14:38:56Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/56 "2012-08-22T20:39:17Z")
[House of Rain](http://www.amazon.com/House-Rain-Civilization-Southwest-ebook/dp/B000OT7U78/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1345667530&sr=1-1&keywords=house+of+rain), Craig Childs [Blood and Thunder](http://www.amazon.com/Blood-and-Thunder-ebook/dp/B000W969O0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1345667585&sr=1-1&keywords=blood+and+thunder), Hampton Sides [1491](http://www.amazon.com/1491-Second-Edition-Revelations-ebook/dp/B000JMKVE4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1345667653&sr=1-1&keywords=1491), Charles Mann [A Short History of Nearly Everything](http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Nearly-Everything-ebook/dp/B000FBFNII/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1345667709&sr=1-1&keywords=short+history+of+nearly+everything), Bill Bryson [Undaunted Courage](http://www.amazon.com/Undaunted-Courage-Stephen-Ambrose-ebook/dp/B005ZTEYOE/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1345667756&sr=1-2&keywords=undaunted+courage), Stephen Ambrose [The Lost City of Z](http://www.amazon.com/The-Lost-City-Obsession-ebook/dp/B001NLL414/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1345667838&sr=1-1&keywords=lost+city+of+z), David Grann [Skeletons on The Zahara](http://www.amazon.com/Skeletons-Zahara-Story-Survival-ebook/dp/B000FC1AO8/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1345667894&sr=1-6&keywords=sahara), Dean King ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/57 "2012-08-22T21:55:59Z")
I’d recommend any book by William Poundstone, though I’d put _Prisoners Dilemma_ and _Gaming the Vote_ at the top. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/58 "2012-08-23T10:22:04Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/59 "2012-08-23T13:42:15Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > …[Undaunted Courage](http://www.amazon.com/Undaunted-Courage-Stephen-Ambrose-ebook/dp/B005ZTEYOE/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1345667756&sr=1-2&keywords=undaunted+courage), Stephen Ambrose > > [The Lost City of Z](http://www.amazon.com/The-Lost-City-Obsession-ebook/dp/B001NLL414/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1345667838&sr=1-1&keywords=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. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/60 "2012-08-23T13:51:35Z")
Just finished a book called Etymologicon which I quite enjoyed. Fun if you like words and where they came from. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847.md?page=4)