# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**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 23, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/61 "2012-08-23T21:12:16Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/62 "2012-08-23T21:18:44Z")
Am I the first to link to the sticky thread at the top of CS? [The Cafe Society Book Recommendation Compendium](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=599130) I will see if I can link this thread in there, too; lots of good stuff. ---
**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 24, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/63 "2012-08-24T00:53:18Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/64 "2012-08-24T02:18:40Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/65 "2012-08-25T04:22:08Z")
> [@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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._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. ---
**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 25, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/66 "2012-08-25T04:24:29Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > _Roar of the Tiger_, by James H Howard. [Howard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._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. ---
**Author:** ![turtledove\_river](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@turtledove\_river](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turtledove_river)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/67 "2012-08-25T04:57:09Z")
I recommend _The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks_ by Rebecca Skloot. Also the _Uncle Johns Bathroom Reader_ series are fun to have around. ---
**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 25, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/68 "2012-08-25T05:23:50Z")
_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. ---
**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 25, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/69 "2012-08-25T05:35:27Z")
_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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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. ---
**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 25, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/70 "2012-08-25T05:37:58Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Galwegian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galwegian/32/3426_2.png) [@Galwegian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galwegian)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/71 "2012-08-25T08:14:47Z")
Anything by Carl Sagan, but especially _Cosmos_ ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/72 "2012-08-25T21:07:42Z")
_Roar of the Tiger_, by James H Howard: > [@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. ---
**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 25, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/73 "2012-08-25T22:26:02Z")
> [@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: [President Garfield was a profoundly good man whose descendants still enrich our community: Brent Larkin - cleveland.com](http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/08/president_garfield_was_a_profo.html) ---
**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:** [August 25, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847/74 "2012-08-25T23:27:23Z")
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](http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Burn-Roosevelt-America/dp/B004NSVF3G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345936186&sr=8-1&keywords=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](http://www.amazon.com/King-Leopolds-Ghost-Heroism-Colonial/dp/0618001905/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345936217&sr=1-1&keywords=king+leopold%27s+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](http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Beasts-Terror-American-Hitlers/dp/030740885X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345936463&sr=1-1&keywords=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](http://www.amazon.com/End-All-Wars-Rebellion-1914-1918/dp/0547750315/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345936561&sr=1-1&keywords=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](http://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Republic-Madness-Medicine-President/dp/0767929713/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345936960&sr=1-1&keywords=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. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-nonfiction-books-to-read/631847.md?page=3)