# Seeking book recommendations: real history (non-fiction) that reads like fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 5, 2016, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672 "2016-11-05T06:24:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miss\_Gnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_gnomer/32/3466_2.png) [@Miss\_Gnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Gnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/21 "2016-11-07T10:04:14Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > The SDMB regularly discusses **The Masters of Rome** series by Colleen McCullough. > You might also try **Simon Winchester’s The Professor and the Madman** I’ve read some of the Rome series and Simon Winchester’s book. > [@Baker](#): > > I read a good one, titled **The Sea Captain’s Wife**. It is by Martha Hodes, and is subtitled _A True Story of Love, Race, and War in the Nineteenth Century_ Thank you … added to my kindle tonight! > [@Quartz](#): > > Try Barbara Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror about the 14th century. Thank you … added to my kindle tonight! > [@jsgoddess](#): > > If you’ll allow memoirs and the like: _My Family and Other Animals_, by Gerald Durrell. Absolutely adore, and have read, all of Gerald Durrell’s books … but probably not what I was looking for this time around. But … I could always re-read all his animal capturing adventures again! ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/22 "2016-11-07T10:37:39Z")
One I’ve always liked is Martin’s Hundred, by Ivor Noel Hume. It’s about one of the early settlements near Williamsburg, where among other things settlers were massacred by Native Americans. It tells the story of the succession of archaeological discoveries that continued over a decade. Reads like a detective story, beautifully told, full of proper history and archaeology. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/23 "2016-11-07T11:40:06Z")
On the more fictional end … Mary Renault’s Golden age of Greece books , especially the Alexander the Great ones (_Fire from Heaven, The Persian Boy, Funeral Games_) are basically a ‘real history’ skeleton, filled in with fiction where we just don’t know - but she always has good reasons for her guesses. On the pure non-fiction side - _The Verneys_ - English Civil War history through the lens of a family who never threw away a piece of paper, but filed it obsessively over multiple generations (also contains bonus Florence Nightingale family history which is fascinating in its own right) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/24 "2016-11-07T15:09:59Z")
_Alive_ Book about the soccer team trapped in the Andes. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/25 "2016-11-07T15:11:32Z")
_Isaac’s Storm_ is another Erik Lawson book, this one about the 1900 Galveston hurricane. It reads like a novel, you can’t put it down, and the content is absolutely jawdropping. I highly recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/26 "2016-11-07T18:25:23Z")
My wife just finished Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Luisitania (or similar title) and really enjoyed it, described it just like your OP posits “it read like good fiction”. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/27 "2016-11-07T20:10:17Z")
**The Great Bridge** by David McCollough is a fascinating and fun read, although I wouldn’t say that it reads like fiction. (Edited to add: It’s about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge.) ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/28 "2016-11-07T22:38:26Z")
I recommend “Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition” by Daniel Okrent. About half way through I started to imagine it as an anime (with a few minor changes.) It features such obscure characters as Wayne Wheeler, Mabel Walker Willebrandt, AKA “the Prohibition Portia” and Smedley Butler, “The Fighting Quaker” ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/29 "2016-11-07T23:24:02Z")
May I add my praise to a bunch of these…and may I add a couple more names. You can’t go wrong with Tuchman (unless it’s that Stillwell and China one). \*\*Guns of August \*\*is fantastic. **The Longest Day** by Ryan is excellent also although the scholarship has been questioned a tiny bit. Another one that has been mentioned that reads wonderfully is **Endurance** by Lansing. My favorite though, is basically a biography of a newspaper _(the Denver Post)_. It is called **Timberline**. In a weird sort of way, it reads more naturally than almost any fiction. I hesitate to mention it because so many people are still offended by it, but **In Cold Blood** by Capote. Technically, it qualifies under your restrictions. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/30 "2016-11-07T23:32:32Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > When I read _Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil_ by John Berendt, I kept having to remind myself that it’s non-fiction. It’s a good read if you haven’t read it yet. I came here to nominate this book. It HAS to be nonfiction because you can’t make up people like these. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/31 "2016-11-07T23:36:12Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > _Alive_ > > Book about the soccer team trapped in the Andes. Good book, but it requires a strong stomach. If you want to read about this story but know you can’t handle graphic descriptions of cannibalism, read the books by Nando Parrado or Roberto Canessa that have been published in recent years. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/32 "2016-11-07T23:36:20Z")
[The Boys in the Boat](https://smile.amazon.com/Boys-Boat-Americans-Berlin-Olympics/dp/0143125478/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478561609&sr=8-1&keywords=the+boys+in+the+boat) Absolutely riveting! Everyone in my book club loved it. Don’t be put off by what sounds like an uninteresting athletic topic. The men in this group were hard-working individuals of great integrity and honor. I get goosebumps even writing that out. Check out the amazon reviews. There are over 19,000 reviews and 95% of them are 4 & 5-stars. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/33 "2016-11-07T23:37:14Z")
**Miss Gnomer** should like [My Father’s Gun: One Family, Three Badges, One Hundred Years in the NYPD](https://www.amazon.com/My-Fathers-Gun-Family-Hundred/dp/0452279240) by Brian McDonald. The author uses his family’s history to paint a picture of what life was like for New York City’s police from circa 1895 to circa 1995. His grandfather was a first responder at the [General Slocum fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_General_Slocum#1904_disaster), his father a high-ranking officer at the 41st Precinct (aka “[Fort Apache](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/south-bronx-celebrates-fort-apache-centennial-article-1.1819029)”), and his older brother was an undercover narcotics officer. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/34 "2016-11-08T00:10:21Z")
The New York _Times_ [has the first couple chapters online](http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/m/mcdonald-gun.html) and [a review](http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/10/03/reviews/991003.03jamest.html). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/35 "2016-11-08T00:26:48Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [The Boys in the Boat](https://smile.amazon.com/Boys-Boat-Americans-Berlin-Olympics/dp/0143125478/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478561609&sr=8-1&keywords=the+boys+in+the+boat) > > Absolutely riveting! Everyone in my book club loved it. Don’t be put off by what sounds like an uninteresting athletic topic. The men in this group were hard-working individuals of great integrity and honor. I get goosebumps even writing that out. > > Check out the amazon reviews. There are over 19,000 reviews and 95% of them are 4 & 5-stars. I gave up about 1/4 of the way through it because I didn’t find the details of the boat’s construction as fascinating as the author obviously did. :rolleyes: I tried to read the junior version, and had the same reaction. I agree that “River of Doubt” is a fascinating book. I knew Teddy did a lot of exploring and almost died a few times; I had no idea he was that hardcore about it. Another Candace Millard book, “Destiny of the Republic” is fascinating too. Good heavens, James Garfield’s doctors should have been hanged right beside the man who shot him. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/36 "2016-11-08T02:22:27Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I gave up about 1/4 of the way through it because I didn’t find the details of the boat’s construction as fascinating as the author obviously did. :rolleyes: I tried to read the junior version, and had the same reaction. > > … Interesting. Although I’m not the least bit crafty, I adored all of those details. Different strokes…hehe, get it? You could have skimmed past those details. The moment when Hitler had to give them the good medal-- _SWEET_! Then he turns and stomps off the stage. Maybe you can catch the PBS special. ---
**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:** [November 8, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/37 "2016-11-08T02:22:53Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [The Boys in the Boat](https://smile.amazon.com/Boys-Boat-Americans-Berlin-Olympics/dp/0143125478/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478561609&sr=8-1&keywords=the+boys+in+the+boat) > > Absolutely riveting! Everyone in my book club loved it. Don’t be put off by what sounds like an uninteresting athletic topic. The men in this group were hard-working individuals of great integrity and honor. I get goosebumps even writing that out. > > Check out the amazon reviews. There are over 19,000 reviews and 95% of them are 4 & 5-stars. Loved it as well. Some of it dragged a bit, but the descriptions of the races were terrific. Even though you know they go to the Olympics, and how the final race will turn out, somehow Millard puts you on the edge of your seat. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/38 "2016-11-08T02:41:17Z")
If you’re looking for pre-19th century, try \*\*A pirate of exquisite mind : explorer, naturalist, and buccaneer : the life of William Dampier \*\* by Diana Preston. Couldn’t put it down. ---
**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:** [November 8, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/39 "2016-11-08T02:51:14Z")
[Skeletons On The Zahara](https://www.amazon.com/Skeletons-Zahara-True-Story-Survival/dp/0316159352/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478573351&sr=8-1&keywords=skeletons+of+the+zahara), which is about a crew of American sailors shipwrecked on the coast of Africa in 1815, and taken into slavery by nomads who death-marched them through the desert. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672/40 "2016-11-12T07:58:01Z")
_The Cuckoo’s Egg_ by Clifford Stoll: After a $0.75 accounting discrepancy is found in the billing records of a computer system owned by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Clifford Stoll is given the task of tracking down whoever’s breaking into the system. Of course, it leads to a whole lot more than seventy-five cents. This book is a great, low-key detective story with plenty of detail about how large, networked computer systems of the mid-1980s worked and about how the networks themselves worked at the time. It’s not written for a technical audience, but Stoll doesn’t shy away from technical details, so you’re able to keep up with his thought processes as he tracks the intruder. _The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary_, by Simon Winchester (also known as _The Surgeon of Crowthorne_, but where’s the fun in that?): A fascinating read about how the Oxford English Dictionary was first put together, and the people involved in its creation, most particularly Dr. W. C. Minor, a prolific contributor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-book-recommendations-real-history-non-fiction-that-reads-like-fiction/770672.md?page=3)