Best Non fiction books you have read?

Pappy o' daniel

I just finished "Persian fire" by Tom Holland. Great read.

SeekUp

I enjoyed the Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. I'm quite interested in the food we eat, where it comes from, the impact it has on the rest of our world, and the ideologies behind it. It's a well-balanced look at the making of what goes into a single meal, and the fine line between the politics and pleasure of foods . . . something which we encounter several times a day, but probably don't think about very extensively.

finlma

All of Jon Krakauer's books are great reads.

Into Thin Air - an excellent first hand account of a famous failed Everest expedition
Into The Wild - interesting story about a guy who gave up everything to live in the Alaskan wilderness. Turned into a movie by Sean Penn
Under the Banner of Heaven - an account of a murder of a young woman and her child by Mormons who were "ordered by God" to do so and a look into the sordid history of Mormonism.

JimmyOats

finlma wrote: »

All of Jon Krakauer's books are great reads.

Into Thin Air - an excellent first hand account of a famous failed Everest expedition
Into The Wild - interesting story about a guy who gave up everything to live in the Alaskan wilderness. Turned into a movie by Sean Penn
Under the Banner of Heaven - an account of a murder of a young woman and her child by Mormons who were "ordered by God" to do so and a look into the sordid history of Mormonism.

Couldn't agree more. Unfortunately his new book, The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, isn't great. It seemed like a bit of a cut and paste job.

I can recommend The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. Reads like a thriller.

sxt

"The Forgotten Soldier"- Guy Sajer - a French citizen from Alsace who served as a foreign volunteer in the German Wehrmacht during World War II, fighting the Russians on the Eastern front in the Grossdeutschland Division.

Morlar

sxt wrote: »

"The Forgotten Soldier"- Guy Sajer - a French citizen from Alsace who served as a foreign volunteer in the German Wehrmacht during World War II, fighting the Russians on the Eastern front in the Grossdeutschland Division.

Absolutely - one of the best war books ever written. They are apparently making a movie of it too.

'Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck' is also excellent though not in the league of Forgotten Soldier.

I'd add to that list Dan Breens 'My Fight for Irish Freedom' & TP Coogans biography of 'Michael Collins'.

El Tarangu

Pappy o' daniel wrote: »

I just finished "Persian fire" by Tom Holland. Great read.

Very good book. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend 'The Spartans' by Paul Cartledge, the two books complement one another very well IMO.

I really liked 'All the Presidents Men'. Even though you know how the story ends, it's still a really gripping account of the Nixon-era realpolitik

Linguo

An Evil Cradling is still my fav non-fiction book, the language and intensity of the whole book is just amazing