Recommend me some brilliant non fiction books

Gustavo Kuerten

As per the title please recommend non fiction books which you thought were a brilliant read.

spoofilyj

Touching the void by Joe Simpson
I though it was brilliant story of survival and friendship.

Mad bad and Dangerous by Ranulph Fiennes
A great read about one of the worlds finest living explores/adventurers.

GLaDOS

A short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote

mosstin

Gustavo Kuerten wrote: »

As per the title please recommend non fiction books which you thought were a brilliant read.

Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

Dravokivich

The Bible.

2smiggy

The damage done - warren fellows , aussie in thai jail for drug trafficking , great read

SeaFields

Tom Crean - Unsung Hero

Shenshen

"Guns, germs and steel" by Jared Diamon
"The selfish gene" by Richard Dawkins

4zn76tysfajdxp

As an relentless espouser of the truly logical and scientific on internet forums from my dusty, dank bedroom, I must recommend The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens and the World of Warcraft: Official Strategy Guide by Bradygames.

TheBody

SeaFields wrote: »

Tom Crean - Unsung Hero

That is a FANTASTIC read.

My favourite book is a biography of Ramanujan.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Man-Who-Knew-Infinity/dp/0671750615

buck65

Fermat's Last Theroem - Simon Singh

Hitchens

Kursk Down - Clyde Burleson (the true story of the sinking of a Russian Nuclear Submarine)

Auldloon

Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor.

TwoShedsJackson

Karl Marx by Frances Wheen.

Tombo2001

ScienceNerd wrote: »

A short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote

Read it last week. Brilliant - while I wondered how much poetic licence was used (I suspect a lot) nonetheless a fascinating book. Indeed I would say it is 50% fiction.

I would throw in:

7 Years in Tibet (Heinrich Harrer)
The Brendan Voyage (Tim Severin)
Full Tilt (Dervla Murphy)
Personal History (Katharine Graham)
Russia at War (Alexander Werth)

ceadaoin.

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. It's a first hand account of a disastrous ascent of Mount Everest which took place in 1996.

Leviathan,or The Whale by Philip Hoare is full of interesting facts about whales and their history with humans and a good read.

Ruu

Moved to the books forum.

Gustavo Kuerten

buck65 wrote: »

Fermat's Last Theroem - Simon Singh

What makes this book so good?

weldoninhio

The Ice Man by Philip Carlo. Excellent book about one of the most notorious serial killers in the US. Don't watch the recent movie, its awful.

The Graves are Walking - John Kelly. Book about the Famine in Ireland, very well researched and written.

Irelands Arctic Siege by Kevin Kearns. About the winter of 1947 when Ireland got a really bad winter, not just a week or so of bad weather.

Charles Manson: Coming Down Fast - Simon Wells. Great read about Manson and his followers. I couldn't put this book down.

McMafia - Misha Glenny. Great book about how crime is like an international franchise. Glenny looks at how criminal gangs from all over the world are interlinked.

Dead Drunk - Paul Garrigan. Sad, but rewarding read about an Irishman and his struggles with the drink, his visit to a Thai monastary to help him and his recovery.

Stasiland - Anna Funder. I found this book crazy, considering the Wall only came down in 1989. Its an insight into life in East Germany and the search for history in it.

Blue Bloods - Edward Conlon. Great book about a NYPD cop chronicling his career from Rookie to date. Well written and easy to read, with some great insights

landsleaving

Friday Night Lights by HG Bissinger

Nothing to do with the TV show (other than the name) in case you're put off! It's about a small town high school American Football team alright, but focuses on how important the team is to the town, a brilliant look at life in small town America.

HeidiHeidi

Longitude - Dava Sobel. About the guy who invented the chronometer, which allowed seafarers establish their position. A lot more interesting that it sounds, trust me!

Anything at all by Dervla Murphy

Left for Dead - Nick Ward. About the Fastnet Race disaster in 1979.

The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst - Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall. About a competitor in the first single-handed round the world sailing race.

biko

Tristan Jones - The Incredible Voyage (1977)

Aenaes

Generation Kill by Evan Wright.
A journalist who joined the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the United States Marine Corps during the early stages of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. These guys were basically told to drive their Humvees through towns and cities and if they drew fire, then command could send in tanks and other forces into the area. This book documents the weeks/months he spent with them.

American Desperado by Evan Wright and Jon Roberts.
Jon Roberts was born John Riccobono and was a member of a mafia family in New York. In fear for his life, he fled in the late 1970s and ended up in Florida. He got involved with cocaine smuggling in 1979, just before it ballooned into the billion dollar industry of the 1980s. He became a transportation chief for the Colombian Medellin Cartel, devising ways of getting cocaine delivered into the USA. The roster of Roberts’ friends and acquaintances reads like a Who’s Who of the latter half of the 20th century and includes everyone from Jimi Hendrix, Richard Pryor, and O.J. Simpson to Carlo Gambino, Meyer Lansky, and Manuel Noriega.

FunLover18

ScienceNerd wrote: »

A short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote

Anything by Bill Bryson. The man is a genius!

DMcL1971

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick
The true story of the sinking of the whaleship Essex and the desperate attempt of the survivors to make it back to land. The story was also the inspiration for Moby Dick.

weldoninhio

Aenaes wrote: »

Generation Kill by Evan Wright.
A journalist who joined the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the United States Marine Corps during the early stages of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. These guys were basically told to drive their Humvees through towns and cities and if they drew fire, then command could send in tanks and other forces into the area. This book documents the weeks/months he spent with them.

American Desperado by Evan Wright and Jon Roberts.
Jon Roberts was born John Riccobono and was a member of a mafia family in New York. In fear for his life, he fled in the late 1970s and ended up in Florida. He got involved with cocaine smuggling in 1979, just before it ballooned into the billion dollar industry of the 1980s. He became a transportation chief for the Colombian Medellin Cartel, devising ways of getting cocaine delivered into the USA. The roster of Roberts’ friends and acquaintances reads like a Who’s Who of the latter half of the 20th century and includes everyone from Jimi Hendrix, Richard Pryor, and O.J. Simpson to Carlo Gambino, Meyer Lansky, and Manuel Noriega.

Generation Kill is brilliant, as is the miniseries that HBO did on it, i'd highly recommend it.

American Desperado, i haven't read, but i have the audiobook and i'd recommend it too.

david75

Endurance by Albert Lansing
The account if Shackletons expedition to Antarctic. It's gobstoppingly mind boggling what they went through.
Couldn't put it down.

HeidiHeidi

FunLover18 wrote: »

Anything by Bill Bryson. The man is a genius!

+1

DMcL1971

david75 wrote: »

Endurance by Albert Lansing
The account if Shackletons expedition to Antarctic. It's gobstoppingly mind boggling what they went through.
Couldn't put it down.

The story of the Shackleton's trans-Antarctic expedition is absolutely fascinating and definitely worth finding out about. There are several books on the subject. I haven't read Endurance myself and someone earlier recommended Unsung Hero by Michael Smyth which is about Tom Crean the famous Irish explorer who was on this expedition with Shackleton. Personally I read 'South', the book Shackleton himself wrote about it but it is extremely long.

The story is well worth reading no matter which book you choose. There is a Shackleton exhibition at the Dun Laogharie Ferry Terminal which is definitely worth a look. It has some beautiful photographs that were taken by the crew on their expedition.

david75

DMcL1971 wrote: »

The story of the Shackleton's trans-Antarctic expedition is absolutely fascinating and definitely worth finding out about. There are several books on the subject. I haven't read Endurance myself and someone earlier recommended Unsung Hero by Michael Smyth which is about Tom Crean the famous Irish explorer who was on this expedition with Shackleton. Personally I read 'South', the book Shackleton himself wrote about it but it is extremely long.

The story is well worth reading no matter which book you choose. There is a Shackleton exhibition at the Dun Laogharie Ferry Terminal which is definitely worth a look. It has some beautiful photographs that were taken by the crew on their expedition.

I found myself in a basement of a little church in central London beside the Tower of London, and downstairs, they have the crows nest (a barrel. Literally) from another of shackletons ships(think it was the aurora) it was mad being that close to such an Artifact.

He was from Kildare. Explains his calculated madness:)


The book on Tom Crean is also great but Endurance wins out if you ask me

Carawaystick

Chronicles, vol 1 by Bob Dylan is very good, great prose, almost poetry

There's a lot of great sports writing, if you stay well away from ghostwritten autobiographies
David Remnick wrote a great book king of the world, about the heavyweight championship, when Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston and Ali
George Kimbal wrote 4 kings about the main middleweight champions during the 80's
Boxing has some great books written about it, even if you're not into sports that much


Someone mentioned Joe Simpson earlier, he's several other books, apart from Touching the Void

Mark Kuansky has written some great books, Salt,
Cod,
1968
A Basque History of the World

Last one for now,
Dave Eggers wrote the true story Zeitoun
About an innocent Lebanese immigrant in New Orleans being locked up for helping neighbours in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina

DMcL1971

weldoninhio wrote: »

The Ice Man by Philip Carlo. Excellent book about one of the most notorious serial killers in the US. Don't watch the recent movie, its awful.

I agree on both accounts. An excellent book but a dreadful movie. You really understand what a psychopath is after reading this book.

Swiper the fox

If the OP is as interested in tennis as his name suggests then the Agassi autobiography "Open" is a fabulous read. I'm just about to finish The Secret Race about doping in cycling, fantastic book. Non-fiction is so broad though that a bit more info on interests etc might be useful, I've read quite a few of the books mentioned so far and some I've enjoyed while others have been rubbish (not to my taste obviously)

Manach

The Righteous Mind -
by Jon Haidt

Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World
by Jack Goldsmith

Jimmy Iovine

Playing for Keeps - Michael Jordan and the World He Made

One of the most addictive books I've read. You would have to have an interest and knowledge of some of the players from the late '80s and mid to late '90s.

lynski

The cuckoos egg by cliff stoll, excellent story about tracking hackers per-internet.

Diving bell and the butterfly Book by Jean-Dominique Bauby - locked in syndrome account.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs excellent book

Ryder

The lost city of z. A story about an 19th century attempted to find a supposed lost Amazonian empire
Any Malcolm Gladwell book
Lawrence in Arabia. A semi biography of Lawrence set within the wider context of WW1
A voyage for madmen. Fantastic story about the first round the world yacht race

MRnotlob606

The motor cycle diaries by Che Guevara
The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain De Botton
30 Second Politics by Steven L Taylor

wolfeye

Killing Pablo - Mark Bowden.

Sold -Zana Muhsen.

Defeat Of The wolf packs -Geoffrey Jones.

weldoninhio

DMcL1971 wrote: »

I agree on both accounts. An excellent book but a dreadful movie. You really understand what a psychopath is after reading this book.

I'm reading Philip Carlos book, The Killer Within, at the moment. While doing research on The Ice Man he found out he had ALS, a form of motor neueron disease, Mickey Rourke wanted to make the Ice Man movie, not sure what happened, but i hope someone still has the rights to the movie version of the book. Rourke reckoned that it would be his Raging Bull.

The Killer Within is a great book so far too, I like Carlos style of writing. Gaspipe, Ice Man and The Butcher are all brilliantly written books.

weldoninhio

MRnotlob606 wrote: »

The motor cycle diaries by Che Guevara
The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain De Botton
30 Second Politics by Steven L Taylor

I found The Motorcycle Diaries pretty boring. I must give it another go.

cmbutterfly45

Mans search for meaning - victor frankl

Short enough story about him being in a concentration camp but told from the side of hopefulness, amazing outlook on life.

Dibble

Moab is my Washpot - Stephen Fry (autobiography)

BlutendeRabe

Dravokivich wrote: »

The Bible.

King James version, to be specific.

Also:
1) Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre
2) Amexica: War Along the Borderline by Ed Vulliamy

First Up

ScienceNerd wrote: »

A short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote

Anything by Bill Bryson. They are all gems.

Wailin

2smiggy wrote: »

The damage done - warren fellows , aussie in thai jail for drug trafficking , great read

+1 on this, a great read.

Dozen Wicked Words

Woody Guthrie: A life by Joe Klein is a fantastic biography of the American folk singer. Very moving, particularly towards the end with Woody battling the effects of Huntingdons disease.

Keedowah

Having a look at my Goodreads, these are some that i rated highly.

The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation - Jon Gertner
Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer (Not Into the Wild!!)
Pryor Convictions and other Sentences - Richard Pryor
Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night - Doug Hill
Dreams of iron and Men: Sevin Wonders of the Modern Age... - Deborah Cadbury
Snowblind: A Brief Career in the Cocaine Trade - Robert Sabbag
Masters of Doom: How two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture - David Kushner Loved this book!
In the heart of The Sea - Nathaniel Phillbrick
The Code Book & Fermats Last Theorum - Simon Singh
Marching Powder - Thomas McFadden
Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach
Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal - Mary Roach
Anything from Bill Bryson

jgarry28

I would recommend any Bill Bryson book

Michael J Fox's autobiography is an excellent read

Catch me if you can - Frank Abignail

Peter Mul

The Rocky Road, By Eamonn Dunphy.. seriously. A very interesting social and political, and sometimes football, history of Dublin and Ireland in the 70's and 80's...

Aenaes

Gangster Squad: Covert Cops, the Mob, and the Battle for Los Angeles by Paul Lieberman.

Just after WW2, the LAPD wants to crack down on organised crime. They create the "Gangster Squad" which starts off as 8 men tasked with bringing down Mickey Cohen, a supposed leading "mob boss". The writing style isn't the best and it struggles to flow at times but the book seems to be adapted from newspaper articles so perhaps that is why. However, it's an honest account of how some ordinary men were tasked with bringing down a seemingly untouchable figure using almost any means necessary, including illegal wiretaps.