Recommend me some non-fiction

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Recommending non-fiction is tough. I think people tend to be very personal with subject matters they choose to read (or maybe it's just me...). Still, if you're asking, here's some non-fiction I've enjoyed:

John Steinbeck - A Russian Journal
Ryszard Kapuscinski - Imperium
Steven Pinker - The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language
John McWhorter - The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language
Paul Theroux's travel writing

― zan, Thursday, 24 March 2005 22:07 (nineteen years ago) link

If you're aiming for something breezy, yet literary, I'd suggest Anne Fadiman's Ex Libris and Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots and Leaves.

― Arjun S, Saturday, 26 March 2005 12:35 (nineteen years ago) link

I've read Ex Libris. I grabbed it on a whim from the library. It was pleasant enough, but I don't really remember anything about it beyond "it was pleasant enough".

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 26 March 2005 12:57 (nineteen years ago) link

The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes. Best NF book I've ever read.

Timmy

― Timothy Bushnell, Tuesday, 29 March 2005 15:52 (nineteen years ago) link

yay!

― W i l l (common_person), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 16:31 (nineteen years ago) link

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman", by Mr. Feynman.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 19:04 (nineteen years ago) link

Travels With Mr Death Ron Rosenbaum
Crypto Steven Levy
Curahee! A Screaming Eagle At Normandy by Donald Burgett
Friday Night Lights Buzz Bissinger

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 03:52 (nineteen years ago) link

In line with all of the World War II books being recommended, I would suggest reading E. B. Sledge's "With the Old Breed." It's the memoir of a young man from Alabama who enlisted in the Marines and served in the Pacific theater; many regard it as the best memoir of the war ever written.

― Mark Klobas, Sunday, 3 April 2005 16:56 (nineteen years ago) link

Search for the title Wine And War, a great history of WWII from the winegrower's point of view. Very original.

― Orbit (Orbit), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 22:41 (nineteen years ago) link

fourteen years pass...

I am looking for a recommendation for a non-fiction book for a gift. Preferably history, social science, biography, or political science and slight preference to American subject matter.

Warmth of Other Suns was my first choice, but giftee has already read it.

― Mazzy Tsar (PBKR), Monday, 9 December 2019 15:47 (four years ago) link

Just discovering Tristan Gooley who writes about being able to read significance of various parts of nature/geology /meteorology and related for walkers etc.
Not sure if he's more UK based or what but pretty informative.

― Stevolende, Monday, 9 December 2019 16:46 (four years ago) link

i wanna read something gnarly & factual abt surviving harsh winters before the advent of modern living, electricity etc; thinking more pioneer ish times rather than earlier ~ recs?

― johnny crunch, Monday, 23 December 2019 15:57 (four years ago) link

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