looking for an interesting non-fiction book

[JacobF]

I'm looking for a non-fiction book that you read/heard about that's interesting, informative and worth reading. It can be about anything -- religion, science, history, nature -- I'm just craving something some non-fiction really.

[BlueSkyGB]

Just finished this one..

Salvador Dali and the Surrealists by Michael Elson Ross

gives a little history along with pics of the various artist..:)

[Poetess]

I suggest The Secret
by Rhonda Byrne

[stlukesguild]

That's a rather broad request. Can you be more specific... as in what topics or fields you would be most interested in?

[JacobF]

That's a rather broad request. Can you be more specific... as in what topics or fields you would be most interested in?

Yeah I guess I should have been more specific. Well, as I think about it a bit more, anything mysterious or ancient really interests me. Atlantis, prehistoric times, the Bermuda triangle... things like that. But really as I said before I'd be interested in reading any non-fiction that any of you have enjoyed.

[Dark Muse]

I read a wonderful and very interesting book called The Pirates Own Book, by Charles Ellms a historical account of pirates. I thought it was very informative and written in a way that was not try, but captivating, it also included within actual historical documents from court trials of pirates, or letters, and things of that nature. And the stories about the different pirated were all very entertaining. There was touch of humor in some of the book as well.

I am also in the process of reading Secret Societies: A History so far it seems interesting if you like ancient and mysterious things. By Arkron Daraul. Though one person I talked to told me it was a hard book to come by, it can probably be found on amazon if nothing else.

[JacobF]

I read a wonderful and very interesting book called The Pirates Own Book, by Charles Ellms a historical account of pirates. I thought it was very informative and written in a way that was not try, but captivating, it also included within actual historical documents from court trials of pirates, or letters, and things of that nature. And the stories about the different pirated were all very entertaining. There was touch of humor in some of the book as well.

I am also in the process of reading Secret Societies: A History so far it seems interesting if you like ancient and mysterious things. By Arkron Daraul. Though one person I talked to told me it was a hard book to come by, it can probably be found on amazon if nothing else.

Thanks, I'll look into both of those.

[djy78usa]

I highly recommend Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond. Diamond traces back through history, starting with the Stone Age, and examines why certain civilization's were able to conquer others and thrive. He breaks down the racially-based theories, and introduces the idea that environmental and geographic factors were responsible.

[JacobF]

I highly recommend Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond. Diamond traces back through history, starting with the Stone Age, and examines why certain civilization's were able to conquer others and thrive. He breaks down the racially-based theories, and introduces the idea that environmental and geographic factors were responsible.

That sounds really cool too. Since I can't find Secret Societes: A History anywhere, i'll probably look into that one.

[WICKES]

Harold Bloom: Shakespeare the Invention of the Human (magnificent, huge but v. readable book on Shakespeare by the great American critic)

Aldous Huxley: Doors of Perception
Heaven and Hell

Stephen Fry: The Ode Less Travelled (introduction to poetry)
Moab is My Waspot (magnificent autobiography)

Jung: Memories, Dreams, Reflections
Modern Man in Search of a Soul

Fritjof Capra: The Tao of Physics

Danah Zohar: The Quantum Self

Plato: The Death of Socrates

Darwin: The Voyage on the Beagle
Origin of Species

F C Happold: Mysticism

[Lioness_Heart]

The Keys of Egypt by Lesley and Roy Adkins is a really gripping read; once you get used to the style, it almost reads like a novel, in the way that the reader is drawn into the world of decipherment. It is about the race to decipher the heirogliphs, and starts by giving an account of the French exploration of Egypt, soon progressing to discuss the life of Jean-Francois Champollion (who eventually cracked the heiroglyphs, in close competition with English scholar Thomas Young).

For me, the book achieved several things. Firstly, it is a gripping insight into the lives of the Champollion brothers in the turbulent times surrounding Napoleonic France, really effectively establishing Jean-Francois as an extremely sympathetic 'character' while still being entirely factual and not particularly emotive. It also instilled in me a sense of wonder at Ancient Egyptian culture and architecture. They also do a fabulous job of capturing the excitement of the deciphering process, and explaining the basics of the heiroglyph system of writing, building up a picture as was seen by the early decipherers yet with the benefit and clarity of hindsight; after reading it, I was filled with a desire to learn to read heiroglyphs.

I'd definately reccommend this book to you if you're looking for a good, solid, non-fiction read - it's part biography, and part history, so catering for several groups of readers. I don't particularly like biographies, but this was amazing :D

[Niamh]

how about A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down? thats a great book!

[MoldyMuse]

Here's a few (in alphabetical order):


Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea by Steven Callahan
Coming Back Alive by Spike Walker
From Baghdad with Love by Jay Kopelman
Mrs. Mike: The Story Of Katherine Mary Flannigan by Benedict and Nancy Freedman
Orchid Thief, The by Susan Orleans
Passing on the Comfort, The War, The Quilts and the Women Who Made a Difference by Lynn Kaplanian-Buller and An Keuning-Tichelaar


Hubby says: Fire Lover by Joseph Wambaugh

[applepie]

Try The Night Trilogy (Night, Dawn, and Day) all written by Elie Wiesel. He is the winner of a nobel peace prize, and they're written of his experiences with the Holocaust as well as the aftermath. Night is his own take, Dawn is the tale of another man who survived WWII, and finally Day is his examination of if Holocaust survivers can rebuild a life after what they have endured.

[Etienne]

Try The Night Trilogy (Night, Dawn, and Day) all written by Elie Wiesel. He is the winner of a nobel peace prize, and they're written of his experiences with the Holocaust as well as the aftermath. Night is his own take, Dawn is the tale of another man who survived WWII, and finally Day is his examination of if Holocaust survivers can rebuild a life after what they have endured.

Read Night, didn't know there were two sequels... Night was quite a good book.

[Etienne]

I'd recommend Gods, Graves, and Scholars : the Story of Archeology by C.W. Ceram a fascinating account of some of the greatest archaeological discoveries.

[WICKES]

Darwin's Voyage On the Beagle is a must read

Robert Graves' Goodbye To All That

Richard Hillary: The Last Enemy (he was an Oxford educated fighter pilot in the Battle Of Britain who was shot down over the channel and horribly burnt. He rejoined after writing the book and was killed in 1942. It is incredibly moving and one of the best memoirs of combat I've ever read.)

Bill Bryson: A Short History Of Nearly Everything (great, lively introduction to the history of science)

Bertrand Russell: Portraits From Memory is a great read. It is a collection of essays on thing like Happiness, Orwell's 1984, experiences as a pacifist in WW1 etc and includes short chapters on his memories of Cambridge in the late 19th century, eccentric Cambridge academics, chapters on his recollections of H G Wells, Bernard Shaw, Joseph Conrad (that is particularly good- he obviously like Conrad v. much), A N Whitehead, D H Lawrence (another good chapter), Beatrice and Sidney Webb etc

[johann cruyff]

How about Gödel, Escher, Bach?

[byquist]

"True and False" by David Mamet; great 125 pages.

[lyni]

I would recommend - The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln.
as the title suggests it is their search for the holy grail in France principally. the search takes thru histories of the Templars and Cathars and then coming into the European Secret Societies.
its quite an exciting and absorbing read.

how long do you estimate it will take you to read all these suggestions? and... did you expect this many suggestions?

[wessexgirl]

I used to read a lot of non-fiction, but I haven't read much recently. One of the best that sticks in my mind was The Reckoning by Charles Nicholl, about the death of Christopher Marlowe, and the questions and conspiracies it throws up. Did he really die as the result of an argument about the bill after a day of drinking with "friends?" Or was there much more to it than that; perhaps the fact that he was an intelligence agent and had to be silenced and the man who killed him was also on the shadier side of society, a known criminal? It was all dealt with quickly and hushed up. It's a fascinating read. Incidentally, I'm not one of those people who thinks he didn't die and was "writing" Shakespeare's plays :rolleyes:, but I do think there was something more to his death than "the reckoning".