Non Fiction

[tonywalt]

Do we have a non-fiction thread or sub thread? I think it would be a good idea.

[G L Wilson]

tonywalt, what is it that you wish to discuss about non-fiction? Ask and you shall receive.

[tonywalt]

Has anyone read Paul Johnson's "A History of the American People"? I read it late last year and thought it was the best comprehensive history of the US.

[G L Wilson]

Has anyone read Paul Johnson's "A History of the American People"? I read it late last year and thought it was the best comprehensive history of the US.

I haven't read it. What themes does he cover?

[tonywalt]

It is a comprehensive history of the US, but is very objective.

Anyway, very good book if someone is intererested in reading the history of the United States.

[Buh4Bee]

I haven't read the book you mentioned, but I have read 'A People's History of the United States' by Howard Zinn. It tends to be thought of as very liberal. But the point of this book is to tell the story from the people's point of view.

"Zinn has written a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those who have been exploited politically and economically and whose plight has been largely omitted from most histories."

This one is very comprehensive as well, but again, it is not necessarily considered objective.

[ChicagoReader]

I haven't read the book you mentioned, but I have read 'A People's History of the United States' by Howard Zinn. It tends to be thought of as very liberal. But the point of this book is to tell the story from the people's point of view.

"Zinn has written a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those who have been exploited politically and economically and whose plight has been largely omitted from most histories."

This one is very comprehensive as well, but again, it is not necessarily considered objective.

I'm reading this right now and yes, it is very liberal but educating and interesting nonetheless. I think Zinn did a great service by telling the history from the point of view of those often left out.

[Buh4Bee]

I found it very eye opening myself, but it is still not considered "objective". I loved the book.

[tonywalt]

Paul Johnson is considered conservative. He is British, but does point out the long list of accomplishments that the country has achieved, which is quite astounding when you think about it.

It's a good book, as most of the history school texts are quite slanted. It looks alot like MTV wrote the books.

Anyway, it's an exceptional country and reading about it from a objective point of view was very inspiring.

Tony

[dfloyd]

is an interesting non-fiction book. It is the story of the American Revolution from the British viewpoint.

I love to read about ancient history written by those close to the time of the events, or at least closer than modern writers. Some that I've read include:

Lives of the Twelve Caesars by Suetonius
History of Early Rome by Livy
History of the Peleponnisian War by Thucydides
Plutarch's Lives
Histories of Herodotus

[tonywalt]

I would like to read that book from a British perspective. There is not a whole lot of the other viewpoint out there. I will give it a look for certain.