03-18-2013, 09:13 AM | #1 |
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Interesting and Knowledgable Non Fiction Books
What's the most interesting, knowledgable and informative non fiction book you've read? A book you enjoyed and learned a lot from.
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03-18-2013, 09:51 AM | #2 |
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An early recommendation for Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. Probably not the most learned of tomes, but for enjoyment value it is very high and, personally, that meant that I learnt more from it than from other, harder going, books.
I also found Stephen Ambrose's Undaunted Courage a brilliant read. It's the story of Lewis and Clark and their expedition across the newly purchased territories of the United States in the early 19th Century. |
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03-18-2013, 10:37 AM | #3 |
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I second Bill Bryson's A Short History... .
When I was a kid, I read Cosmos by Carl Sagan, a marvelous book that made an everlasting impression on my mind. This book, now probably a bit outdated, deserves a new commented edition (I know there's a recent edition, I don't know if it has been updated or is just a reprint). My all-time favourite. John Gribbin's In Search of Schrodinger's cat is another book I regularly go back to. Also by John Gribbin Science: a history (1543-2001) is a very interesting book. Two books by Simon Singh: The Code Book and Big Bang. Anything by Ben MacIntyre, I've read Operation Mincemeat, Double Cross and Agent ZigZag (WWII espionage and cover operations) and The Napoleon of Crime (the life of Adam Worth, a notorious thief) |
03-18-2013, 10:42 AM | #4 |
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I just remembered there's a thread on this topic, have a look at https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=191117
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03-18-2013, 11:33 AM | #5 | |
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Quote:
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03-18-2013, 12:28 PM | #6 | |
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Quote:
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03-18-2013, 12:45 PM | #7 |
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03-18-2013, 02:40 PM | #8 |
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Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time. Also Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and 13 Things That Don't Make Sense by Michael Brooks.
[Edited to Add: Oops. Maybe I should have posted this in the other thread.] |
03-18-2013, 02:41 PM | #9 |
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03-18-2013, 02:59 PM | #10 |
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Try William J. Bernstein's A Splendid Exchange, How Trade Shaped the World.
http://www.amazon.com/Splendid-Excha.../dp/0802144160 |
03-18-2013, 03:32 PM | #11 |
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Perhaps a little breakdown of non-fiction is in order as that encompasses a vast area to choose from.
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03-18-2013, 04:01 PM | #12 |
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03-18-2013, 04:19 PM | #13 |
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The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property by Lewis Hyde, which was retitled to the much more boring The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World when Random House released the 25th anniversary edition.
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03-18-2013, 06:13 PM | #14 |
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If history counts for the purposes of this discussion, John Julius Norwich's A Short History of Byzantium. It is a condensed version of the same author's trilogy about the Byzantine Empire. Unfortunately none of these books appear to be available as ebooks.
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03-18-2013, 06:38 PM | #15 |
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For me, one of many such books was Richard Rhodes' Pulitzer Prize-winning The Making of the Atomic Bomb.
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