I’d like to read more nonfiction books, but I don’t know where to start. I love history, international relations, diplomacy, art, classical music. I guess the closest books I’ve read recently that’s close to nonfiction would be historical fiction (with a touch of fantasy) and I really like them and would love to learn more about the time periods that the book is based on. What’s a good nonfiction book to start with?
by kookiemonstaahh
9 Comments
If you’ve got any interest in British History, Dan Jones is an excellent historian who writes his non-fiction in a narrative way which i find extremely engaging. He covers the latter half of the middle ages primarily.
Devil in The White City
I’m a sucker for a good memoir. One I enjoyed recently was [Forty Autumns: A Family’s Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28510777-forty-autumns).
I (American) rented it through my local library and listened to the audiobook version on Libby.
Infamy : John Toland
It doesn’t necessarily align with your stated interests, but I really loved “The Tiger” by John Vaillant. It’s like jaws except instead of a shark. It’s a man eating tiger in a remote Russian area. True, and very captivating. I also want to second “Devil In The White City”.
All the Beauty in the World a memoir of a security guard at the Met it’s excellent.
Krakatoa by Winchester
The Power Broker, Pulitzer winning bio of the man who shaped the 20th century American city.
“The Guns of August is a Pulitzer Prize-winning history book by Barbara W. Tuchman that chronicles the first month of World War I, detailing the events and decisions that led to the outbreak of the conflict and the initial battles of August 1914. Tuchman’s classic work explores the transition from the Gilded Age to the modern era, the personalities of the key figures, and the “horrific logic” that swept nations into war, making it a foundational text on the subject.”
The Wager