Non-Fiction Reads
Discover the best non-fiction books with our curated list of top reads. Explore biographies, history, science, and more to expand your knowledge and perspective.
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A Distant Mirror
by Barbara W. Tuchman
A âmarvelous historyâ* of medieval Europe, from the bubonic plague and the Papal Schism to the Hundred Yearsâ War, by the Pulitzer Prizeâwinning author of The Guns of August *Lawrence Wright, author of The End of October, in The Wall Street Journal The fourteenth century reflects two contradictory images: on the one hand, a glittering age of crusades, cathedrals, and chivalry; on the other, a world plunged into chaos and spiritual agony. In this revelatory work, Barbara W. Tuchman examines not only the great rhythms of history but the grain and texture of domestic life: what childhood was like; what marriage meant; how money, taxes, and war dominated the lives of serf, noble, and clergy alike. Granting her subjects their loyalties, treacheries, and guilty passions, Tuchman re-creates the lives of proud cardinals, university scholars, grocers and clerks, saints and mystics, lawyers and mercenaries, and, dominating all, the knightâin all his valor and âfurious follies,â a âterrible worm in an iron cocoon.â Praise for A Distant Mirror âBeautifully written, careful and thorough in its scholarship . . . What Ms. Tuchman does superbly is to tell how it was. . . . No one has ever done this better.ââThe New York Review of Books âA beautiful, extraordinary book . . . Tuchman at the top of her powers . . . She has done nothing finer.ââThe Wall Street Journal âWise, witty, and wonderful . . . a great book, in a great historical tradition.ââCommentary
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Red Star Over China
by Edgar Snow
The iconic history of the Chinese Communist leaders who forever changed the course of China The first Westerner to meet Mao Tse-tung and the Chinese Communist leaders in 1936, Edgar Snow came away with the first authorized account of Mao's life, as well as a history of the famous Long March and the men and women who were responsible for the Chinese revolution. Out of that experience came Red Star Over China, a classic work that remains one of the most important books ever written about the birth of the Communist movement in China. This edition includes extensive notes on military and political developments in China, further interviews with Mao Tse-tung, a chronology covering 125 years of Chinese revolution, and nearly a hundred detailed biographies of the men and women who were instrumental in making China what it is today.
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Sleepwalking Through History
by Haynes Johnson
National bestseller: In this brilliantly readable book, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist chronicles the Reagan decade, when America fell from dominant world power to struggling debtor nation and when optimism turned to foreboding. In human terms and living case histories, Haynes Johnson captures the drama and tragedy of an era nurtured by greed and a morality that found virtue in not getting caught."It is morning again in America," Reagan's campaign commercials told us, and for too long we embraced that convenient lie. Indeed, the problems that came to plague us in that decade are with us even more today, as Johnson memorably demonstrates in--his afterword, "Notes on an Era," written especially for this new paperback reissue. This book will remain a signature work of political analysis for years to come.
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The Worldly Philosophers
by Robert L. Heilbroner
The bestselling classic that examines the history of economic thought from Adam Smith to Karl Marxââall the economic lore most general readers conceivably could want to know, served up with a flourishâ (The New York Times). The Worldly Philosophers not only enables us to see more deeply into our history but helps us better understand our own times. In this seventh edition, Robert L. Heilbroner provides a new theme that connects thinkers as diverse as Adam Smith and Karl Marx. The theme is the common focus of their highly varied ideasânamely, the search to understand how a capitalist society works. It is a focus never more needed than in this age of confusing economic headlines. In a bold new concluding chapter entitled âThe End of the Worldly Philosophy?â Heilbroner reminds us that the word âendâ refers to both the purpose and limits of economics. This chapter conveys a concern that todayâs increasingly âscientificâ economics may overlook fundamental social and political issues that are central to economics. Thus, unlike its predecessors, this new edition provides not just an indispensable illumination of our past but a call to action for our future.
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Vietnam
by Stanley Karnow
"A landmark work...The most complete account to date of the Vietnam tragedy." -The Washington Post Book World This monumental narrative clarifies, analyzes, and demystifies the tragic ordeal of the Vietnam war. Free of ideological bias, profound in its undertsanding, and compassionate in its human portrayls , it is filled with fresh revelations drawn from secret documents and from exclusive interviews with participants-French, American, Vietnamese, Chinese: diplomats, military commanders, high government officials, journalists, nurses, workers, and soldiers. Originally published a companion to the Emmy-winning PBS series, Karnow's defining book is a precursor to Ken Burns's ten-part forthcoming documentary series, The Vietnam War. Vietnam: A History puts events and decisions into such sharp focus that we come to understand - and make peace with - a convulsive epoch of our recent history. "This is history writing at its best." -Chicago Sun-Times "Even those of us who think we know something about it will read with fascination." -The New York Times
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The Guns of August
by Barbara W. Tuchman
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER ⢠âA brilliant piece of military history which proves up to the hilt the force of Winston Churchillâs statement that the first month of World War I was âa drama never surpassed.âââNewsweek Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time In this landmark account, renowned historian Barbara W. Tuchman re-creates the first month of World War I: thirty days in the summer of 1914 that determined the course of the conflict, the century, and ultimately our present world. Beginning with the funeral of Edward VII, Tuchman traces each step that led to the inevitable clash. And inevitable it was, with all sides plotting their war for a generation. Dizzyingly comprehensive and spectacularly portrayed with her famous talent for evoking the characters of the warâs key players, Tuchmanâs magnum opus is a classic for the ages. The Proud Tower, the Pulitzer Prizeâwinning The Guns of August, and The Zimmermann Telegram comprise Barbara W. Tuchmanâs classic histories of the First World War era
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The World Without Us
by Alan Weisman
A penetrating take on how our planet would respond without the relentless pressure of the human presence
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Leviathan
by Thomas Hobbes
He that is to govern a whole nation, must read in himself, not this, or that particular man; but mankind. Leviathan is both a magnificent literary achievement and the greatest work of political philosophy in the English language. Permanently challenging, it has found new applications and new refutations in every generation. This new edition reproduces the first printed text, retaining the original punctuation but modernizing the spelling. It offers the most useful annotation available, an introduction that guides the reader through the complexities of Hobbes's arguments, and a substantial index.
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The History of Medieval Europe
by Maurice Keen
A comprehensive, general survey of Europe from the ruins of the Roman Empire to the rise of the Ottoman Turks.
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Death's Men
by Denis Winter
In their own words the soldiers of the First World War describe the horrors of their days in battle.
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Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of World History
by Richard Shenkman
Whistleblowing historian Richard Shenkman skewers the nonsense we were all taught about the worldâs revolutions, religions, heroes, and inventors in a whirlwind tour of history. Queen Victoria may have usually worn black, but she loved to drink and party. The English were conned during World War II. Winston Churchillâs famous âfinest hourâ radio broadcast was not delivered by Winston Churchill but by Norman Shelley, an actor hired to be Churchillâs stand-in. Marie Antoinette did not say, âLet them eat cake,â Churchill didnât coin the phrase âthe Iron Curtain,â and Caesar never said, âEt tu, Brute?â Scandal in the English monarchy is nothing new: Fifteen kings fathered children out of wedlock. One queen helped depose her husband so her lover could take his place. Three English kings were gay. Eclectic, eccentric, edifying, and fun, Richard Shenkmanâs eye-opening revelations prove that much of history is indeed âbut a fable agreed upon.â
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The Complete History of Jack the Ripper
by Philip Sugden
Sugden offers the definitive account of history's most infamous murders and the legendary serial killer known only as "Jack the Ripper." of photos. Index.
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Russia's War
by Richard Overy
RUSSIA'S WAR is the epic account of the greatest military encounter in human history. In a vivid, often shocking narrative, Richard Overy describes the astounding events of 1941-45 in which the Soviet Union, after initial catastrophes, destroyed Hitler's Third Reich and shaped European history for the next half Century.
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Longitude
by Dava Sobel
Describes the forty-year effort of John Harrison to invent the chronometer, the first instrument able to keep accurate time for navigational purposes.
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The March of Folly
by Barbara W. Tuchman
Pulitzer Prizeâwinning historian Barbara W. Tuchman, author of the World War I masterpiece The Guns of August, grapples with her boldest subject: the pervasive presence, through the ages, of failure, mismanagement, and delusion in government. Drawing on a comprehensive array of examples, from Montezumaâs senseless surrender of his empire in 1520 to Japanâs attack on Pearl Harbor, Barbara W. Tuchman defines folly as the pursuit by government of policies contrary to their own interests, despite the availability of feasible alternatives. In brilliant detail, Tuchman illuminates four decisive turning points in history that illustrate the very heights of folly: the Trojan War, the breakup of the Holy See provoked by the Renaissance popes, the loss of the American colonies by Britainâs George III, and the United Statesâ own persistent mistakes in Vietnam. Throughout The March of Folly, Tuchmanâs incomparable talent for animating the people, places, and events of history is on spectacular display. Praise for The March of Folly âA glittering narrative . . . a moral [book] on the crimes and follies of governments and the misfortunes the governed suffer in consequence.ââThe New York Times Book Review âAn admirable survey . . . I havenât read a more relevant book in years.ââJohn Kenneth Galbraith, The Boston Sunday Globe âA superb chronicle . . . a masterly examination.ââChicago Sun-Times
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Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning
by Jonathan Mahler
By early 1977, the metropolis was in the grip of hysteria caused by a murderer dubbed "Son of Sam." And on a sweltering night in July, a citywide power outage touched off an orgy of looting and arson that led to the largest mass arrest in New York's history. As the turbulent year wore on, the city became absorbed in two epic battles: the fight between Yankee slugger Reggie Jackson and team manager Billy Martin, and the battle between Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo for the city's mayoralty. Buried beneath these parallel conflicts, one for the soul of baseball, the other for the soul of the city, was the subtext of race. The brash and confident Jackson took every black myth and threw it back in white America's face. Meanwhile, Koch and Cuomo ran bitterly negative campaigns that played upon urbanites' fears of soaring crime and falling municipal budgets. These braided stories tell the history of a year that saw the opening of Studio 54, the evolution of punk rock, and the dawning of modern SoHo. As the pragmatist Koch defeated the visionary Cuomo and as Reggie Jackson finally rescued a team racked with dissension,1977 became a year of survival but also of hope. -- Publishers description.
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The Rising Sun
by John Toland
â[The Rising Sun] is quite possibly the most readable, yet informative account of the Pacific war.ââChicago Sun-Times This Pulitzer Prizeâwinning history of World War II chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Japanese empire, from the invasion of Manchuria and China to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Told from the Japanese perspective, The Rising Sun is, in the authorâs words, âa factual saga of people caught up in the flood of the most overwhelming war of mankind, told as it happenedâmuddled, ennobling, disgraceful, frustrating, full of paradox.â In weaving together the historical facts and human drama leading up to and culminating in the war in the Pacific, Toland crafts a riveting and unbiased narrative history. In his Foreword, Toland says that if we are to draw any conclusion from The Rising Sun, it is âthat there are no simple lessons in history, that it is human nature that repeats itself, not history.â âUnbelievably rich . . . readable and exciting . . .The best parts of [Tolandâs] book are not the battle scenes but the intimate view he gives of the highest reaches of Tokyo politics.ââNewsweek
