What one non-fiction book would you love people to read?

Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain. Impact of WW1 and changing society on a young woman.

Jews Don’t Count by David Baddiel.

I truly wish more non-Jewish people would read this.

The Five by Hallie Rubenhold - someone finally writing about the victims of Jack the Ripper

Cosa Nostra by John Dickie about the Mafia- it's so well researched, it's absolutely fascinating.

How Money Works (Dorling Kindersley). Explains everything from saving to derivatives!

Ohhh I just rtft after I posted.

I loved it too

Absolutely yes to Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything (it does what it say on the tin!). I have reread this many times and was over the moon to discover it was updated and reissued last year with all the latest science - it’s brilliant.

Also a big yes to The Five (Halle Rubenhold) all about Jack the Ripper’s victims but really a social history of women at the time (and how they were treated/judged). Very few mentions of JtR.

Another vote for Invisible Women

Oh, who didn’t read the title properly… me!

The 100 Year Life - mindblowing and has changed how I view and treat money, work and my time.

If you like that, try The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Its like Hans Rosling meets The Help.

Its non fiction, medical misogyny, institutional racism and the history of genetics in medicine all rolled into one.

Its deeply sad at times, but if I could put it on the curriculum, I would.

I’ve just finished There Are Rivers In The Sky by Elif Shafak.

I thought it was beautiful.

a classic though, Rebecca.

Entangled Lives by Merlin Sheldrake. All about fungi and their incredible abilities

Why zebras don’t get ulcers. Fantastic essay on the physiologic stress response and modern life.

The Demon Haunted World: Science As A Candle In The Dark by Carl Sagan. How can you make good decisions when you turn your back on reason and critical thought. This is so pertinent today.

The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence by Gavin de Becker Keeping yourself safe by trusting your gut and how to recognize unsafe men and boundary crossing. Women are increasingly at risk and I think this should be required reading.

Nice thread.

"Poverty Safari" by Darren McGarvey. It explores the systemic nature of poverty but doesn't shy away from questions of personal and community responsibility for betterment.

It's good to read alongside "Despised" by Paul Emery. This book explores how left wing politics and politicians have moved away from issues of class and class politics and made the working class a punching bag.

Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

The Question of Palestine, by Edward Said, and Christ in the Rubble, by Munther Isaac. Important perspectives by Palestinian Christians, one an academic giving a long view, one a pastor active in the present.

Another vote for Invisible Women here ⭐️ I was outraged when I first read it and thought some of the examples just couldn’t be true - but they were. It’s a shocking book and shows how far we still have to go to reach true equality, and an understanding that women are people in their own right, not just little men.

Dream Babies by Christina Hardyment - a historical survey of child-rearing methods from medieval to modern times. Shows that none of our methods are new.

We read Wifedom for my book club.

It's an excellent book. I had loved George Orwell since I was a teen but that book made me so angry. I loathed the selfish tosser.

Factfulness, Hans Rosling.

The book is about humans, world, data, medicine and how media misrepresent them. And about our opinions and perceptions.

It's very readable and surprisingly positive. A big plus for me is, that it's not anglo-american, the author was Swedish.

Oh yes, I read THe Body in lockdown, fascinating read.
Mine would be Ultra Processed. people by Chris van Tulleken. Completely changed my view of food.

Agree with so many of these and would add

1. the road less travelled by M. Scott Peck
2. The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Agreeing with pretty much all the books on here so far.

I’ll add ‘The Hidden Persuaders’ by Vance Packard, which may be extremely old and the specifics not current any more, but opened my eyes once and forever when I was a kid to the nature of commerce and marketing. Not even in a negative way tbh - just making it clear that the environment around you is not accidental, but not a conspiracy either. Once you really see that, I think it helps in understanding a lot of other things.

I’ll throw in ‘The Spy and the Traitor’ by Ben Macintyre because it’s such a brilliant page turner and illuminates the history of the Cold War.

I love reading non-fiction and there are some great choices on here. I'm adding "A House Unlocked" by Penelope Lively. It's a reflection on twentieth century history through an examination of some of the objects from her grandmother's house. An easy read but thought provoking.

This!

Man’s search for meaning. Victor Frankl.

feel the fear and do it anyway.

creative visualisation - Shakti Gawain