Good non-fiction books

[Nannyoggapple]

Hi.

I love reading true stories. I've read a good few. I'm looking for new ideas of books to read.

I was wondering if anyone has read any good true story books, and can recommend them here?

Thanks.

‘Educated’ by Tara Westover - her autobiography of growing up in a survivalist Mormon family with a father who had bipolar disorder. Really good read..

The Five by Hallie Rubenhold about the lives of Jack the Ripper's victims- all about them and not him for a change. Their backgrounds were so far from the East End prostitutes they are usually portrayed as in films.

I enjoyed an autobiography by someone called Ferdinand Mount, called Cold Cream. He was a journalist who went on to become Margaret Thatcher's speech writer. He came from an impoverished but aristocratic family who knew everyone - film stars, royalty etc. It obviously happened quite a long time ago, but I lived through that time so could relate to most of it. He's a brilliant writer and it's a very funny book.

Lucy Easthope's When the Dust Settles (about emergency response planning) is really good.

A selection that have held my attention. Occasionally left me short of sleep as I literally couldn't put one or other down.

Alive by Piers Paul Read about a group of youngsters who survived a plane crash in the Andes. More challenging (of the reader) than you might expect.

Touching the Void, by Joe Simpson about surving a climbing accident. The Andes again, by chance.

Endurance, by Alfred Lansing, about Ernest Shackleton getting trapped in Antarctic ice.

Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad, by Daniel Finkelstein, the story of his mother and father, and their families, living under Stalin's and Hitler's regimes during WW2. It doesn't seem possible that they survived, but they must have, because Daniel and his siblings are with us.

The Path Between the Seas, by David McCullogh. The story of the building of the Panama Canal and how all the many issues were resolved.

The Box, by Marc Levinson. The history of the development of the shipping container, which is considerably more interesting than it sounds as it describes the development of today's global trading. Recommended by another Mumsnetter, to whom I am very grateful.

And not just one story, but several, The Age of Wonder, by Richard Holmes. The writers and discoverers of the 'Romantic Generation', roughly in the second half of the 1700s.

Waverunner by Suzanne Heywood
The lost cafe Schindler by Meriel Schindler

Some of my favourites this year have been

The Nine. Gwen Strauss
The true story of 9 female resistance fighters who escaped from a Nazi death march.

Naked Truth. Vicki Rebecca
A biography of a former glamour model. Really interesting, and i previous would have judged someone doing that.

Pink Camouflage. Gemma Morgan
Another biography. This one is about being a woman in the British army.

Ok so 2 of them aren't "stories". But they are brilliant.

I loved Angry White Pyjamas by Robert Twigger…he lives in Japan and trains in Aikido. Really interesting book and well written so not dry to read.

Also The Power of Geography, about why some countries/continents are richer/more powerful than others.

I really enjoyed Tim Peake's autobiography and the space book. Really interesting stuff, not overwhelming technology wise either. Rosie Thomas border crossing is another good travel one. Its about the Peking to paris anniversary car race.