What is the most gripping non fiction book you have ever read?

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Looking for non fiction reads preferably in personal development. I really struggle to get into books. Any recommendations?

Entangled Lives,Merlin Sheldrake. All about fungi and utterly fascinating

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. So so good.

Loved this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Breath-New-Science-Lost-Art/dp/0241289122/ref=asc_df_0241289122/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=500848842883&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4230713991393513938&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006565&hvtargid=pla-984701754398&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

Ugh ugly big link, sorry!

Breathe by James Nestor. Very well written.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

In Cold Blood is an interesting one for personal development (Amazing
book though)!

I like the Simon Garfield compilations of people's war time diaries.

This one is great.

I loved In the Heart of the Sea. So much better than Moby Dick, which is the fictional version.

thank you everyone, some interesting suggestions. Please send more my way!

Have a look at Ken Wilbur, especially Spectrum of Consciousness (although it's old now and his more recent stuff might be even better).

A history of the world in 100 objects by Neil Macgregor.

I loved The Haunting of Alma Fielding and The Premonitions Bureau!

I loved the autobiography of Elizabeth Jane Howard - Slipstream. Interesting insights into being a female author and lots of literary gossip:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Slipstream-Memoir-Elizabeth-Jane-Howard/dp/0330484052/ref=asc_df_0330484052/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310814775587&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6152917095070481981&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045994&hvtargid=pla-466117692386&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

Sorry - not personal development but thought provoking nonetheless.

Into the Void - Joe Simpson
Written in Bone - Sue Black

Medic by Jon Nichol.

It's about the role of doctors and medicine in military history. Some fascinating stories in there!

The autobiography Wild Swans by Jung Chang, telling the story of three generations of women in her family from her grandmother (concubine, bound feet) to her mother (and the impacts of the cultural revolution) and then her. It’s a fat book, usually I love a slender book but I have read it so many times now. Highly recommended.

Nothing to Envy - it's insider stories of North Korea. Utterly fascinating.

https://amzn.eu/d/bfH5IKs

Educated- Tara Westover

Sorry, I meant Touching the Void by Joe Simpson

Wild Swans is fab, totally agree.

I LOVE Bury my heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown.
And my curve ball one, that I did not expect to love, is Barbarian Days, all about surfing.

Great book.

Id also highly recommend Being Mortal by Atul Gawande.

A Life in Secrets by Sarah Helm.....she unearthed a twist about Vera Atkins

Or when breath becomes air by Paul Kalanithi

If you like science and nature...

The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf - https://www.andreawulf.com/about-the-invention-of-nature.html - an absolute masterpiece about the German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt. So well written and a real eye opener.

Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin. A fascinating look into human evolution and 3.5 billion year history that is written into every cell in our bodies.