Factual history books

[opalescent]

I'm trying to read more and need some help finding the right books!!
I love history (especially grim history!), and I think I prefer non-fiction, although would consider fictional if it was particularly interesting and descriptive re: the time period.

Has anybody read any super interesting books about any aspect of history that they could recommend?
I'm thinking along the lines of...the history of healthcare, being a woman, being poor, growing up over the ages, that kind of thing? Any period of history to be honest.

Thanks in advance!!

I quite liked The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson. It's about tracking the cholera outbreak in London, and was very detailed and descriptive.

You need the Historical Ponderings Society!

Following EverySongbirdSays brilliant two threads, (links below) I created a Reading List, which others have been updating. Hope you find it useful!

Reading List:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/history_club/2790195-Historical-Ponderings-Society-Reading-List

Thread 1:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/history_club/2785005-What-questions-do-you-have-about-stuff-from-History-or-am-I-the-only-one?pg=1

Thread 2:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/history_club/2788883-The-Historical-Ponderings-Society

Awesome replies, thank you both so much!! The cholera book sounds spot on, and the links provided are so helpful..I'll get reading.

Living with Enza by Mark Honigsbaum. It's about the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. I don't know if that's the sort of thing but I found it really interesting and explained it very clearly, both the medical aspects and social aspects.

Ooh yeah and I always recommend Can Any Mother Help Me? by Jenna Bailey, in fact I'm rereading it right now. It contains extracts from something that's almost like an early 20th century version of mumsnet, a periodical set up by the writers themselves, passed between a group of women, each adding articles on a regular basis throughout the 20th century. What a lot of these women have in common is that they are highly educated but because of laws about working at the time for married women they are enforced sahm who desperately needed an outlet for their intellectual needs.

Both sound great, tobee. Particularly the Spanish flu one. I'll have a look, thank you!

I've recently read How To Be A Tudor and am now reading How To Be A Victorian, both by Ruth Goodman. They're all about what it was like to be an average person living in those times. The Victorian one in particular has quite a bit about being a child and growing up, and both talk about the role of women in society. Both really interesting and easy to read.