Well written and interesting non- fiction books

[BeverleyCleverley]

I've got a decent pile of fiction books to work through but I like to have some non fiction books on the go too and I'd love some recommendations! Particularly stuff about current affairs/politics etc but I also love geography/history/science books and open to wider suggestions

Civilisation by Kenneth Clark. It's old, and about art history, but that means it covers history, geography, politics, etc. There's a TV series if you'd like the accompanying visuals.

Mudlarking by Lara Maiklem

I liked Other Minds by Peter Godfrey-Smith. A compelling mix of natural history and philosophy. And octopuses!

Primo Levi is amazing, good to see If this is a Man/The Truce recommended

And yes to Touching the Void! I need to get my son to read that, he loves climbing.

I love all Bill Bryson's books it's great to see them recommended. I read his Road to Little Dribbling recently - great fun and makes you look at familiar places in a new way

I really enjoyed this one recently: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/227568/eve-by-cat-bohannon/
And this book was exceptional: us.macmillan.com/books/9780374605780/thewaythatleadsamongthelost/

In the Flo, by Alisa Vitti, taught me a lot about my hormones

Currently reading Black and British by David Olusoga, history of black people in Britain with a global perspective, loving it.

Another vote for Empire of Pain.

Le Freak, Nile Rodgers’ autobiography. Gasp inducing.

We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families by Philip Gourevich. A bit old now but a visceral immediate history of the Rwandan genocide.

Another vote each for Invisible Women and The Radium Girls.

Such amazing recommendations here. Thank you.

If you like Bill Bryson's travelogues, then you'll probably enjoy Stuart Maconie's England based travel/walking books. Most of them explore the history and sociology of a region. Stuart is as self deprecating as BB is self satisfied.

• Cider with Roadies
• Pies and Prejudice: In Search of the North
• Adventures on the High Teas: In Search of Middle England
• Short Stories for Short Breaks
• Never Mind the Quantocks
• The Pie at Night: In Search of the North at Play
• Long Road from Jarrow: A journey through Britain then and now
• The Nanny State Made Me: A Story of Britain and How to Save It
• The Full English: A Journey in Search of a Country and its People

I was just about to add this . Really interesting

I chose this book about container ships for my book club, to the initial bemusement of the other members! It really was an interesting read

www.waterstones.com/book/deep-sea-and-foreign-going/rose-george/9781846272998

An award-winning investigation into the strange and secretive world of international shipping.

I like biographies/autobiographies. Don't know why I don't read more of them. Got one on Margot Fonteyn that's very good. And Susan Boyle an interesting and different life if there ever was. I find her story amazing.

Killing Thatcher-Rory Carroll’s book about the 1984 Brighton bombing is a spectacular non fiction book.

How to be a Victorian - Ruth Goodman. It goes through the Victorian day and what life was like for ordinary people. What people did, ate, drank, wore. Lots of focus on the lives of women and children.

I had it as an audio book and really enjoyed it.

Great thread - thank you.

I really enjoyed 'This is going to hurt' by Adam Kay. It's about his experiences as a junior doctor.

I just read ADHD 2.0 by Hallowell and Ratey. Very readable and incredibly informative.

I loved The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It's about the history of medicine and medical ethics, but also has beautifully drawn portraits of the Lacks family and the impact of Henrietta's life and death.

"When breath becomes air" by Paul Kalanithi.

If you're willing to try nature writing, Sea Room by Adam Nicholson is one of my favourite books. It's about him owning the Shiant Isles in Scotland.

Going Nuclear by Tim Gregory is a fantastic read:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/going-nuclear/tim-gregory/9781847928078

Watching the English by Kate Fox. She points out all of our ways of interacting like an anthropologist, it's amazing.

The Indifferent Stars Above is a history of the Donner Party and how things went so spectacularly wrong. It's harrowing but gripping.

Watching the English is fantastic! When she was steeling herself to test her theories about queue jumping was so funny

I live fairly near a big container port and sail a lot, this is definitely going on my list!

I enjoyed Tunnel 29: The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall by Helena Merriman

Also good:

War Doctor by David Nott