Help! Recommend me some good book/s to put on my Christmas list - I liked Collapse by Jared Diamond

[Takver]

Also recently have read and liked Andrew Marr's History of Britain, Interesting Times by Eric Hobsbawm and Emma Goldman's Living My Life. Ideas needed - something solid to keep me entertained over the holidays!

Look up Fred Pearce's books, he also writes about similar subjects as Jared Diamond in a very entertaining, accessible way. I love his stuff.

Thanks Piffy, I'll have a look at him.

I like the idea of 'where my stuff comes from' - any more ideas anyone else?

Still hoping for more ideas . . . like historical & political books more than science (which makes my brain turn to porridge)

Still hoping for more ideas . . . like historical & political books more than science (which makes my brain turn to porridge)

Do you like Peter Ackroyd? His histories of London and the Thames are interesting, if a little weird in places.

Have you read his other book, Guns, Germs and Steel?

Bill Bryson - Short History of Nearly Everything (or something like that)

Steven Pinker - The Language Instinct

Rory Stewart - The Places in Between

David Crystal's History of English Language or whatever it's called

I second Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel, which is a fantastic book. I liked it even better than Collapse. I also like Steven Pinker and enjoyed the Blank Slate and am currently reading How the Mind Works.

Doris Godwin-Kearns book called Team of Rivals is very good and well written. It is american history of Abe Lincoln but what makes it good is the writing and how he took his rivals for the presidency into his cabinet, made it work, then, of course, freed the slaves. It is said the Barack Obama read this book and is modeling his cabinet on how Lincoln did it (don't know if it is true but Obama has said he read the book and was impressed by it).

Thank you very much everyone - lots of good ideas here. I think my Dad might even have some of the Peter Ackroyd books so I could borrow them to have a look at.
I've read Guns Germs & Steel, also the Third Chimpanzee (didn't like that one so much).
I'll check out the language books - they sound like a good thought too.

Try Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It covers lots of themes discussed by MNeters: How your date of birth effects your life chances. The advantages of being raised by middle class parents. The effects of your ethnic origins and even why the long summer school holiday is a bad thing!!!

I'll be peppering my MN posts with quotes no doubt.

Bill Bryson is great. The Short History of Everything (think 'history' of science) and Mother Tongue (on the history of the English Language) are my favourites.

How about Obama's Audacity of Hope? The political book of the moment.

If you like Diamond's topics you might enjoy 'The Origin of Virtue' Matt Ridley - although I think the American version of the same topic is better written and more engaging: 'The Moral Animal' Robert Wright.

And another (preferred) Pinker recommendation: The Blank Slate.

Have you read 'Freakanomics' - really interesting and good read.

Bythesea - great minds think alike

Must have a look at Freakonomics - in the dim & distant past I used to work as an economist, so its good to keep vaguely in touch. (On a similar note, I must get back from my Mum JK Galbraith's Money, which I've only read part of but I think is probably very appropriate right now.)

Have you read Tim Harford's Undercover Economist and the Logic of Life?

That looks good - I also fancy One Market Under God which has been recommended to me by a few people, but I think its only in print in hardback even though its quite old.