Recommend me some cool books (non-fiction please!!!)

[StevieG]

"Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson is an account of the Chicago World's Fair with a focus on two men that made it the backdrop for their life's work: architect Daniel Burnham who was repsonsible for building the exposition, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer who found victims and anonymity in the bustle of the expo and Chicago in general.

[TheWorstPlayer]

Presidential biographies in general, Truman specifically. I know you're English but they are still REALLY cool people with REALLY cool stories.

Also books about South Africa like My Traitor's Heart and Country of my Skull. Really scary, but really interesting.

Edit: OK, I read the thread and see you're not too interested in history. In that case, I recommend "Why Things Bite Back: The Science and Technology of Unintended Consequences". Very awesome book about how a lot of technological advances have actually hurt lifestyle and comfort instead of helped.

[KaneKungFu123]

this might come in hand

[diebitter]

If you want to find out about the mad English

[KaneKungFu123]

if you insist on reading non-fiction try that book "The Art of Seduction". Looked interesting, but I was never sure if I wanted to read it or not.

You should also read an autobiography by a jewel theif or a drug lord or someone cool like that.

[Aloysius]

[ QUOTE ]
I now spend 90 mins a day on the train and have been starting to read once again. Recommend me some cool non-fiction stuff.

I'll be picking up the Robert Rodriguez book 'Rebel Without A Crew' that Diablo mentioned on another thread, plus Michael Johnson's 'Slaying The Dragon', because he rules.

Gimme some mo'.

[/ QUOTE ]

Alexander Hamilton bio (by same dude who wrote Rockefeller bio name escaping me) - this is seriously great read. Hamilton led a really interesting life, and of course is one of the main architects of both the Constitution and the Treasury. Really well researched and compelling [censored].

Edit - just saw TWP rec for Truman bio - that one is great, also. The recent John Adams one is only OK.

[Rduke55]

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond is one of my favorite non-fiction books.
The science is geared towards the layperson and once you get past him being impressed with himself it's a great read.

[MrMon]

If you want THE single volume book on WWII, an updated 10th anniversery edition of A World At Arms was just released. Only for people already familiar with the war, if you really want to understand why everything happened in context, there is no better book. It's a VERY long read, very dense.

Also:

The Great Influenza
A Short History Of Nearly Everything
Krakatoa: The Day The World Exploded
Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life

[durron597]

[ QUOTE ]
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond is one of my favorite non-fiction books.
The science is geared towards the layperson and once you get past him being impressed with himself it's a great read.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good thing I checked replies before responding with this.

Another one is Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid which is a truly excellent book on incompleteness theory, self reference and artificial intelligence (from a theoretical perspective). Very math oriented but also has a lot of good stuff for non-math people, just a truly excellent book all around.

[coltrane]

[ QUOTE ]
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond is one of my favorite non-fiction books.
The science is geared towards the layperson and once you get past him being impressed with himself it's a great read.

[/ QUOTE ]

most important book I've ever read...