Jump to content

Any non fiction book recommendations?


hypochondriac
 Share

Recommended Posts

If he likes Tudor history:

 

Thomas Cromwell : The Untold Story of Henry VIII's Most Faithful Servant

by Tracy Borman

 

Especially if he's read Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies" which were fictionalized accounts of Cromwell, this is a true portrait of the man taken from documents written at the time.

 

He's quite a complex character rising from very humble beginnings to being one of Henry VIII's closest advisers. He was a devoted family man but could be extremely ruthless in carrying out his master's wishes, sending many people to execution. Instrumental in the break with Rome and the subsequent persecution of the Catholics, his great achievement was securing Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and subsequent marriage to Anne Boleyn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found Sliding On The Snow Stone by Andy Szpuk – the true story of the author’s Ukrainian father’s family living under first the Soviets and then the Germans in the 1930s and 1940s – to be a very well-written and truly gripping read. It also gave an interesting insight into some of the historical tensions currently afflicting that region.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The gospel according to st turkish - a mongboarders tale

 

Set to be released in time for Christmas, Saintsweb legend turkish releases his memoirs where he relives 14 years of Internet forum membership. Edgy, gripping, thrilling and humorous, it follows one mans journey from dial up to BT infinity and all that went on In between.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been running through a Medieval phase lately and quite liked "The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England" by Dan Jones. It was written very well.

 

Before my Medieval phase I was on a Vietnam War kick and one book I couldn't put down was "To The Limits" by Tom A. Johnson. It's about his time as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, wild stuff.

 

Lastly, if he likes historical and wants something other than war try "Lone Survivors: How We Came to Be the Only Humans on Earth" by Chris Stringer which, as the name implies, is about Human evolution.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

History is going through something of a publishing boom at the moment and there's plenty to choose from.

 

My own personal favourite is the extraordinary Third Reich trilogy by Richard Evans. If you only buy one of the three, I'd suggest starting at the beginning with The Coming of the Third Reich - but all three would be a terrific present.

 

Richard Evans' scholarship and fluency in German gives him access to much original materials and so his books read as 'as it happens' stories, and are the best page-turners I've read in a while. (Evans was also the leading historical consultant for Martin Amis's Zone of Interest, a terrifying 'inside' account of lives in a death camp, and was the lead expert witness in the legal demolition of the Holocaust denier and falsifier David Irving.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Edward I - a Great and Terrible King by Marc Morris ... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Terrible-King-Forging-Britain/dp/0099481758

 

The Most Dangerous Enemy by Stephen Bungay - A History of the Battle of Britain (with the 'most dangerous enemy' being the UK)

 

And for an-allied-airman-on-the-run-in-occupied-France story, try Perilous Moon by Stuart Nimmo which tells the story of his father's escape after being shot down in the late spring of 1944.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...