Here's a place to recommend some good non-fiction titles. I'll post a few good ones later. I don't think I've been fortunate enough to read some good fiction lately, but I've read plenty of excellent non-fiction this past year.
A Long Way Gone: memoirs of a boy soldier - Ishmael Beah
For Civil War buffs, check out While In The Hands Of The Enemy: Military Prisons Of The Civil War by Charles Sanders. It's a really twisted story of how POWs were used and abused by both sides without regard to humanity. Surprisingly, Henry Wirtz is one of the few who end up looking RELATIVELY good in this one.
I recently read Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925 by John Higham and found it well written and excellently researched. It's one of my favorite books on 19th century American culture.
I'm working on Antonio Gramsci's prison notebooks in my downtime. My "to read" table is overfull. This summer should be spent on the balcony reading.
The Killer Angels > Civil War
very strange,.....thought i posted this last night....
Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer: a personal account of tragedy on mount Everest. a good look into leadership failure in high risk activities.
Quote from: kopfjager on April 19, 2009, 10:21:37 PM
The Killer Angels > Civil War
posted that one over in fiction (my mistake)
Gods and Generals - Jeff Shaara (the son): really a prequel to the killer angels, involving the events leading up to gettysburg.
for that matter, Jeff Shaara has written a number of other novels, all based on military history, and all very good
Spycraft by Robert Wallace
Quote from: herm on April 20, 2009, 04:42:29 AM
posted that one over in fiction (my mistake)
Gods and Generals - Jeff Shaara (the son): really a prequel to the killer angels, involving the events leading up to gettysburg.
for that matter, Jeff Shaara has written a number of other novels, all based on military history, and all very good
+1 on both of those.
Charlie Wilson's War. Still haven't seen the movie, but I doubt I'm missing too much.
To Rule the Waves - history of the Royal Navy. Extremely interesting - the humble beginnings as basically a bunch of pirates, the peak as the greatest instrument of political and military power ever, the social good done in stopping piracy and the slave trade... fantastic read.
Quote from: herm on April 20, 2009, 04:38:20 AM
very strange,.....thought i posted this last night....
Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer: a personal account of tragedy on mount Everest. a good look into leadership failure in high risk activities.
I just read this - what a great book, gripping!
check out Into the Wild as well...
also reading "Road to Serfdom" by FA Hayek & "Liberty & Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto" by Mark Levin
...as I find myself more & more a Libertarian, than just a disgruntled Republican...
Skunk Works by Ben Rich. Ben worked under Kelley Johnson during development of the U-2 and SR-71, and headed up Skunk Works during development of the F-117A stealth fighter. A very interesting look into the world of black projects. [thumbsup]
Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage. This is a great book which details many of the espionage missions undertaken by the US submarine forces during the cold war. A very interesting and exciting read.
Quote from: Triple J on April 20, 2009, 12:42:00 PM
Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage. This is a great book which details many of the espionage missions undertaken by the US submarine forces during the cold war. A very interesting and exciting read.
You'd like the book I listed if you are into CIA espionage.
SpyCraft is written by the former director of the office of Technical Services (OTS) for the CIA.
Goes into a lot of detail of the cold war days in Moscow.
and
I've got a signed copy by the author [thumbsup] (ok, so I work with his daughter, but still)
Quote from: Triple J on April 20, 2009, 12:48:19 PM
That looks good! [thumbsup]
damn, you beat me to it!
I'd lend you my copy but just went in the mail to my brother and he is known for not returning my books :-\
Quote from: cyrus buelton on April 20, 2009, 12:49:08 PM
I'd lend you my copy but just went in the mail to my brother and he is known for not returning my books :-\
No worries...sounds like one I'd like to own anyway. I dig books on real world espionage. [thumbsup] I have the Time Life series on WWII (was a gift), and the one detailing WWII espionage is friggin' awesome!
In honor of his recent announcement to retire from broadcasting, I'm going to recommend the best book about football ever written.
One Knee Equals Two Feet by John Madden
Quote from: Triple J on April 20, 2009, 12:51:33 PM
No worries...sounds like one I'd like to own anyway. I dig books on real world espionage. [thumbsup] I have the Time Life series on WWII (was a gift), and the one detailing WWII espionage is friggin' awesome!
This one is very cool.
there are actually a lot of pictures of the spy tools and some of the KGB photos of them catching their own spying and working for the CIA!
Quote from: cyrus buelton on April 20, 2009, 12:49:08 PM
damn, you beat me to it!
I'd lend you my copy but just went in the mail to my brother and he is known for not returning my books :-\
haha,.........my brother is the same way. i would lend him a book, making it clear that i wanted it back.
he would finish it and let a friend take it, never to be seen again. >:(
now i dont lend books. if i give someone a book to read, i give it as a gift. let the libraries worry about overdue books [thumbsup]
As You Do...Richard Hammond. [thumbsup]
Sophie Scholl and the White Rose.
This sums it up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Scholl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Scholl)
Fascinating story of courage.
Six Frigates by Ian W. Toll
It's about the founding of the US Navy and the first 6 frigates.
If you like naval stuff, I'd suggest UNDER THE BLACK FLAG by David Cordingly. That's a pretty awesome pirate book.
For Self and Country
Lots of war books here - I am going to have to check them out
Taking a different subject, I liked "The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan" - he was a self-taught mathematician who did a lot of work on prime numbers, and later, a bunch of math shit I don't understand. Impressive-sounding shit I don't understand. (In actuality, the math is really kind of secondary to the biography - it is a good read.)
PM me if you are interested. I am gonna pay this one forward :)
Quote from: Jaman on April 20, 2009, 12:21:38 PM
I just read this - what a great book, gripping!
check out Into the Wild as well...
also reading "Road to Serfdom" by FA Hayek & "Liberty & Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto" by Mark Levin
...as I find myself more & more a Libertarian, than just a disgruntled Republican...
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer is also an awesome read. Real eye opening. :o
I've been wanting to read 'Road to Serfdom.' Maybe when I get back to the states...
On the political side, everyone should read Albert J. Nock's 'Our Enemy the State.'
For those with less angry interests, check out any of Anthony Bourdain's cooking/touring books ('Kitchen Confidential,' etc.). They're pretty fun reads. Also, Michele Slatalla's 'Masters of Deception: The Gang That Ruled Cyberspace' is entertaining.
Oh, another amusing read: Chuck Klosterman's 'Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto'.
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. Cool look at deep sea diving and German u boats
Devil in the White City By Eric Larson. The World's fair in Chicago and a serial killer taking advantage of the influx of people. alot of architectural history
Quote from: krolik on April 20, 2009, 07:28:16 PM
Six Frigates by Ian W. Toll
It's about the founding of the US Navy and the first 6 frigates.
noted. thats my kind of book
Quote from: herm on April 20, 2009, 04:38:20 AM
Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer: a personal account of tragedy on mount Everest. a good look into leadership failure in high risk activities.
If you are going to read that hack's book, you ought to read 'The Climb', by Anatoli Boukreev. One must understand that Krakauer is wracked with self-loathing due to the fact that he passed out in his tent and didn't do shit to help anybody. Boukreev is the true hero, of that tragedy, but you won't learn that in Jon's book (make the beast with two backsing hack).
Sorry for the rant, but this is a hot-button topic in the PNW climbing community.
For a recommendation, I'll put out: "Conquest & Culture", by Thomas Sowell. An interesting look at how conquests, through the ages, has impacted cultures around the world.
Quote from: Sinister on April 21, 2009, 10:29:38 AM
If you are going to read that hack's book, you ought to read 'The Climb', by Anatoli Boukreev. One must understand that Krakauer is wracked with self-loathing due to the fact that he passed out in his tent and didn't do shit to help anybody. Boukreev is the true hero, of that tragedy, but you won't learn that in Jon's book (make the beast with two backsing hack).
I read The Climb recently and give it a [thumbsup]
I read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch yesterday
[thumbsup]
Quote from: Sinister on April 21, 2009, 10:29:38 AM
If you are going to read that hack's book, you ought to read 'The Climb', by Anatoli Boukreev. One must understand that Krakauer is wracked with self-loathing due to the fact that he passed out in his tent and didn't do shit to help anybody. Boukreev is the true hero, of that tragedy, but you won't learn that in Jon's book (make the beast with two backsing hack).
Sorry for the rant, but this is a hot-button topic in the PNW climbing community.
For a recommendation, I'll put out: "Conquest & Culture", by Thomas Sowell. An interesting look at how conquests, through the ages, has impacted cultures around the world.
you obviously missed my synapse of the book. i am no fan of the author, but the book
does do a good job of looking at causes of leadership failure in high risk environments...my interest was/is not in the climbing, but in the underlying failure of good leadership (including the failure of anyone to step up/speak up to avoid tragedy)
Quote from: herm on April 21, 2009, 05:00:23 PM
you obviously missed my synapse of the book.
No, I saw that. Interesting lesson to take away from the book (of course, you have to understand that there are inaccuracies in Jonny's book). I just get a little pissed when the tool that is Jon Krakauer gets mentioned.
" Chariots of the Gods " by Eric Von Daniken
A Real Thought Provoker.
Are we ....or aren't we ? Dolph
I recommend the awesome book : "Not A Good Day To Die" about Operation Anaconda during OEF 1 with the 101st Airborne Division. The pictorial book about my infantry platoon during 2008-2009 should be out shortly. check out the photographer's website: www.rafalgerszak.com (//http://)
Quote from: HisDucness on April 20, 2009, 10:48:05 PM
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. Cool look at deep sea diving and German u boats
That's a good one.
Redcoats and Rebels by Christopher Hibbert
The American Revolution through British Eyes.
One Good Run, The Legend of Burt Munro. :)
War by Gwynne Dyer. Published in 1985 it is still relevant 20+ years later, and will be for some time (unfortunately).
Been on a big non-fiction kick lately, and some of my recent faves have been:
James McPherson, For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War
John Maclean, Fire on the Mountain -- an investigative look at the South Canyon (Storm King) fire in 1994 that killed 14 wildland firefighter. The author is the son of Norman Maclean (A River Runs Through It) who also wrote a similar splendid, even lyrical, investigation of the fatal Mann Gulch fire, Young Men and Fire
Ted Kerasote, Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog this one should have been the big seller, rather than Marley & Me. Better book, and sounds like a dog I would have enjoyed a whole lot more. Other books I really like by Kerasote are Blood Ties: Nature, Culture & The Hunt that looks at the complicated role hunting plays in human culture, and Out There: In the Wild in a Wired World, a short little book that looks at how the experience of being in true wilderness (canoeing in far Northern Canada, two plus weeks from any road, much less civilization) is altered by taking along a satellite phone.
Lynn Hill, Climbing Free
And two that I read back to back, for some odd reason: Ghiglieri & Myers, Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon and Ghiglieri, Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite. I hear there's also another one about Yellowstone!
Quote from: triangleforge on April 24, 2009, 11:12:57 AM
John Maclean, Fire on the Mountain -- an investigative look at the South Canyon (Storm King) fire in 1994 that killed 14 wildland firefighter. The author is the son of Norman Maclean (A River Runs Through It) who also wrote a similar splendid, even lyrical, investigation of the fatal Mann Gulch fire, Young Men and Fire
Read it. [thumbsup] [thumbsup]
Quote from: herm on April 21, 2009, 04:42:08 AM
noted. thats my kind of book
Remind me some time. I have a copy gathering dust.
Quote from: swampduc on April 20, 2009, 06:59:13 AM
+1 on both of those.
Charlie Wilson's War. Still haven't seen the movie, but I doubt I'm missing too much.
Um- except for our buddy Crowbar in his breakout role!
book suggestion- The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber (http://www.amazon.com/Ballad-Whiskey-Robber-Transylvanian-Moonlighting/dp/0316071676) - Backup goalie on a Hungarian professional hockey team, Attila Ambrus supplemented his income for roughly 6 years by robbing post offices in Budapest.
Quote from: triangleforge on April 24, 2009, 11:12:57 AM
Been on a big non-fiction kick lately, and some of my recent faves have been:
James McPherson, For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War
John Maclean, Fire on the Mountain -- an investigative look at the South Canyon (Storm King) fire in 1994 that killed 14 wildland firefighter. The author is the son of Norman Maclean (A River Runs Through It) who also wrote a similar splendid, even lyrical, investigation of the fatal Mann Gulch fire, Young Men and Fire
Ted Kerasote, Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog this one should have been the big seller, rather than Marley & Me. Better book, and sounds like a dog I would have enjoyed a whole lot more. Other books I really like by Kerasote are Blood Ties: Nature, Culture & The Hunt that looks at the complicated role hunting plays in human culture, and Out There: In the Wild in a Wired World, a short little book that looks at how the experience of being in true wilderness (canoeing in far Northern Canada, two plus weeks from any road, much less civilization) is altered by taking along a satellite phone.
Lynn Hill, Climbing Free
And two that I read back to back, for some odd reason: Ghiglieri & Myers, Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon and Ghiglieri, Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite. I hear there's also another one about Yellowstone!
soooooooooooooooo much wrong with that book :P
Two more in the Naval section:
Ship of Ghosts and The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors both by James D. Hornfischer,
Ship of Ghosts is about the USS Houston, the lost cruiser; and Last Stand is about the Battle of Samar and Taffy 3.