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I read a lot of non-fiction, and love history, but as I am thinking over the books I've read lately, they seem to be all over the place. Some also have to do with a time in history, but I'd be hesitant to consider them history per se. One such book I read a few months ago that had some civil war history was Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War by Tony Horwitz. It's about the "Lost Cause" and how the South still deals with it to this day. I loved it.
A few more I really loved, off the top of my head: One Minute To Midnight: Kennedy, Khruschev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War by Michael Dobbs, about the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was a page-turner, if you can believe that.
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge. It's a memoir about the Marines in those two WWII battles. Sledge is matter-of-fact about his time fighting and that's what makes it a haunting book.
I absolutely love All The President's Men and The Final Days by Woodward & Bernstein. The former is one of my favorite books of all time.
I agree with those who mentioned Night by Wiesel and Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by Swanson. Manhunt is another page-turner; however, I read the "sequel" Bloody Crimes a few months ago and didn't like it nearly as much.
A World on Fire: Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War by Amanda Foreman, gives a view of the Civil War from the British perspective.
Although I've read quite a few books and seen possibly every documentary or historically accurate film about the war, I learned so much more from this book, and gained a much better understanding of certain situations.
While "A Walk in The Woods" by Bill Bryson is one of my most favorite books, his work with "A Short History of Nearly Everything" is nothing short of brilliant.
Both are Must Reads for everyone regardless of the type of books one enjoys reading. In fact I think a Walk in the Woods should be required reading in school English classes.
Easily the most unforgettable book I've read.....Devil In The White City. They actually have not made the movie yet, but this is a good preview of the intense suspense in the book.
I have not read Catherine The Great, but I read Nicholas and Alexandra by the same author. Thanks for the recommendation.
You're welcome. Nicholas and Alexandra is on my "to read" list. Also, Peter the Great as a PP recommended. Robert K. Massie is a wonderful author.
So many posters have recommended Devil in the White City, I picked it up from the library today. Erik Larsen recommended Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked The Civil War by Tony Horwitz. I haven't started it yet.
Easily the most unforgettable book I've read.....Devil In The White City. They actually have not made the movie yet, but this is a good preview of the intense suspense in the book.
I think Leo DiCaprio is supposed to be involved in making a movie of Devil in the White City. I'm not really sure what the current status of it is, though.
I liked Devil in the White City quite a lot, but I actually enjoyed the parts about Burnham and the making of the World's Fair more than the serial killer part, which is funny because I read the book because of the serial killer angle. I felt that the part about Burnham was much more developed than the serial killer part, but I guess that's because the information known on the latter is much less than the information documented about the former. Still a good book, though!
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