Non-Fiction

I tend to read history and biography, though other titles occasionally slip in. When I’m looking for non-fiction, I want a fascinating subject about which I can learn something new, and I want it told in a way that keeps the pages turning. (With Dave Barry, I just want to laugh!)

In alphabetical order by author, among the books I’d recommend are:

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball
Dave Barry’s Guide to Guys by Dave Barry
Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor
Lindberg by Scott Berg
Max Perkins; Editor of Genius by A. Scott Berg
Genius by Harold Bloom
Financial Reckoning Day by William Bonner and Addison Wiggin
Flags of our Fathers by James Bradley and Ron Powers
Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burroughs and John Helyar

Economics for Real People by Gene Callahan
Adrift by Steven Callahan
The Power Broker by Robert Caro
Devil Take the Hindmost by Edward Chancellor
Titan by Ron Chernow
Einstein: The Life and Times by Ronald W. Clark
Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwell    
What If? Edited by Robert Cowley

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
Lincoln by David Herbert Donald

The Informant by Kurt Eichenwald

The Autobiography of Ben Franklin by Ben Franklin
One Hell of a Gamble by Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali

Churchill by Martin Gilbert
Hitler’s Willing Executioners by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen
My Sergei by Ekaterina Gordeeva
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham     
A Personal History by Katherine Graham

A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam

Out of Darkness Into the Light by Gerald Jampolsky

The First World War by John Keegan
Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea by Garry Kinder
Endless Enemies by Jonathon Kwitney   
Into Thin Air by John Krakauer

Bird by Bird by Annie Lamott
Isaac’s Storm by Eric Larson
Against the Dead Hand by Brink Lindsey
Absolutely American by David Lipsky
When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein

Truman by David McCullough
John Adams by David McCullough
Touch the Earth by T.C McLuhan
Losing the Race by John McWhorterr
To Hell and Back by Audie Murphy
A Readers Manifesto by B.R. Myers

The Rule of Lawyers by Walter Olson

Common Sense by Thomas Paine
The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
The Pretender by Ellen Pollack

Dark Sun by Richard Rhodes
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
Investment Biker by Jim Rogers
Adventure Capitalist by Jim Rogers

Market Wizards by Jack Schwager
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer
Fermat’s Enigma by Simon Singh
The Code Book by Simon Singh
The Money Game by Adam Smith
Longitude by Dava Sobel
Mozart by Maynard Solomon
Den of Thieves by James B. Stewart
The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White

Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom by Van Tharp
The New Money Masters by John Train
Famous Financial Fiascos by John Train
The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Krakatoa by Simon Winchester
The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester