Any non fiction book recommendations?

[hypochondriac]

Looking for an extra Christmas gift for my dad. Any books that someone has read and thinks is a good read? He quite likes historical stuff.

[Batman]

Look at a few books on the falklands war

[ecuk268]

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.

[Bearsy]

My Dad's getting Command and Control by Eric Schlosser. It's about Nuclear Bombs & is v.terrify!

 

I had to go to some trouble to find the nice hard-back edition with the blue cover tho. I dunno if it's still in print or whatever.

[bridge too far]

http://www.edwardrutherfurd.com/sarum.html

 

I've read this twice now and it's a cracking read (although not strictly non-fiction). Quite topical at the moment with the new survey of the Salisbury area and of course the proposed tunnel

[Halo Stickman]

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.

[revolution saint]

Hack attack is pretty good. It's an account of the phone hacking scandal written by a guardian journalist. Quite an interesting piece of investigative journalism if you like that kind of thing.

[kalkansaint]

My favourite - Lords of the Horizons - beautifully descriptive history of thrbOttoman Empire - fascinating stuff

[Bucks Saint]

Stalingrad, or Berlin. 2nd world war books by Anthony Beevor. Very detailed, insightful and interesting accounts of how both fell

[Turkish]

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.

[View From The Top]

Stalingrad, or Berlin. 2nd world war books by Anthony Beevor. Very detailed, insightful and interesting accounts of how both fell

 

Or Normandy, which is also excellent.

[Saint_Abroad]

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.

[Verbal]

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.)

[CB Saint]

Currently enjoying Twilight of the U Boats by Bernard Edwards

[Kingsland Codger]

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.

[sotonjoe]

Google

"Samuel Johnson prize"

[Horley CTFC Saint]

Captain Scott by Ranulph Fiennes

[hypochondriac]

Thanks for these. I'll probably buy one tomorrow.

[Convict Colony]

Was a quality read: The Greatest Knight: The Story of William Marshal

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Greatest-Knight-Story-William-Marshal/dp/0751536601/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418336266&sr=1-1&keywords=william+marshall

[Viking Warrior]

Bexy said Dad's getting Command and Control by Eric Schlosser. It's about Nuclear Bombs & is v.terrify!

 

Thanks son , I look forward to unwrapping it

 

Love dad