What are your favorite non-fiction books? (Need books to read...)

[truizm]

Mine:
1. A People's History of the United States
2. Anti-intellectualism in the United States
3. Manufacturing Consent
4. Secrets of the Temple
5. A Theory of Justice

[Newsjock]

1. "The Republican Noise Machine"

It puts media domination in a vast historical perspective in an incredibly information-rich, historically aware volume. Highly recommended.

[billyoc]

2. Hegemony or Survival

Noam Chomsky

[Midnight Rambler]

3. Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72

Or generally anything else by the Good Doctor

[WilliamPitt]

4. An especially important read today

Reading Hunter's description of the crypto-fascists in the White House, and then reading his utter devastation when Nixon was re-elected, rings forward to today.

Then you have to read The Great Shark Hunt for his coverage of the days when the swine were finally driven out. Hopeful stuff. Second terms have a way of not working out well for the Prez.

[FizzFuzz]

14. noted--thanks I was wondering where was best place to start on Hunter

[WilliamPitt]

21. The best place to start on Hunter is 'Hells Angels.'

Hands down, no question. One of the best reads you'll ever pick up, and a real example of Hunter at his absolute sharpest. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas next, then Campaign Trail, then Shark Hunt, then Generation of Swine (his epic denunciation of all things Reagan and 80s), Better than Sex (perhaps his weakest offering), Kingdom of Fear, Screwjack, etc.

Hunter S. Thompson is the A#1 reason I started writing about politics in the first place. Campaign Trail is one of the best records of the '72 campaign, and that whole era, you're likely to come across. "Every time I go to Chicago, I leave with scars."

[flowomo]

5. The Bible Part 1, The Bible Part 2, The Bible Part 3, The Bible Part 4....

and The Bible Part 5.

I don't want those redstaters to come lookin' fer me. You guys are all in big trouble.

[WilliamPitt]

6. Praise Jeebus

and pass the ammunition.

[democracyindanger]

7. War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning

Chris Hedges, veteran war correspondent. A must read.

[intheflow]

10. also in my post, below. n/t

[Lindacooks]

8. Guns, Germs, and Steel

also the 'Don't Know Much About' series - Bible, Civil War, Geography. And, of course, any cookbook. Especially try Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking and More Home Cooking - fabulous reprints of her Gourmet column, very soothing.

[intheflow]

9. Four from my library

1. In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights In Action by Ellen Alderman and Caroline Kennedy

2. Year 501: The Conquest Continues by Noam Chomsky

3. War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges

4. Professor Wellstone Goes To Washington by Dennis McGrath and Dane Smith




Who wrote your #5, A Theory of Justice?

[truizm]

12. John Rawls

[intheflow]

20. thanks for the pick

[Nevernose]

11. I had problems w/ "People's History"

It was an excellent book, but I think in places Zinn was really grasping for conclusions based upon sparse facts. It's been a whaile since I read it, so concrete examples are hard to come by in the reasches of my brain. My general impression was that it was an excellent example of a researcher doing something just to be provocative, get us thinking outside the box -- similar to that anthropologist (whose name I also can't remember) who provided the alternative water-based theory of human evolution. Food for thought, and something to shock us into alternative modes of thought.

[FuzzySlippers]

13. Who Will Tell the People: The Betrayal of American Democracy

by William Grieder. Written over a decade ago but still timely.

[derbstyron]

15. The Words We Live By: A Guide to the Constitution

History of the Constitution and its place and relevance in our society.
Read and weep for what we have, no doubt, lost.

[Nevernose]

16. "Myths of American Slavery" and "Black Confederates"

Both of these books are obviously controversial, but they are also thought-provoking, from an almost completely forgotten aspect of American history.

Some of the research and some of the conclusions I have issues with, but other facts are harder to argue with. Much like Michael Moore, for instance, it's hard to argue with a picture of what you're talking about: both books, for instance, contain pictures of African-Americans with rifles dressed in Confederate grey.

90% of the American slave trade was directed at South/Central America; North America was practically an afterthought.

Jefferson Davis tried to free the slaves well before the 13th amendment (though the book does not go onto enough detail as to his reasons, IMO, which werew not altruistic but to get European backing)

The first shots at Bull Run were fired by a black Southerner, a volunteer.

There were at least a thousand African-American slave OWNERS in antebellum Georgia, and thousands of others across the South.

That slave from the movie "Amistad," the main character, spent the first few years of his freedom collecting money from Northern abolitionists -- AND THEN BECAME A SLAVE TRADER!

At any rate, I'm certainly not trying to justify slavery here, especially not with a modern understanding of it, but the issue of American slavery is far more than black and white, and some of the details will astound you.

I first became interested in the subject when doing research on early British slavery (there's some of that here, though not enough). I am firmly convinced that Shakespeare used black actors; there were 15-30,000 Africans living in London at the time, and Shakespeare features black people in at least half of his plays. Another side note: the first English woman playwright was Aphra Behn, a contemporary of Shakespeare and an African woman.

[FizzFuzz]

17. I just started Democracy Matters, Dr Cornell West.

Looks very good. I can't even beging to describe at all right now, I seem to be getting a cold and really should get offline.

Another book I just bought is a rather old one (1965) The Nazi Seizure of Power. the Experience of a Single German Town 1930-1935.

I particularly want to read the description of very early Nazi influence--I'm interested in social reaction and cooperation subtle, creeping destruction.

[ropi]

18. I'll add

The Way We Never Were

[caledesi]

19. Tuesdays with Morrie. The best! nt

[Kire]

22. like philosophy?

Ethics: An Essay on the Understanding of Evil
by Alain Badiou, Peter Hallward (Translator)

With this little black book, Alain Badiou sows the seeds of intellectual revolt in the fields of contemporary ethical theory.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1859844359/qid=1099725982/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-5972333-8740121?v=glance&s=books

[psychopomp]

23. I like "Just Six Numbers"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0465036724/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-1688447-7608856#reader-link

[PittPoliSci]

24. i like books.

especially stuff.

sorry i'm PWI.

[Robeson]

25. The Deamon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan

[NewHampshireDem]

27. I second that, and would add ...

"Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time" by Michael Schermer. Not quite as well-done as Sagan, but a little more entertaining.

[Kellanved]

26. ok

1. Hofstadter: Gödel, Escher, Bach, an Eternal Golden Braid
2. Weizenbaum: Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgement to Calculation
3. Gamma et al : Design Patterns
4. Sebastian Haffner: Defying Hitler
5. Webster's International Dictionary (;-) )

[NewHampshireDem]

28. Some non-political choices, if you please ...

The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene ... better book than the PBS series--though that, too, was terrific. If you want to spend some time pondering the sub-atomic mysteries of the universe, this book is for you!

The Codebook by Simon Singh ... great *interesting* history of cryptography--yes, cryptography--with a look forward to quantum cryptography. Very entertaining.

Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker's War, 1941-1945 by Leo Sparks ... the title says it all.

Doing Battle : The Making of a Skeptic by Paul Fussell ... traces the development of Fussell's personal philosophy from his upbringing in Pasadena to his experiences on the front in WWII. Great memoir.

CLASS : A GUIDE THROUGH THE AMERICAN STATUS SYSTEM by Paul Fussell ... more of a social commentary/satire, but one of my favorites--though a little dated now. If you fondly remember the 80's and "preppies," you'll get the joke.

[peacefreak]

29. Electric Koolaid Acid Test--Tom Wolfe

Winterdance--Gary Paulsen
Expedition Wydah--(sorry, don't remember, but it's about a pirate ship off the coast of Cape Cod--GREAT read)
Confederates in the Attic--Tony Horowitz
Will Pitt's right about Hell's Angels. I used to steal it from my brother's room to read.

[harper]

30. What's the Matter With Kansas

Highly recommend this book. We probable all should have read it before last Tuesday. It would have told us what we were up against.

[thestatusquo]

31. Under the Banner of Heaven by Krakaur

If you don't want to read something about * or his cronies...
This is a really good book, I couldn't but it down.

[Sabriel]

37. Also Krakauer's Everest book, Into Thin Air

I highly recommend Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea, one of the best-written non-fics I've read. Riveting.

[amazona]

39. another good Krakauer "Into the Wild"

Heart-breaking story.

[Cattledog]

32. What's the Matter with Kansas?

By Thomas Frank

[UrbScotty]

33. Is "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" okay? (nt)

[China_cat]

34. The Mind of the Bible Believer

Edmund Cohen

A little dry until you get to the chapter on logocide and how it's used. You will then understand the hole we've dropped into.

[Lady Effingbroke]

35. "Generations" and "The Fourth Turning" by William Strauss and Neil Howe.

Strauss and Howe's "Generational Theory" is an interesting and rather eerily accurate take on historical events, and gives a good idea of what's in store for the next 60 years.

[bleedingheart]

36. The Handmaid's Tale is going to be non-fiction really soon

[amazona]

38. OK those are good books but...

...I like to read nonfiction about animals, environment, etc.

David Quammen is a favorite of mine, "The Song of the Dodo" is a meaty read. He has some lighter, funny ones too, with my favorite essay of that type being, "Has Success Spoiled the Crow?" I will read "Monster of God" next -- I bet it's a good one.

Everyone should read, "Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds" by Scott Weidensaul. It is more than a "sensa wonda" book, although it has that too. It has a great deal about the politics of extinction and the end of the phemonemon of migration. Another good one, same author, is "The Ghost with Trembling Wings," about lost species and human perception.

Partner's favorite recommend is "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes.

[jlseagull]

40. Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William Shirer.

800+ pages of notes, anecdotes, records, minutes of meetings, and battle strategy. Engorssing book, well worth the time to read it.

[fishnfla]

41. mine

several of many

anything by linda greenalw
anything by redmond O'hanlon
Stranger in the forest
Beautiful swimmers
the devils highway
anything by david sedaris
cross creek

[alwynsw]

42. Here's my list:

Elvis Is Dead and I Don't Feel So Good Myself/ Don't Bend Over In The Garden, Granny, You Know Them Taters Got Eyes / They Tore My Heart Out and Stomped That Sucker Flat / Kathy Sue Loudermilk, I Love You / Shoot Low Boys, They're Ridin' Shetland Ponies. (Lewis Grizzard)

[Greyskye]

43. "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do..."

"Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do - The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Country" by Peter MccWilliams

Amazing book. I've bought copies to give out as gifts. And if you are on a budget, or don't mind reading on the computer, the entire text is on-line for free. http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/aint/

[jdj]

44. if you want to understand freepers, anything by Alice Miller

German psychoanalyst who writes about "hidden brutality in child-rearing"

I love all her books

"Thou shalt not be Aware"
"For your own good"
"The drama of the gifted child"

there are more I can't remember.

[JimmyJazz]

45. The autobiography of Malcolm X

It's fascinating!

oh and The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

[CornField]

46. Buy some Nancy Friday... and a nice bottle of massage oil. :-)

[MrScorpio]

47. The COINTELPRO Papers - Great Book

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0896086488/qid=1099770879/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-4564295-9410205?v=glance&s=books&n=507846