NoPlaceLikeHome Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Looking for actual history books that are exciting to read and read like a great novel for my teenage son. Anyone? I do have SWB's books already:) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ. Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 I am not a fan of nonfiction but The Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides was a page turner and felt like a novel to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Unbroken (the young adult adaptation maybe; your call) by Hillebrand I love anything by Erik Larson (Devil in the White City; In the Garden of Beasts; Dead Wake, etc. These tackle tragedies and some tough stuff at times but so interesting.) I'm currently reading and enjoying The Tunnels: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill by Greg Mitchell How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS by David France (this is on my to-read list so I can't give personal experience yet) Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill by Candace Millard HIdden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly (movie is based on this) The Week the World Stood Still (about the Cuban Missile Crisis) by Stern (I'm sure this one--and many historical accounts--have some inherent bias so you'd have to do your research if that matters to you!) Failure is Not An Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond by Gene Kranz (several stories) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artichoke Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Studs Terkell has a pretty good book about the Great Depression. It's a compilation of interviews/short stories that flows well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 There are lots of other adventure, survival type stories, too. Into Thin Air or The Endurance (Shackleton's voyage). Deep Down Dark is the story of the 33 Chilean miners who were rescued. Alive (story of the Andes airplane crash survivors). Left for Dead. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 (edited) Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky by Alphonsion Deng, Benson Deng, & Benjamin Ajak Outcasts United by Warren St. John The Monuments Men by Robert Edsell. There was also a movie made of it which I enjoyed too: Edited December 8, 2016 by Stacia 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Bomb (more ya but awesome) The Wright brothers (McCullough) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Seconding Erik Larson. My son loved Isaac's Storm and then went on to read The Perfect Storm (by Sebastian Junger). In the Heart of the Sea is gripping but grim. It's the true story of a whaling ship destroyed by a whale; the inspiration for Moby-Dick. So interesting and well-written but... very disturbing in places. I would read others by the author, Nathanial Philbrick. My son has read a lot about World War II; he highly recommends The Winter Fortress by Neal Bascomb. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 Just got to this tread again. Thanks for the replies. Any books like this on US History, Ancient History, Middle and Dark Ages, Modern History too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Half the book is history related. The other half is science-fiction, "what if". "The Redemption of Christopher Columbus". http://www.hatrack.com/osc/books/pastwatch.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 How "fiction" are you willing to lean? Bernard Cornwell had a few series that would fall into your categories, I'm thinking of one I read recently about the King Alfred vs. the Vikings in Britain. The stories are entertaining, formulaic, and usually have very flat female characters. The main events are there, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarasue7272 Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Over the Edge of the World by Bergreen (about Magellan) - It was pretty slow to start, but I ended up really liking it. Blood and Guts: A History of Surgery by Hollingham - This one goes way back and right up to the present (2008 at least). It was really good, and at times very gory! I would say both of these are PG-13. I almost recommended Over the Edge of the World to my nephew, but he was 10 at the time and I changed my mind. The book talked about the sexual habits of pacific islanders in more detail than I was comfortable with for a kid. Blood and Guts has a chapter about sex reassignment surgery. Just FYI! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 I am third on Erik Larson. I have read several of his history books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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