Non fiction books

Just got Dominions by Tom Holland, and just started politics on the Edge by Rory Stewart.

I recommend Jeffrey Archer s Prison Diaries . A fascinating insight into the world of prisons ( albeit 20 years ago but I wonder if much has changed. Probably a lot worse now!) and the terrible toll that drugs take on society.

I rarely read fiction either.
Last Christmas I rashly told my daughters that my plan for 2024 was to read through the 8 vols of the Penguin History of Europe. Three vols turned up under the tree, but here we are in mid Feb and I’m on p.9 of vol.1…. They’re all well-written and thoughtful so I shall persevere.
Have also been re-reading the hilarious Correspondence of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh.

Thanks for that suggestion, Lexisgranny. I’m struggling a bit with the book I’m reading now - lots of unfamiliar words but I’m ploughing through it.

Try Michael Pallin books,the ones on travel,I have enjoyed several of his,well written & just a touch oh humour.

On a lighter note for thise old rnough to remrmber Dirk Bogarde, his books are a good read from childhood in England to his books about life in France in later years. I also enjoyed books by Michael Caine.

Try John Mortimer with his “Murderers and other friends”
An absolute joy, “A Voyage Round my Father”. His books are hilarious at times, but also very emotional too.

Annierob ...^and just finished Nella Last war - diary of a housewife during the second world war. Really shows how the war could show what women can achieve.

I enjoyed that too, and it was made into a TV drama starring Victoria Wood (in a straight role) and she was excellent.

The Fishing Fleet, Husband Hunting in the Raj, by Anne de Courcy.

Journey through a small planet, emanuel litvinof.

Reading through this thread I realise I’ve read many more non-fiction books than I thought - thanks for reminding me of many wonderful reads. One of the best, and most harrowing, books I’ve ever read was Feargal Keane’s The Madness about his life during the years as a war correspondent. Among others on my table is Michelle Obama’s The Light We Carry and Rory Stewart’s Politics on the Edge. And I’ll read anything about Richard III!

Polo mint ! A woman after my own heart. I can’t get into fiction books either & have given up on book clubs because of this. There are some interesting suggestions of books here I will study.
This is a good thread !
My personal best ever is Stolen Lives by Malika Oufkir
- 20 yrs in a desert jail ( Morocco )

'The Hiding Place' by Corrie Ten Boom is a brilliant account of a Dutch woman's life in the 2nd world war.

I read Spycatcher the autobiography of an intelligence officer at MI5 by Peter Wright.
banned in this country when first published back in
because it revealed too many secrets. now available amazon ect; published in 1987 in australia

The former assistant director of MI5 offers an account of British Intelligence, including his work on the Ring of Five and exposing Soviet espionage and the conspiracy to oust Harold Wilson from the office of Prime Minister in the 1970s which involved the earl of mountbatten.

I have also read Nella Last's book

Nella Last was an English housewife who lived in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, England.

She wrote a diary for the Mass Observation Archive from 1939 .

One book to avoid 'Great Uncle Harry' by Michael Palin. the biography of his Great Uncle who died in WW1.

The problem is that Great Uncle Harry was a very ordinary man who kept a very ordinary diary (Rifle drill this morning, Marching this afternoon, went into town this evening). and even Michael Palin's extensive research and writing skills cannot make his Great Uncle sound interesting or make any dramatic revelations about the war. the book is just dull.

I was given it for Christmas, read it and by mid-January it had been given to a Charity shop.

Thanks for the tip MOnica.
There are 3 books of Nella Last’s diaries. I think she was a bit neurotic and that she wrote for effect, but so did most of the Mass Observation writers I daresay.
At this time of year I often re-read Cherry Apsley Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World about Scott’s last Antarctic expedition.

lemsip

I'm reading Eve's War . the diaries of a military wife during second world war.. it's in diary form... by evelyn shillington
she was an army wife and followed her husband whenever she could and keeping her diary which was found in an attic many years later.........

I have just ordered this for my Kindle .... Thanks for your recommendation

If you like a witty lighthearted read, I recommend Rupert Everett’s autobiographies, not only a good actor, but a good writer.
Also Nicky Haslam’s autobiography in the same vein.

has anyone read Captain Tom's autobiography. Tomorrow's another day?
a good read and an interesting life including his time in Burma during the war.

Yes I've read that one lemsip and enjoyed it. Such a shame his family are now tarnished due to the financial gains his daughter received and extra building on the house etc

I do read a lot of biographies of ww2 and Jews surviving the holocaust. I often wonder after reading those books whether I would have been as brave and resourceful as the authors had been. I'm ploughing through barbra Streisand autobiography. A really big book but have left it for the moment to read sue barker " calling the shots" and I'm enjoying her book

SueDonim

I read a mix of books, probably 2:1 fiction/NF. I’ve just begun A History of the Bible by John Barton. It looks a good read.

www.penguin.co.uk/books/258551/a-history-of-the-bible-by-john-barton/9780141978505

SueDonim you might also like "Heresy: Jesus Christ and the other sons of God" by Catherine Nixey. It is about the ways in which Christianity could have taken a far different path from the one we see today.

"Yet in the years after the death of Christ there was not merely one word, nor any consensus as to who Jesus was or why he had mattered. There were many different Jesuses, among them the aggressive Jesus who scorned his parents and crippled those who opposed him, the Jesus who sold his twin into slavery and the Jesus who had someone crucified in his stead."

"Moreover, in the early years of the first millennium there were many other saviours, many sons of gods who healed the sick and cured the lame. But as Christianity spread, they were pronounced unacceptable – even heretical – and they faded from view" from the Amazon blurb.

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