Granted, these are all historical and/or nautical in nature but they are each GREAT books!
1759: The Year Britain Became Master of the World by Frank McLynn
"Bounty" Trilogy: Mutiny on the "Bounty", Men Against the Sea and Pitcairn's Island by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy by N.A.M. Rodger
Peace Kills (America's fun new Imperialism) by P.J. O'Rourke. Heck for that matteranything by P. J. O'Rourke you can't go wrong with
I'll have to find that one!
Several years ago, my wife and I were on a trip to Canada, when we spent a day in Quebec City. I really wanted to see the Plains of Abraham, so my wife humored me, and dropped me off there by the river. I climbed the steep slope up to the plateau where Wolfe met Montcalm, expecting to find a museum or at least a great monument for such a pivotal battle in world history.
Instead, I found nothing but a jogging track and a small plaque. The plaque read (paraphrasing from what I remember):
On this site, on 13 September 1759, due to the overwhelming number of their forces, the British army was able to land her and capture the City of Quebec,
You could almost feel the resentment of the French Canadians as they wrote this :^)
I can't tell you how many times I read those as a child. Absolutely wonderful!