I need some book suggestions. (vanity)

[dawn53]

Looking for books for a present. My husband enjoys non-fiction books. He reads the conservative author's books, but really enjoys books more along the line of historical non-fiction, etc. Recent books he's enjoyed: The Real George Washington, The 500 Year Leap, Killing Pablo, and the book about Sheriff Arpaio (Toughest Sheriff...or something like that.) I'm heading out to buy some last minute presents, and thought I'd buy a couple books...any suggestions of books in that genre?

[dawn53]

Thanks for all the suggestions. As far as not getting a word out of him, well, I’m used to that when he’s reading a book he enjoys. When he was reading Killing Pablo and The Real George Washington, I don’t think we had a conversation for days, LOL.

[dawn53]

Thanks for all the suggestions. As far as not getting a word out of him, well, I’m used to that when he’s reading a book he enjoys. When he was reading Killing Pablo and The Real George Washington, I don’t think we had a conversation for days, LOL.

[dawn53]

Thanks for all the suggestions. As far as not getting a word out of him, well, I’m used to that when he’s reading a book he enjoys. When he was reading Killing Pablo and The Real George Washington, I don’t think we had a conversation for days, LOL.

[dfwgator]

Or any of Norman Davies’ books, especially “Rising ‘44.”

[Gaffer]

I suggest a couple of Michener’s books that I’ve always remembered: “The Tell” and “The Searchers”.......

[Tublecane]

My idea of the polemics that ought to be on every American conservative’s shelves:

The Federalist Papers - “Publius”
Democracy in America - Alexis de Tocqueville
The Road to Serfdom - F.A. Hayek
Reflections on the Revolution in France - Edmund Burke
The Abolition of Man - C.S. Lewis
The Open Society and Its Enemies (Two Volumes) - Karl Popper
The Revolt of the Masses - Ortega y Gasset
Natural Right and History - Leo Strauss

[GovernmentShrinker]

Maximum Morphonios, autobiography of the legendary Florida judge, Ellen Morphonios.
http://www.amazon.com/Maximum-Morphonios-Times-Americas-Toughest/dp/0688091555

[mewzilla]

Here're a couple I'd recommend....

The Great Influenza: The story of the deadliest pandemic in history

A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918

[Gaffer]

Actually, “The Tell” is the object of the book entitled “The Source”.....it’s a fascinating look at fictional history told through the archiological excavation of a “tell” (a mound that ‘tells’ or signifies prior inhabitance).......a very very long book as were most of his books.

[TexasCajun]

Great book by Malkin on the Crooks, Cronies and Friends of Obamah.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Newt Gingrich has written several very good books.

[fours]

A second for “From Dawn to Decadence” but it’s very very heavy reading and took me a while to get through.

I’d recommend the Mao biography “Mao: the Unknown Story” which is a very critical, sharp, and thoroughly researched biography from 2005 that was pretty explosive when it came out. It debunks the myth that he was a great revolutionary “leader of the people” of any kind, and reveals him to be more of a ruthless, cruel, power-hungry tyrant who invented his public image out of necessity as he went along. It also reveals how he cunningly cultivated this revolutionary-hero image through visits from journalists from the West, to bolster his standing with American liberals. I found it a truly engrossing read.

Also I liked “Nixonland” which came out last year.

[BlueLancer]

"Clear the Decks! By Daniel Gallery"

If he likes this one, he may also like "Cap'n Fatso" and "Now Hear This!", also by Daniel Gallery. Hilariously funny 1960's naval fiction about the exploits of a Chief Bosun's Mate and his piratical band of cronies.

[stefanbatory]

What can you tell me about them? Poland was my first experience with his writing...

[UB355]

Most any of David McCullough’s books. John Adams, The Path Between the Seas(About the Panama Canal), and The Great Bridge (About the Brooklyn Bridge) were my favorites.

[pillut48]

I got this book (hardback) at our local Dollar Tree store for $1! Fascinating story of the search for the fabled Northwest Passage above the Arctic Circle, and the connection to the White House today. Very easy reading, and compelling!


Resolute: The Epic Search for the Northwest Passage and John Franklin, and the Discovery of the Queen's Ghost Ship

From Publishers Weekly When Captain John Buddington of New London, Conn., set out on a whaling expedition in September 1855, he discovered the HMS Resolute, a British navy ship without a soul on board. How the Resolute made it from its British home port to Arctic Sea whaling territory to a central place in the White House's Oval Office makes up the core of this gripping historical adventure. Describing the explorers who set out to conquer the Arctic "Otherworld" as the "astronauts of their day," Pulitzer nominee Sandler creates a taut, absorbing story and a multi-faceted portrait of heroism that encompasses the overwhelming missteps, hardships and almost irrational tenacity that sprung from British naval secretary John Barrow's decision that Britain would discover the fabled Northwest Passage around the new world-a task he believed would take no longer than "a single season." That decision would be followed by 40 years of failed search-and-rescue missions-of which the Resolute was just one-after the initial 1845 voyage, led by Captain John Franklin, disappeared. The discovery of the Resolute represented both a vital clue in Franklin's disappearance and a haunting symbol of its nation's inexhaustible determination to make navigating the passage a uniquely British triumph. Sandler eloquently illustrates how the expedition became a new quest for the Holy Grail and provides an adventure story worthy of that tradition. 20 photos, 30 b/w illustrations. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

[Gaffer]

See post 29 for "The Source"....."The Searchers" is a period examination of the Hippy Revolution and the impact on it of several of its members by the Vietnam war.....

For the "Searchers" you have to consider that this is a book that I read, as a draftee during that time, so it was particularly relevant, at that time. I guess that a younger reader would not get as much out of it.

[ml/nj]

“History of the American People” by Paul Johnson

. . . is trash.

ML/NJ

[ChocChipCookie]

The Worst Hard Time is an excellent book about life during the Dust Bowl. It really is a period in American history of which little is widely known. I really enjoyed the book.

[taxcutisapayraise]

BLACKLISTED BY HISTORY:
The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy
and His Fight Against America’s Enemies

by M. Stanton Evans