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Probably politics and history. Maybe revisit Atlas Shrugged or read End the Fed. And maybe something on ancient Rome or a bio of Augustus or Alexander

 

 

 

I've been reading these two a lot lately:

 

Highly recommended

 

Excellent plot

 

To which I retort

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Probably politics and history. Maybe revisit Atlas Shrugged or read End the Fed. And maybe something on ancient Rome or a bio of Augustus or Alexander

 

 

 

 

 

To which I retort

 

That category helps. I read a fair amount in that genre. Here are a few books that I enjoyed in the last few years.

 

Team of Rivals (Lincoln). I'm not a Civil War buff but it made me appreciate Lincoln more than I already did. Amazing story of Lincoln's political genius.

 

First Man in Rome. I am not a fan of historical fiction but this book (one of about 7 in a row through Augustus's reign) was great. The autor, Colleen McCullough wrote the Thornbirds (FFS!) but her real passion in life was studying Roman history. This is NOT a heaving bosom book but a pretty interesting account guessing at some of the gaps in the known Marius/Sulla history.

 

The Big Short. One of my favorite authors (Liar's Poker and the Blind Side) takes on the 2008-9 crash. Excellent book that makes the crash obvious with hindsight.

 

BTW, for one of the GREATEST reviews of the History of Rome, there is no easier resource than The History of Rome podcast. This guy is up to 123 episodes (at about 20 mins each) and he starts with the founding of Rome, working his way up to the eventual fall (not there yet). He does it just about strictly chronological, although he occasionally breaks to explain something like how the roman Phalanx improved on the Greek or certain political side issues. I'd say the early podcasts are interesting but unfortunately, there is little record (As he explains) so he is often recounting the myths. Once the first Rome sacking passes, the historical record is much better and the podcast really hits its stride. I've listened to all 122 podcasts and it's a gem.

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Just finished "With the Old Breed" by Eugene Sledge..basis for parts of he Pacific miniseries. Very good.

 

Runnng to the Mountain by Jon Katz...good if you are a 40-55 yr old man like me

 

http://www.amazon.com/Running-Mountain-Adventure-Jon-Katz/dp/product-description/0767904982

 

 

Same type of mid life , time to examine my life, type of book

 

Breakfast with Budda..I enjoyed this as well

 

http://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Buddha-Novel-Roland-Merullo/product-reviews/1565125525

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Best book I've read recently is an older one: Surviving the Killing Fields, by Haing Ngor. A memoir, not a history, so it's lacking in certain details (like the means by which the US and North Vietnam collaborated to cause Cambodia to self-destruct). But fascinating, and intensely gripping.

 

Which then puts me in mind of Philip Gourevitch's We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families, about the Rwandan genocide. Probably the single best book on that particular disaster, a good balance of well-researched historical fact and personal anecdote.

 

 

And a third, non-genocidal book: Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal , by Hornfischer. Truth be told, it's on my "to read" stack...but I know the subject matter pretty well, and have read some of the author's body of work, and have every reason to expect it's a well-written (albiet slightly shallow ) history - and it's not relatively well known how brutal and violent the Navy's battles off Guadalcanal were, given the focus the marines get (particularly after The Pacific for the land campaign. Richard B. Frank's book is almost certainly a better in-depth study of the battle...but Hornfischer is more likely a better casual read.

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Best book I've read recently is an older one: Surviving the Killing Fields, by Haing Ngor. A memoir, not a history, so it's lacking in certain details (like the means by which the US and North Vietnam collaborated to cause Cambodia to self-destruct). But fascinating, and intensely gripping.

 

In the African genocide vein,

 

What is the What and...whatever the book that the movie Hotel Rwanda was based on are good personal stories. What is the What was incredible--hard to believe what those Sudanese boys went through.

 

Someone mentioned the sort of feel good middle age book. You might try Three Cups of Tea.

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