1001 Nonfiction Books That D&Ders will want to read.

[tleilaxu]

I went to Amazon to look up "The story of stupidity" because I thought it was a compelling title. Unfortunately the book is out of print and the author incarcerated for doing something very stupid. You can find out more about this very amusing story here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...636?v=glance&s=books&n=507846#product-details

And for my book I submit "Musui's Story, The autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai"

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/103-2676625-5336636?v=glance&s=books

 

[Warrior Poet]

Wow, this is a marvelous thread! Great idea, Buttercup!

Some of these may have been mentioned (I've only been able to skim the list quickly so far, so if they're repeats, my apologies ... and I, too, am chuffed that Guns, Germs and Steel was already mentioned, so I'll just second it ... so good):

186. Early Modern Europe by H.G. Koenigsberger

187. European Society 1500-1700 by Henry Kamen

188. The Elizabethan World Picture by E.M.W. Tillyard

189. The Anglo Saxon World An Anthology edited by Kevin Crossley-Holland

190. The complete Pelican History of England by various authors, including Dorothy Whitelock, Ian Richmond, et al.

191. Hagakure The Book of the Samurai by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Thanks,

Warrior Poet

 

[beta-ray]

well because i have short term memory, I don't know if either of these were mentioned... and they may not be the best for D&Ders (not making numbers because of those reasons), but I think they are good books in general and make you think...

Connections by James Burke

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks

 

[Agback]

111 The far Mirror from Barbara Feintuch

Is that the same as A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman?

If not, add the Tuchman to the list with a very strong recommendation: it is a detailed biography of the extraordinary Enguerrand de Coucy VI, and a fascinating vision of second half of the 14th Century, the birth of nationalism in the Hundred Years War, the impact of the Black Death, and the last gasp of the Crusading movement.

Regards,


Agback

 

[Agback]

192: Monks of War by Desmond Seward

193: The World of the Troubadours by Linda M Paterson

194: An inquiry into the nature and causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

195: The Moneyman by Thomas Costain. (This is only marginally non-fiction, consisting of a novelised biography of Jacques Couer.)

196: Falls the Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman. (This is only marginally non-fiction, consisting of a novelised biography of Simon de Montfort, father of Parliament.)

197: Histories by Herodotus. A marvellous read, and stuffed to the gills with things to put into a fantasy world.

Regards,


Agback

 

[Samnell]

Someone already mentioned the companion work to this, so here's 198:

The Civilization of the Middle Ages, by Norman F. Cantor.

The chapters on the end of Antiquity alone are loaded with plot ideas, nevermind the rest of the work.

And 199: In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World it Made, by the same.

Wake is partially redundant with Civilization, both of course goes into more depth on its subject and has enough to warrant reading, plus it's short. You just get about ready to strangle Cantor if he writes "biomedical" one more time.

EDIT: I'll make an even 200. Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade.

It's sort of a dual biography, good for fleshing out intrigues and the personalities of political leaders.

 

[Priest]

201-220

201. Midieval Cities Their Origins and the Revival of Trade By Henri Pirenne
202. A Sea of Words ( A lexicon and Companion for Patrick O’Brian’s Seafaring tales) ( King, Hattendorf, and Estes) Very good book with an essay on medicine during the Age of Nelson, aboard ships
203. Civilization on Trial by Arnold Toynbee
204. The Book of Swords by Richard F. Burton
205. The City in History by Lewis Mumford
206. Castles by Alan Lee
207. Shipbuilding in Colonial America By Joseph A. Goldenburg
208. The Writers Guide to Character Traits By Linda N. Edelstein, Ph.D.
209. 1000 Yrs. of Irish Poetry Edited by Kathleen Hoagland
210. John Paul Jones By Samuel Eliot Morison
211. Space Travel; A writers guide to the science of interplanetary, and interstellar travel By Dr. Ben Bova, with Anthony R. Lewis.
212. The Story of the Volsungs Nordic Traditional saga
213. The Practical Writers Guide By Mary A. DeVries
214. The Transitive Vampire: a handbook of grammar for the innocent, the eager, and the doomed By Karen Elizabeth Gordon
215. Hornblower’s Navy; Life at Sea in the Age of Nelson By Stephen Pope
216 The Cossacks and Religion in early modern Ukraine By Serhii Plokhy
217. Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome by Roy, and Lesley Adkins
218. Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World by Lionel Casson
219. Travel in the Ancient World by Lionel Casson
220. Libraries in the Ancient World by Lionel Casson

 

[diaglo]

The Holy Bible by various authors

 

[diaglo]

The Hot Zone
The White Plague
The Coming Plague
Gray's Anatomy

 

[Steverooo]

221-3

221: The Encyclopedia of the Sword, by Nick Evangelista.
222: A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times, by George Cameron Stone (I can't believe no one's mentioned it!)
223: Records of the Medieval Sword, by Ewart Oakeshott.

More to come...