NationStates Jolt Archive

Inspired by the other thread.

What's your favorite non-fiction book?

Note: Do not say "the Bible" or any other religious text, because I do not want this to degenerate into a poo-throwing religious debate (if you want that, there are plenty of other threads to do it in).

Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy, by Niccolò Machiavelli

I've always been partial to The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell. Is it the greatest nonfiction book ever? No. But it is my current favorite, for whatever its worth.

Inspired by the other thread.

What's your favorite non-fiction book?

Note: Do not say "the Bible" or any other religious text, because I do not want this to degenerate into a poo-throwing religious debate (if you want that, there are plenty of other threads to do it in).

Hard question to ask that one. I quiet liked Lemmy's autobiography, and Dawkins the God delusion was okay, naaa I can't really answer that one.

Umm perhaps a roleplaying manual for a RPG called The End!

What's your favorite non-fiction book?


Hmmm... touch choice.

the Encylcopedia
Dictionary
Thesaurus

Oxford English Dictionary, anyone?

Oxford English Dictionary, anyone?

the UNABRIDGED Oxford English Dictionary... work all your muscles at the same time! :p

I think reference books can be considered as cheating in this category.

I'm a history fan, particularly ancient Egyptian history, but one of my favourite factual books is The Complete History of China by Roberts. There's no better book to learn the basics about China IMO. Another favourite would have to be The Keys of Egypt by the Adkins, which is a fascinating story about the race to decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphs.

for me this
http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-SAS-Elite-Forces-Professionals/dp/1854877046

first aid part i usely need from it

Inspired by the other thread.

What's your favorite non-fiction book?

Note: Do not say "the Bible" or any other religious text, because I do not want this to degenerate into a poo-throwing religious debate (if you want that, there are plenty of other threads to do it in).

Joke candidate: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Serious one: On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection

Best in what sense? When it comes to fiction there are some elements that people can agree to use as criteria for a "best" evalution. Enjoyment, perfection of construction, so on. However, when it comes to non-fiction it seems that the only really important characteristics of a book are accuracy and the ability to keep the reader engaged enough to make it through all the material. With those criteria in mind I'm quite enjoying Eric Kandel's In Search of Memory but I wouldn't be surprised if there was something better out there.

Note: By "best" I mean "favorite."

the UNABRIDGED Oxford English Dictionary... work all your muscles at the same time! :p

Definitely. I exercised more than people suspected in the course of getting an English degree. My backpack weighed well over twice what most people's did.

Though the Bible was my first thought, I will not put that as my answer (though it otherwise would be).

I will say "A Mighty Fortress: A New History of the German People" by Stephen Ozment, I really enjoyed it.

NS:G archives.

http://pottytrainingsolutions.com/shop/images/Everyone%20Poops%20Book.jpg

:)

http://pottytrainingsolutions.com/shop/images/Everyone%20Poops%20Book.jpg

:)

I take it, then, that Taro Gomi is one of your pseudonyms?

*runs*

:p

I take it, then, that Taro Gomi is one of your pseudonyms?

*runs*

:p

That was pretty good. *applauds*

"The Civil War" by Shelby Foote. But when you read it, your mental voice has to have a southern accent. Unless you're from the south.

I take it, then, that Taro Gomi is one of your pseudonyms?

*runs*

:p

I wish. Guy is probably a millionaire by writing a children's book about poop.

*chases*

http://pottytrainingsolutions.com/shop/images/Everyone%20Poops%20Book.jpg

:)

... ok I can the child... understand the horse and the goose/duck thing...

but why is there an APPLE on the cover of "Everyone Poops"?

Hmmm....

I know!

The Bib-


Note: Do not say "the Bible"

...aw. :(


Then I guess I'd have to say, Goedel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, by Douglas Hofstadter.

I've always been partial to The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell. Is it the greatest nonfiction book ever? No. But it is my current favorite, for whatever its worth.
The first run of that was done on the Left Book Club's press in my great-grandfather's old attic. Fun times, fun times. Although it does exaggerate the truth a bit.

I'm personally a fan of The Age of Extremes by Eric Hobsbawm. Good author, that man.

I'd say The Communist Manifesto except it's clearly fiction.

Serious entry: The Tao of Physics (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781570625190&itm=1)

Semi-serious entry:
The Tao of Pooh (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780525244585&itm=2)

... ok I can the child... understand the horse and the goose/duck thing...

but why is there an APPLE on the cover of "Everyone Poops"?

Fiber. *nods*

... ok I can the child... understand the horse and the goose/duck thing...

but why is there an APPLE on the cover of "Everyone Poops"?

Fiber. *nod*

Fiber. *nods*

:eek:

*pies you into oblivion*

I'd say The Communist Manifesto except it's clearly fiction.

Touché.

:eek:

*pies you into oblivion*

I'm a ninja. A Physics ninja. All fear my physics-consistent ninja powers.

Inspired by the other thread.

What's your favorite non-fiction book?

Note: Do not say "the Bible" or any other religious text, because I do not want this to degenerate into a poo-throwing religious debate (if you want that, there are plenty of other threads to do it in).

War Junkie: a biography of a cameraman who was in rwanda,palestine,russia,georgia,bosnia and his mental breakdown.
Fear and Loathing/my war in iraq: biography of us army soldier who served 2 years in iraq.
military intelligence blunders and coverups: the why of every major defeat that ever happened and the causes.

Fiber. *nods*

Fiber. *nod*

but fiber does NOT poop... like the title of the book says... :p

:eek:

*pies you into oblivion*

is that an APPLE pie you're using? ;)

Ain't Nobody's Busniess If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Society by the late Peter MacWilliams.

The first run of that was done on the Left Book Club's press in my great-grandfather's old attic. Fun times, fun times. Although it does exaggerate the truth a bit.

I'm personally a fan of The Age of Extremes by Eric Hobsbawm. Good author, that man.

Wow. You must come from a long line of angry socialists. That's pretty cool actually, a fun little bit of history to have.

The Age of Extremes seems like an interesting book. That guy is as angry at the world as I am, so it should prove interesting. I love how Wiki characterises the author's views on fascism

Unsurprisingly, Hobsbawm's contempt for fascism is so complete that he does not bother with the detailed demolition he applies to state communism and free-market capitalism. Denying fascism's claim to philosophical respectability, he writes,"Theory was not the strong point of movements devoted to the inadequancies of reason and rationalism and the superiority of instinct and will" and further on the same page "Mussolini could have readily dispensed with his house philosopher, Giovanni Gentile, and Hitler probably neither knew nor cared about the support of the philosopher Heidegger." (ibid. p.117) Instead, he claims, the popular appeal of fascism lay with its claims to technocratic achievement: "Was not the proverbial argument in favour of fascist Italy that 'Mussolini made the trains run on time'?" (ibid. p.124)

He also writes, provocatively, "Would the horror of the holocaust be any less if historians concluded that it exterminated not six millions but five or even four?" (ibid. p.43)

Fiber. *nods*

Only the apple skin is a significant source of fiber. The inside is actually very constipating. I think it's a conspiracy by apple trees to lure us into a food that will supposedly help us poop only to back us up out of some sadistic need to frustrate people.

Guns, Germs and Steel and The Battle Cry of Freedom are currently tied, at least for me.

"Guns germs and steel" and "Rome: An Introductory History" Both are very good books.

I have a few favorite non fiction books. I really like:
The Virtue Of Selfishness by Ayn Rand
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand
The Ominous Parallels by Leonard Peikoff

The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History.

And no, it is not about the Spartans...

Wow. You must come from a long line of angry socialists. That's pretty cool actually, a fun little bit of history to have.
Meh. I've become a bit disollutioned with socialism in the most leftie terms at the moment, seeing as most of the socialists I know are ridiculously dogmatic Marxists.
The Age of Extremes seems like an interesting book. That guy is as angry at the world as I am, so it should prove interesting.
He's not angry at the world so much as interested in providing a left-wing viewpoint of the short 20th century.
I love how Wiki characterises the author's views on fascism
That's no characterisation, that's just how it is, which make the bits on Mussolini and Hitler's Germany a bit hard going, to be quite honest. Still, he's a good author and all.

Click Stand;13280353']The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History.

And no, it is not about the Spartans...

I think I've read this. The author puts Muhammad first, which surprised me.

I've just finished The Age of Jackson by Arthur Schlessinger. I don't know if it's my favorite, but it's one of the best histories I've ever read.

The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil by Phillip Zimbardo

I think I've read this. The author puts Muhammad first, which surprised me.

I think he backed up his choice pretty well, even though I would have chosen differently.

Physics Textbook...

That was pretty good. *applauds*

Thanks. :)

I wish. Guy is probably a millionaire by writing a children's book about poop.

*chases*

*runs faster*

art of war by sun tzu

*runs faster*

*trips, hogties*

as well as all science books text or not.

Camping and Wilderness Survival.

*whittles canoe out of a twig and snares a deer with dental floss*

Plutarch's Lives
Tacitus' Annales
Chronicle of the Roman Republic by Philip Matyszak
Soldiers and Ghosts by J.E. Lendon
In the Name of Rome by Adrian Goldsworthy
Scipio Africanus: Soldier and Politician by H.H. Scullard
The First Punic War J.F. Lazenby

Easy to see where my interests lie

Inspired by the other thread.

What's your favorite non-fiction book?

Note: Do not say "the Bible" or any other religious text, because I do not want this to degenerate into a poo-throwing religious debate (if you want that, there are plenty of other threads to do it in).
Coincidance, by Robert Anton Wilson.
I admit that this could bring the actionable concept of "non-fiction", but that's okay.
Otherwise, i say the Book of Lists series by Wallace & Wallechinsky. All of 'em.

How 'bout 'A Short History of Nearly Everything', by Bill Bryson?

A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor: in All Countries and in All Times

Off the top of my head: Keeping the Rabble in Line by Noam Chomsky, though I'm tempted to say something like The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli.

well i kinda don't know but i like history like the Icelandic Sagas

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. It reads like science fiction crossed with philosophy. I'm dead serious, the only time biology is more exciting is sex.

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. It reads like science fiction crossed with philosophy. I'm dead serious, the only time biology is more exciting is sex.

:p I am tempted to sig that gem.

OP: I don't have any books to contribute, I'm illiterate.