Which non-fiction books should everyone have read?

[Chaotic42]

I see a lot of top-n lists of fiction books, which is all fine and dandy, but I haven't really seen one for non-fiction. There are a lot of good books out there and I know I'm missing a bunch, so I thought we could pool the titles together and make a list of must-haves.

Oh, and let's not get into a fiction/non-fiction debate about religious texts. Let's just leave them off and say that most of them are probably worth reading.

Here's mine:

-What is Mathematics - A truly ground-up survey of mathematics, praised by Albert Einstein and covering everything from counting to topology.

-A World Undone - A great book about World War I, something which I feel is under-represented in history lessons and documentaries

-The Federalist Papers - Classic American discussion of government

-The Words We Live By - An excellent line-by-line discussion of the US Constitution

-The First Directorate - An autobiography of Oleg Kalugin, a KGB Chief during the Cold War

-Nature's Building Blocks - I'm going to be good here and only include one hard science book. It covers each element of the periodic table, its history, chemistry, and uses

-The Rommel Papers - If you can handle the... dryness and length, it's an excellent insight into one of the greatest military minds in recorded history

 

[IronWing]

The Making of the Atomic Bomb - Richard Rhodes
The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins

 

[Ruptga]

Wikipedia - The Internet

 

[clamum]

Dang, "A World Undone" and "The Rommel Papers" sound good. I need to check out "The Federalist Papers" too.

I'll throw in The End of Doom: Environmental Renewal in the 21st Century. It made my rethink my opinion/stance of global warming. It covers several environmental and health issues and cuts through bullshit/myths about them.

 

[cbrunny]

Dianetics

 

[UncleWai]

The Bible

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Dianetics

The Bible

Lulz!

My pop fought Rommel's men under Patton. I will definitely give that a read.

 

[nerp]

1984.

Brave New World.

A Color Purple.

Breakfast of Champions.

 

[Tormac]

When I finished my student teaching my cooperating teacher gave me a copy of

"An Incomplete Education" by Judy Jones and William Wilson.

It is a fantastic book full of just enough information about non professional social topics to allow you to sound like you know what you are doing on a huge variety of topics.

 

[LevelSea]

Haven't read anything mentioned so far.

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

"How to win friend and influence people"

 

[lxskllr]

Ben Franklin autobiography
G Gordon Liddy - Will

 

[KMFJD]

A History of the Vikings - Gwyn Jones

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. If a nuclear war or comet strike renders the Earth uninhabitable that's the kind of stuff you're going to need to know to be able to survive out there.

 

[tynopik]

emily post's etiquette

 

[repoman0]

-What is Mathematics - A truly ground-up survey of mathematics, praised by Albert Einstein and covering everything from counting to topology.

Just bought this, thanks. sounds like a solid mathematics review

The Making of the Atomic Bomb - Richard Rhodes

+1, one of the best books I've read.

 

[repoman0]

-The First Directorate - An autobiography of Oleg Kalugin, a KGB Chief during the Cold War

I decided to buy this one too. Very cheap new/hardcover on Amazon. Great idea for a thread!

 

[manly]

A long read, but one of my favorite books:
https://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Fools-Story-Kurt-Eichenwald/dp/0767911792/

 

[BurnItDwn]

I'd say every "educated" person should probably read most of these at some point in their life.

Stalingrad, (because educational system in the US neglects the eastern front)
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, (because we need to make sure we dont repeat these mistakes)
On the Origin of Species (fight ignorance with knowledge!),
Walden (ohh shit I havent read this one yet!),
The Republic (PLATO dammit!),

 

[Ruptga]

I'd say every "educated" person should probably read most of these at some point in their life.

Stalingrad, (because educational system in the US neglects the eastern front)
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, (because we need to make sure we dont repeat these mistakes)
On the Origin of Species (fight ignorance with knowledge!),
Walden (ohh shit I havent read this one yet!),
The Republic (PLATO dammit!),

Dunno, I have it on good authority that Plato was a moron.

 

[Chaotic42]

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. If a nuclear war or comet strike renders the Earth uninhabitable that's the kind of stuff you're going to need to know to be able to survive out there.

I can multiply in Base 13 quite well, thank you. I bought the book, but the original radio program is better. I guess it's because I heard it first.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Everybody Poops.

 

[Exterous]

Six Frigates - very interesting read covering the struggles the US faced as a small, growing country and the intense debates surrounding the direction the country would take. We were close to taking a completely different track

Millionaire next door - getting a bit long in the tooth but a good read about financial behaviors

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Everybody Poops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5XI0taMNu4

 

[Pulsar]

My Lai: A Brief History with Documents