HIStory Books
A handful of binge-readable non-fiction that I accidentally stumbled across through no help from school, critics and/or Hollywood. If stories like these formed part of our high-school reading curricula, I think everyone (especially boys) would have a better appreciation for books, reading, and the world we live in.
Q: Why does Eurasia seem to be so much more advanced than the rest of the world. A: Read the first 8 to 12 chapters of this book. Somewhere after those chapters the book trails off into an academic treatise, but the insights of those earlier chapters are well worth the read for any layman.
If you were asked what single person in the history of man had influenced the world more than any other, Genghis might not be the first name to come to mind (until you read this).
A David versus Goliath story of the last major sea battle involving galleys. Only an upset victory in this pivotal battle could stem the tide of the Ottoman Empire’s designs on expansion into Europe.
The best and most unbiased rendering of the realities of colonial North America that I have ever read. This well researched yet eminently readable page-turner unfolds in the, “I cannot believe this is non-fiction” style of Jack Beeching and Giles Milton. You will not only experience but also feel the emotion of the period. This is a book that should be added to the high school reading curricula of schools both north and south of the Canada/USA border.
White Gold by Giles Milton (1716 – 1815)
The Europeans did not invent slavery nor were Africans the only victims of the trade. This is a story of white slavery at the hands of Muslim slavers that were terrorizing Mediterranean coasts and shipping (and, at one point, the coasts of England) in the not so distant past.
Another page turner about a period in history that was not taught in schools but explains much of what we are discovering about China, and the West, all over again today.
If you only ever read one story of war, it should be this well and uniquely crafted piece of historic fiction. This is the story of a war that the victors would prefer to forget or, failing that, to remember differently. It is written by a soldier-historian from the point of view of both sides. In short, war is hell but one side’s devil can be other guy’s saint. If, after reading this, you do not immediately check Google to determine if any or all of the events or players are accurately portrayed, it can only mean you do not have access to the internet.
What makes this incredible story more incredible is the fact that Captain Slocum, who was born in Nova Scotia, achieved the impossible without the aid of crew, GPS, pace boat, air/sea rescue or any other modern convenience. Tragically it is unknown in our schools (the same schools that force feed their students drab and pointless tales of melodrama in Victorian England or India). It’s a real man’s tale – Man vs Nature, Himself, Pirates and Heads of State (who still believe the earth is flat in 1895).
This is the story of how the victors of World War I met and carved the world up using arbitrary lines on a map with little or no consideration of their consequences on either: 1) the disparate groups of people/nationalities that fell within those demarcation lines; or 2) the lasting geopolitical fallout that we are still struggling with almost a century later.
Forget about Dillinger (just a bank robber), Capone (just a gangster) and Bin Laden (just a terrorist), the guy every security agency in America really wanted was a pretty cool hacker/nerd named Kevin Mitnick. This is his story – only the lives of Forrest Gump and my dad compare in terms of pure edge of your seat audacity and entertainment.
At once, informative, entertaining and tragic, this one introduces us to the Lost Boys of the Sudan and puts the origins and the tragedy of Darfur into a very readable perspective. This all seemed to unfold under the radar and is another of those books that should be front and centre on every school board’s required reading lists for grade eight’s in order to put their own lives, prejudice and/or perceived slights into context.
A real eye opener that became more poignant as the events continue to unfold. Synopsis: ‘In order to push through profoundly unpopular economic policies that enrich the few and impoverish the many, there needs to be some kind of collective crisis or disaster – either real or manufactured. A crisis that opens up a “window of opportunity” when people and societies will be too disoriented to protect their own interests…’ Despite what sounds like a dry and boring subject this is actually an excellent and easy read for the average person on the street. Regardless of political lean, you should read this book even if it is the only book you ever read. There will definitely be some revelations (at least one per chapter) as it describes the underbelly of some of the most newsworthy global disasters of our time and how they were used by hook and by crook to further the economists’ dreams of a free market utopia that is, well…you be the judge.
Chock full of politically incorrect observations (a.k.a. uncomfortable facts) from a Maclean’s magazine columnist who has been making a career of bucking the system and getting hauled up before various Human Rights Tribunals on charges of hate mongering. Shades of Dan Brown and the Davinci Code versus the Catholic Church, Batman! Had they not made such a (failed) stink over this book, the guy would have just shuffled off as another unknown Canadian columnist. There is nothing racial or hateful here, just some cold hard facts/demographics.
