Wanted: Factual / Political book for xmas present.

December 6, 2007 3:24 AM

Recommendations for great factual books. I'm looking for a Political / Cultural / Recent History book that's intelligently written, suprising, complex in terms of its subject matter and about something or someone everyone has heard of. Polemics about the world / religion / culture also good, but they can't be too populist. I also want to buy it at amazon.co.uk and it should have been published in the last year or so. Any ideas?
posted by seanyboy to Education (21 answers total)

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (about corn, more or less), and Collapse by Jared Diamond.
posted by cocoagirl at 3:30 AM on December 6, 2007

It is basically impossible to go wrong with any book written by John McPhee. The most recent collection, Uncommon Carriers, is an excellent example of his work, dealing with the circumstances of transportation in the U.S., mostly.
posted by cgc373 at 3:42 AM on December 6, 2007

Ira Glass (of NPR's This American Life) recently edited a collection of the kind of stories you're seeking called The New Kings of Nonfiction.
posted by awesomebrad at 3:55 AM on December 6, 2007

I'm not sure if it fits your criteria, but I'm currently reading The utility of force and enjoying it.
posted by Harald74 at 4:51 AM on December 6, 2007

You don't define how recent, recent history is, but if it stretches as far back as WWII Saul Friedlander's The Years Of Extermination: Nazi Germany And the Jews 1939-1945 fits the bill.
posted by tallus at 5:12 AM on December 6, 2007

Seconding Omnivore's Dilemma, which is initially aggravatingly US-centric, but ultimately excellent.

Letters to a christian nation fits the bill as far as enjoyable religious polemics goes.
posted by roofus at 5:38 AM on December 6, 2007

I currently reading Andrew Marr's a History Of Modern Britain, (ie from the end of WWII to now) it's based on a television series but goes into it's subject in much more depth than I've previously been exposed and has plenty of genuine surprises. Covers political, economic, cultural and social history.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 5:42 AM on December 6, 2007

A Peace to end all Peace is a phenominal book about the events that shaped the modern Middle East. It was published in 2001, so it might be a little older than you're looking for, but it's a very interesting read.
posted by Pecinpah at 5:48 AM on December 6, 2007

Oh, and it eventually gets to recent history, which is why I've suggested it...
posted by Pecinpah at 5:49 AM on December 6, 2007

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. It won the 2007 National Book Award for Nonfiction. Superb book.
posted by cog_nate at 6:46 AM on December 6, 2007

(Link to the book at amazon.co.uk.)
posted by cog_nate at 6:47 AM on December 6, 2007

I really liked Jimmy Carter's Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, but not everyone agrees with me.
posted by waraw at 6:52 AM on December 6, 2007

A People's History of The United States fits the bill, the most recent edition was published in 2005. It's a classic - I just finished reading it and was totally blown away.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 7:27 AM on December 6, 2007

Prisoner of Trebekistan
posted by Zed_Lopez at 7:41 AM on December 6, 2007

The great Influenza. About the 1918 pandemic, but also about the state of world medicine at the time.
posted by Gungho at 8:18 AM on December 6, 2007

Robert A. Caro:

The Years of Lyndon Johnson
The Power Broker

Both classics. Complex, intriguing and, for lack of a better word: umami.
posted by NekulturnY at 8:46 AM on December 6, 2007

Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken is a great book (though it was published in 2000. Sorry.)
posted by lunit at 8:47 AM on December 6, 2007

I second Zinn's "People's History". Not for the easily depressed. The people you thought were pretty ok guys were not pretty ok guys.
posted by tylermoody at 10:14 AM on December 6, 2007

Thirding Zinn. Also, more happiness: "Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People: The Dynamics of Torture".
posted by lalochezia at 10:39 AM on December 6, 2007

I'm "enjoying" The Fall of Baghdad by Jon Lee Anderson. Interesting first person history. I'm half way through and only at the onset of the bombing campaign.
posted by bephillips at 11:57 AM on December 6, 2007

I'm about a third of the way through Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture by Jon Savage, and it's been quite interesting so far. He limits the scope to 1875-1945, which is not the era I think of when the term teen is thrown around, but hey, that's the whole point.
posted by Paid In Full at 1:56 PM on December 6, 2007