Educational Books

[Curious79]

Hiya. I read all of the time but mainly trash. I have decided to expand my mind and read more informative and interesting books as my genereal knowledge is embarassingly bad. I am currently reading the Da Vince Code which I love. can you recommend any other good books that are interesting as well as educational - Fact or Fiction? thanks

[BigMac]

I'm really not sure you could say TDC is eductional...

Try Enigma by Robert Harris or Longitude by Davina Sobel (check spelling)

[Drusilla]

My favourite book is 'To Kill A Mockingbird' by Harper Lee. It's written from the point of view of a young girl in the southern states of the USA in the 1930's and traces the story of her father defending a black man who has been accused of raping a white girl.
It's both funny and moving and gives a wonderful insight into the issue of race relations in the Deep South.

[andy-hughes]

I think you will gain a much broader education much quicker if you simply read as many daily and Sunday papers as you can. You will get a good spread of news and comment, culture, and science, and be able to see how differences in culture and attitudes inform the writers and editors. Your library should have most of them, and will probably order in the ones they don;t carry, so educate yourself there as often as possible.

[dotjhawkes]

Of for a more comprehensive overview and to let you catch up on what you have missed, try: The History of The World in 10 and a half weeks by Iain Banks

[Rubberduckie]

Try Pompeii by Robert Harris. It's sort of ancient history made into fiction with a big dose of information about volcanoes thrown in ( but not as slap-dash as I make it sound!). We read it with our book group and there was hardly a bad word about the novel.

[Litchick]

How about some classics? The Iliad, The Odyssey and The Divine Comedy are among my favourites! Happy Reading! :)

[vehelpfulguy]

Try reading Bill Bryson. I did not read him for years because I thought he was just a travel writer.

But what he actually does is go and visit places and write VERY FUNNY books about what happened there.

He is american but has lived in the UK for years and has a very English style of writing (lots of irony and sarcasm).

He has written one non-travel book called "A Short History of Nearly Everything" where he tries to write the complete history of the earth, our solar system and the universe in one book.

It sounds heavy but is not, partly because he admits he had to learn it all before writing the book, and also because of his light writing style.

This is a book you will enjoy reading AND you will learn something.

Here is his web site

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/billbryson/flat/home.php

[vehelpfulguy]

Can I say one more thing about Bill Bryson.

I think he has an ambition to make you laugh at least 3 times on each page. Sometimes you laugh at every sentence.

If you do not believe me go to WH Smiths and look for the Bill Bryson books (probably travel section) pick up any one at random and open any page and start reading.

I gaurantee you will laugh within the first few sentences.

He had made me laugh out loud many times.

[CNB]

If you want to read more informative and interesting books to help increase your general knowledge then I would suggest you look no further than, "The Cronicle of the "20th Century." With 1500 pages your'e not going to read it in a few sessions, but as a reference and educational guide to browse through as and when you want, you'll find it to be more than useful. Not sure if it is still available in W.H. Smiths or Waterstones, but I'm sure if you ask, they will be able to help.

[Kingaroo]

If you aren't ready for classics and non-fiction, I suggest looking for historical novels. Not historical romance with damsels in ballgowns fleeing moonlit castles on the cover, but books like James Michener wrote. Pompeii, suggested earlier, sounds like it's in the same vein. Michener writes Sprawling Epics that cover a broad period of history in one part of the world. You get wrapped up in the characters and their dramas, hardly noticing how much history and culture you're learning. Michener wrote The Source about the middle east, Chesapeake about a part of the US east coast, Hawaii, and many more. They are all loooong books -- It's amazing how many pages he produced in his lifetime! Leon Uris wrote some of these historical epics too: Trinity about Ireland and Exodus about the middle east. They are all good gripping reads, especially if you are a fast enough reader that you don't forget the characters from one sitting to the next...There are a lot of people to keep track of in these books.

[spudqueen]

I learnt a lot of my history through reading Jean Plaidy novels, they are historical romances and light reading. Obviously she has made up conversations etc, but the more I learn about the eras she wrote about (Tudors especially) the more I realise how much she researched her books, so much of what she wrote is what really happened, but written in the style of a novel so it's not so obvious that you are learning!

[maxi29]

I think Dot means "History of the World in 10 and a half chapters" and it's by Julian Barnes not Iain Banks.

There have been some excellent suggestions on the list. I'd add a couple of historical writers: Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey novels and George McDonald Fraser's Flashman books. Both series are extensively researched and I learned lots about 19th century histoty from them (particularly Fraser's). They're also cracking good reads.

[Hgrove]

Please don't laugh, I recommend this book: Love, Sex and Tragedy, by Simon Goldhill. It is non fiction and discusses lots of issues like morals, government, democracy, religion etc. But easy to read.

[theo_wyvern]

all robert harris books provide useful historical information that you might not have been aware of.

however as with the da vinci code do not take everything as true !

[La Diva]

Any book by Edward Rutherford makes easy, interesting and educational reading. My favourite is "London, The Novel" - each chapter is set in a different age in expanding London, with characters who have no idea of their ancesters. Truly excellent, as is Sarum based around Salisbury and Stonehenge.

Bill Bryson is my second favourite - really funny (for an American!!)