Non-fiction human endeavour recommendations please
Discussion
tertius said:
Flip Martian said:
A couple of War memoirs I would really recommend are Heinz Knoke's "I Flew for the Fuhrer".
That is a great suggestion - read that years ago and really enjoyed it. Fascinating story.More about enduring the horrors of Nazi Germany than an accident or ship wreck, but Defying Hitler by Sebastian Haffner is a good one. A mostly very personal account of the rise of the Nazis. I've read Primo Levi's account of surviving Auschwitz, and while Defying Hitler can't come close for the sheer physical horror of it, the inner struggles and the social changes it describes are something I found in a way even more chilling. Not that comparing the two really makes any sense at all.
Someone told me The Long Walk wasn't true when I was about halfway through it and I was annoyed with them. Haha. It's a great story, but the idea of walking from Siberia to India with the equipment and rations they had was always a bit of a stretch.
Someone told me The Long Walk wasn't true when I was about halfway through it and I was annoyed with them. Haha. It's a great story, but the idea of walking from Siberia to India with the equipment and rations they had was always a bit of a stretch.
A few I can recommend
127 Hours by Aron Ralston
The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer (Story of the 1st ascent of Eiger North Face)
K2 The Story of the Savage Mountain by Jim Curran
Above all and as so many have mentioned are the incredible books on Shackleton's Endurance expedition. It's an incredible tale of human endeavour and shows those men were just hard as nails and smart to boot. Fantastic stuff.
127 Hours by Aron Ralston
The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer (Story of the 1st ascent of Eiger North Face)
K2 The Story of the Savage Mountain by Jim Curran
Above all and as so many have mentioned are the incredible books on Shackleton's Endurance expedition. It's an incredible tale of human endeavour and shows those men were just hard as nails and smart to boot. Fantastic stuff.
Operation Mayhem by Steve Heaney and Damien Leiws. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Operation-Mayhem-Steve-Heaney-MC/dp/1409148432
I am a bit biased as I know Steve, but setting that aside I thoroughly enjoyed it - you really feel like you are in the jungle with them as you read the story. I am about to start reading their next book.
I am a bit biased as I know Steve, but setting that aside I thoroughly enjoyed it - you really feel like you are in the jungle with them as you read the story. I am about to start reading their next book.
northwest monkey said:
"Endurance" by Albert Lansing - the story of Ernest Shackleton.
Definitely this and you may also like "South" which details the failed Shackleton expedition to attempt to cross the Antarctic and the subsequent 800 mile journey in an essentially open lifeboat through the wildest and most inhospitable seas in the world to South Georgia. This widely acknowledged as the finest piece of seamanship and navigation against all odds. Arriving in South Georgia Shackleton had to walk across an uncharted mountain range in severe winter conditions to contact the whaling station in order to mount a rescue mission for the rest of his expedition stranded on the Antarctic ice. This a great story and the photography is simply stunning.Flip Martian said:
tertius said:
Flip Martian said:
A couple of War memoirs I would really recommend are Heinz Knoke's "I Flew for the Fuhrer".
That is a great suggestion - read that years ago and really enjoyed it. Fascinating story.RizzoTheRat said:
You'd probably enjoy Geoffrey Wellum's "First Light" as well then. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Wellum
Yep, I have that and I did indeed. An excellent read. 
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