Category: non-fiction
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China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower by Frank Dikotter gives us a step-by-step account of what happened to China after the death of Mao Zedong and, more crucially, how it is becoming the world’s leading superpower despite its never-ending clutches to communism rather than yielding to capitalism. I’m no stranger to the author,…
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Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins goes over, well, the confessions of a hit man. However, not the hit man that most are likely to envision first when they hear of that term. Yes, a hit man has a goal of taking out a selected target, usually via stealth with James Bond…
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The Hot Zone by Richard Preston goes into an account of how the Ebola virus was first discovered around the late 1960s as well as how it infiltrated the United States. While many may be too young to remember the Ebola scare at that time, the resurfacing of the Ebola Zaire strain in 2014–2016 in…
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Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe chronicles Ireland’s brutal campaign for unification that lasted three decades and is likely still felt by its people today. The conflict, dubbed The Troubles, pitted Southern Ireland, which was predominantly Protestant and aligned itself with Britain, against Northern Ireland,…
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Hannibal: Rome’s Greatest Enemy by Philip Freeman is a quick and informative read on how ancient Rome was almost toppled by an African general against all odds. If you’ve read ancient civilization, especially on the Romans, you’ve likely heard the phrase “Carthage must be destroyed!”. The man who started it all was none other than…
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The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch goes over an elaborate plot that if succeeded, likely would have changed the entire outcome and future of World War II. This is a great read, however, fair warning must be given. For many readers whom are…
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Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia focuses on four personal stories whose lives were affected by the liberation of Mao Zedong’s Red Army in Shanghai and other regions of China from around the 1930s to 1960s. The four stories selected gives us a broad range of perspective in that each story and life…
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Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson details one of the worst hurricane disasters in America’s history. Focusing on one man but telling the story through the lens of multiple other families and lives, it goes over a brutal hurricane that swept over the Galveston area of Texas. It was a truly sad and frightening retelling. Living…
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The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann goes over one of Britain history’s most brutal and ever forgotten shipwreck disaster during wartime. Having occurred in the mid 1700s, the author scours logbooks and journals that have been preserved through the times to brilliantly weave together a story that will scare…
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Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo gives a horrifying look inside one of Mumbai India’s most poverty-stricken slums. Prepare yourselves for sadness, anger, grief, helplessness, and a bit of joy, but not in the way you’d expect. Published in 2014, the events that take place occurs between 2007 through 2011. In a time when…
The Mindless Catalog 