761,492 ratings — 37,835 ratings — And here is the book that, for more than forty years, has been teaching Americans how. This book, John Hersey's journalistic masterpiece, tells what happened on that day. Welcome back. A Moveable Feast brilliantly evokes the exuberant mood of Paris after World War I and the unbridled creativity and unquenchable enthusiasm that Hemingway himself epitomized. Out of the forty-five original passengers and crew, only sixteen made it off the mountain alive. Millions of words have poured forth about man's trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of the adventure. published 1997, avg rating 4.08 — A first-hand account one of the defining outrages of modern history, an unforgettable anatomy of Rwanda's decimation. published 2003, avg rating 4.15 — 99,377 ratings — Historians and reviewers worldwide have hailed Antony Beevor's magisterial Stalingrad as the definitive account of World War II's most harrowing battle. published 2019, avg rating 3.91 — Oliver Sacks recounts the stories of patients lost in the bizarre, apparently inescapable world of neurological disorders. Simone de Beauvoir's essential masterwork is a powerful analysis of the Western notion of "woman", and a revolutionary exploration of inequality and otherness. url = "http://www.abebooks.com/books/50-essential-non-fiction-books/index.shtml"; 108,630 ratings — published 2010, avg rating 4.42 — A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. 48,937 ratings — 58,022 ratings — No pads, no prayers, no prisoners. avg rating 3.99 — published 2017, avg rating 4.07 — published 1947, avg rating 4.37 — 126,026 ratings — 12,961 ratings — In this book, the author of Seven Gothic Tales gives a true account of her life on her plantation in Kenya. From one of America's iconic writers, a portrait of a marriage and a life - in good times and bad - that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child. published 1992, avg rating 4.35 — published 2010, avg rating 4.10 — In the searing pages of this classic autobiography, originally published in 1964, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and anti-integrationist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement. Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. 582,939 ratings — 80,612 ratings — 143,758 ratings — published 2017, avg rating 4.15 — You may not completely agree with our recommendations, there are surely key titles missing, so please share your recommendations for essential non-fiction books everyone should read. published 1997, avg rating 4.07 — 22,091 ratings — 124,704 ratings — 964,736 ratings — 189,396 ratings — published 1995, avg rating 4.23 — published 2016, avg rating 4.03 — Michael Pollan confronted us with this seemingly simple question and, with The Omnivore's Dilemma, his brilliant and eye-opening exploration of our food choices, demonstrated that how we answer it today may determine not only our health but our survival as a species. 219,803 ratings — }()); Similiar to our list of 100 (Fiction) Books to Read in a Lifetime, this list of 50 non-fiction books contains recommendations you might actually read (if you haven't already). published 2011, avg rating 3.74 — "Anyone can cook in the French manner anywhere," wrote Mesdames Beck, Bertholle, and Child, "with the right instruction." The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed … published 1970, avg rating 4.21 — 58,655 ratings — published 1999, avg rating 4.28 — published 2008, avg rating 4.07 — 94,798 ratings — 964,736 ratings — published 2016, avg rating 3.84 — isResponsive = true; Nor do they include those featured in Science explained in 10 excellent popular books (plus dozens of others) or the Great biographies I’ve reviewed: my 10 favorites. These stories are well researched, thought provoking, and are just as riveting as fiction. The harrowing tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton's 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole, one of the greatest adventure stories of the modern age.