General Book Discussions & More > Non-Fiction
Non-Fiction
jepl42:
Here is a real cold weather book:
"Ordeal by Hunger; the Story of the Donner Party"
It's not a terribly well written book but the story is compelling. These poor people did everything wrong you could think of and paid dearly for it. My sister and brother in law lived in Truckee, near Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and of course the story was big there. Now, near where these poor souls were starving to death are fancy ski resorts. There is a large statue in their memory built to the height of the snow in that terrible winter which was well over 20 feet.
BarbStAubrey:
oh my - that was a story wasn't it - at least we never got that cold or without food - the sacrifices of those who settle this nation are extraordinary aren't they
jepl42:
Where are you all? I miss your recommendations and comments.
jepl42:
One of my latest reads was, "Conquistador; Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs" by Buddy Levy. It was very interesting and I learned a lot but they were quite a despicable lot overall. It was certainly hard to root for anyone in this mess but I guess Cortes would get the most despicable prize (Although human sacrifice was the Aztecs' horrible contribution to the list of awfuls.) In spite of all this it seemed worthwhile to learn more about this and I would recommend it if you have the stomach for the realities it lays out.
Frybabe:
Hi jepl42. We've been mostly hanging out in the Library discussion or the Books and Books into Movies discussion lately.
I haven't gotten very interested in Central and South American history yet. My focus is mostly on Roman history, the time period and areas included in what is known as The Great Game era, and the rise and spread of the Central Asians (think Kublai and Genghis Khan, and the Huns), and very early Chinese history and tales.
My most recent non-fiction reads were The Crusades by Thomas Asbridge and Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford. Currently I am reading Gladius by Guy de la Bodoyere.
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