List of favorite non-fiction books - Stephen Baker

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List of favorite non-fiction books posted on December 18, 2008

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Here's a list of some of 10 of my favorite non-fiction books through the years. If you have others, please leave them in comments. (I might add some myself, as they occur to me.)

Path Between the Seas: David McCullough's story of the building of the Panama Canal. It's a great chapter about the apogee of American imperialism. Brilliant engineering, heroic medicine (to quell yellow fever and maleria), cynical diplomacy, and great stuff about the earlier French effort--in which tens of thousands of workers were literally digging their grave.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman: The story of American doctors struggling across the cultural divide to treat a Hmong child in California who has severe epilepsy. Fantastic reporting and writing about two cultures in the same town that, despite best intentions, can't understand each other.

Axel's Castle, by Edmond Wilson. Clear and provocative essays tracing the roots of modern literature, from the French symbolist poets of the 1870s to Proust and Joyce. If you've been on a multi-decade sabbatical from great literature, this book can rope you back in over the holidays.

Moneyball, by Michael Lewis. Baseball as defined and conquered by the Numerati, though Lewis didn't know at the time to call them that. Great narrative flow and analysis, and fun. But most of you already know that.

Supermoney, by "Adam Smith'. This book may be way out of date now. But when I read it in the early '80s, it brought together economics and oil for me in a fun and eye-opening way. I was covering oil and debt in Venezuela at the time, and all the pieces seemed to fall into place. Someone should write a similar book for today's mess.

The Conquest of New Spain, by Bernal Diaz del Castillo. A foot soldiers tale of Cortes' conquest of Mexico. Perhaps my favorite book on this list. The confrontation of two cultures like a masterpiece of science fiction. But his own perspective, a blend of medieval values and startling pragmatism, is what makes this book special. Plus he was a great writer.

The Adversary, by Emmanuel Carriere. The story of a Frenchman who lived a monstruous lie. It starts one day in medical school when he decides to roll over in bed instead of taking a final exam. And things unwind from there until he commits a horrible crime. Above all, it's the story of a lie, and it has special relevance now that we're learning about Bernie Madoff.

The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power by Daniel Yergin. The title says it all. It's a primer for modern history, right up to this day.

A Romance on Three Legs: Glenn Gould's Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano
by Katie Hafner. The story about the pianist Glenn Gould and his drive for perfection. It involves a piano tuner from the farmland of western Canada and a certain Steinway. It opened a new world to me.

The Gnosic Gospels, by Elaine Pagels. She shows how these gospels, discovered 60 years ago in Egypt, could have led Christianity down a different path--and the political tale of why they failed to. I'll never look at Christianity the same way again.

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@MichaelPizzo My pleasure. Another book u might like is Afterthought by James Bailey. Not new, but puts data in context of sci/math history

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