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Recommendations based on October 1964by David Halberstam
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
Ball Four
by Jim Bouton
A candid account of the life of a professional baseball player, exposing the realities of the sport.
Twentieth-anniversary edition of a baseball classic, with a new epilogue by Jim Bouton. When first published in 1970, Ball Four stunned the sports world. The commissioner, executives, and players ... (Goodreads)
The Best and the Brightest
by David Halberstam
A detailed account of the decision-making process that led to the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War.
The Best and the Brightest is David Halberstam's masterpiece, the defining history of the making of the Vietnam tragedy. Using portraits of America's flawed policy makers and accounts of the forces ... (Goodreads)
1776
by David McCullough
A riveting account of the events leading up to and during the American Revolution.
In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence - when the whole American ... (Goodreads)
The Breaks of the Game
by David Halberstam
An in-depth look at the 1979-1980 season of the Portland Trail Blazers, exploring the highs and lows of professional basketball.
"Among the best books ever written on professional basketball." The Philadelphia Inquirer David Halberstam, best-selling author of THE FIFTIES and THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST, turns his keen ... (Goodreads)
All the President's Men
by Carl Bernstein
Investigative journalism that uncovered the Watergate scandal and its aftermath.
The full account of the Watergate scandal from the two Washington Post reporters who broke the story. This is “the work that brought down a presidency— perhaps the most influential piece of ... (Goodreads)
The Boys of Summer
by Roger Kahn
Exploring the lives of a legendary baseball team and the lasting impact of their championship season.
This is a book about young men who learned to play baseball during the 1930s and 1940s, and then went on to play for one of the most exciting major-league ball clubs ever fielded, the team that broke ... (Goodreads)
Means of Ascent
by Robert A. Caro
An exploration of the ruthless ambition and cunning tactics of Lyndon B. Johnson's political career.
Robert A. Caro's life of Lyndon Johnson, which began with the greatly acclaimed The Path to Power, also winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, continues – one of the richest, most ... (Goodreads)
Lies & the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair & Balanced Look at the Right
by Al Franken
Satirical look at the right, exposing their lies and hypocrisies.
Al Franken, one of our savviest satirists ( People ), has been studying the rhetoric of the Right. He has listened to their cries of slander, bias, and even treason. He has examined the Bush ... (Goodreads)
Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series
by Eliot Asinof
An exploration of the 1919 World Series scandal, in which players were paid to throw the game.
In 1919, the Chicago White Sox are considered among the greatest baseball teams ever assembled; however, the team's stingy owner, Charles Comiskey , gives little inclination to reward his players for ... (Wikipedia)
Liar's Poker
by Michael Lewis
A Wall Street insider's look at the culture of high finance and the dynamics of the markets.
The time was the 1980s. The place was Wall Street. The game was called Liar’s Poker. Michael Lewis was fresh out of Princeton and the London School of Economics when he landed a job at Salomon ... (Goodreads)
Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War
by Nathaniel Philbrick
Journey of the Pilgrims from England to America, exploring their struggles and successes.
HOW DID AMERICA BEGIN? This simple question launches acclaimed author Nathaniel Philbrick on an extraordinary journey to understand the truth behind our most sacred national myth: the voyage of the ... (Goodreads)
The Path to Power
by Robert A. Caro
The first volume of a biography of Lyndon B. Johnson, tracing his early life and political career in Texas.
The Years of Lyndon Johnson is the political biography of our time. No president—no era of American politics—has been so intensively and sharply examined at a time when so many prime witnesses to ... (Goodreads)
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
by J.D. Vance
An exploration of the struggles of working-class Americans, and the power of family and culture to shape one's life.
Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for ... (Goodreads)
Washington: A Life
by Ron Chernow
Intimate biography of George Washington, the nation's first president.
A gripping portrait of the first president of the United States from the author of, Alexander Hamilton, the New York Times bestselling biography that inspired the musical., Celebrated biographer Ron ... (Barnes & Noble)
Master of the Senate
by Robert A. Caro
Detailed account of Lyndon Johnson's tenure as the leader of the US Senate, and his rise to power.
The most riveting political biography of our time, Robert A. Caro’s life of Lyndon B. Johnson, continues. Master of the Senate takes Johnson’s story through one of its most remarkable periods: his ... (Goodreads)
An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
by Robert Dallek
A comprehensive biography of John F. Kennedy, exploring his personal and political life, and his legacy as a president.
Drawing on previously unavailable material and never-before-opened archives,, An Unfinished Life, is packed with revelations large and small – about JFK's health, his love affairs, RFK's appointment ... (Goodreads)
Truman
by David McCullough
A biographical account of Harry S. Truman's rise to the Presidency and his impact on American history.
The book provides a biography of Harry Truman in chronological fashion from his birth to his rise to U.S. Senator , Vice President , and President . It follows his activities until death, exploring ... (Wikipedia)
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
by Candice Millard
The riveting story of the assassination of President Garfield, a tragedy of medical science and mistake.
James A. Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, and a renowned and admired ... (Goodreads)
Our Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News Source
by Scott Dikkers
A humorous collection of fake news headlines poking fun at the events of the past century.
The Onion has quickly become the world's most popular humor publication, misinforming half a million readers a week with one-of-a-kind social satire both in print (on newsstands nationwide) and ... (Goodreads)
All Souls: A Family Story from Southie
by Michael Patrick MacDonald
A memoir of growing up in a poverty-stricken Irish-American neighborhood in Boston.
Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up in "the best place in the world"–the Irish-American Old Colony projects of South Boston--where 85% of the residents collect welfare in an area with the highest ... (Goodreads)
The Right Stuff
by Tom Wolfe
The heroic story of the first American astronauts, and their incredible feats of courage.
Tom Wolfe began The Right Stuff at a time when it was unfashionable to contemplate American heroism. Nixon had left the White House in disgrace, the nation was reeling from the catastrophe of ... (Goodreads)
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
by Jeffrey Toobin
An exploration of the inner workings of the U.S. Supreme Court and its justices.
In The Nine, acclaimed journalist Jeffrey Toobin takes us into the chambers of the most important—and secret—legal body in our country, the Supreme Court, revealing the complex dynamic among the nine ... (Goodreads)
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
by Anthony Bourdain
A humorous and unflinching account of life in restaurant kitchens, exploring the culture and camaraderie of the culinary world.
A deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet of wild-but-true tales of life in the culinary trade from Chef Anthony Bourdain, laying out his more than a quarter-century of drugs, sex, and haute ... (Goodreads)
Soccernomics
by Simon Kuper
A data-driven analysis of soccer, exploring the economics and psychology behind the world's most popular sport.
Why do England lose? Why does Scotland suck? Why doesn’t America dominate the sport internationally... and why do the Germans play with such an efficient but robotic style? These are questions every ... (Goodreads)
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany
by William L. Shirer
The definitive story of Nazi Germany, its rise and fall, and its lasting impacts.
Hitler boasted that The Third Reich would last a thousand years. It lasted only 12. But those 12 years contained some of the most catastrophic events Western civilization has ever known. No other ... (Goodreads)
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
A comprehensive study of the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, and the unique cabinet he assembled.
Winner of the Lincoln Prize Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from ... (Goodreads)
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
by Erik Larson
A family's struggle to cope with the darkness of Nazi Germany, as seen through one man's courage.
The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history. A mild-mannered professor from ... (Goodreads)
Washington's Crossing
by David Hackett Fischer
A detailed account of George Washington's daring crossing of the Delaware River during the American Revolution, and its impact on the war.
Six months after the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution was all but lost. A powerful British force had routed the Americans at New York, occupied three colonies, and advanced within ... (Goodreads)
Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions
by Ben Mezrich
An inside account of a group of college students who won millions in Las Vegas casinos.
An exclusive blackjack club came up with a system to take the worldUs most sophisticated casinos for all they were worth. In two years, this ring of card savants earned more than three million ... (Goodreads)
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
by Daniel James Brown
An inspiring story of a rowing crew battling against the odds to win gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
This novel is about the University of Washington eight-oared crew that represented the United States in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, and narrowly beat out Italy and Germany to win the gold medal. The ... (Wikipedia)
