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 Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: GG Riva  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 16:46

I must admit starting this thread to plug the best work of non-fiction I've ever read and I'm currently re-reading. It's "Bloody Foreigners " by Robert Winder, subtitled "The Story of Immigration to Britain ", a truly wonderful book, full of humorous and poignant stories. For every wave of immigrants who arrived, a recurring theme occurred. They were viewed with suspicion and mistrust and in some cases, had to endure verbal abuse and insults and even physical violence, but eventually they blended into their communities and often made important contributions to British society. A truly uplifting book, which I thoroughly recommend.

Both my grandkids will be a school after the summer, so I hope to be able to read more, especially over the winter months so if you can recommend a good book - preferably a factual one - it would be much appreciated.



Not your average Sunday League player.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: General Zod  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 16:51

Mein Kampf.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: PARrot  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 16:51

The Bible.

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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: istvan kozma  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 16:53

Harry Potter

KOZMA


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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: moviescot  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 17:16

Sapiens - A brief history of humankind.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: widtink  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 17:26

The Broons annual 1979
How we laughed when the bairn misheard grandpa.... Again. 😂

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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Mr Mac  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 17:35

Joe Saward, Grand Prix Saboteurs - the story of several early GP drivers and their contribution to espionage.

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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: average white par  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 18:00

All of Spike Milligan's WW2 memoirs... funny and poignant, and highly recommended...

ETA "Notes from a small island" by Bill Bryson... all of Bryson's stuff is superb actually...



Post Edited (Tue 24 Jul 18:34)
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: The One Who Knocks  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 18:39

Anthony Beevor has written some amazing books regarding The Second World War's pivotal moments. Stalingrad, Normandy and The Ardrennes (Battle of the Bulge) all get the treatment. As does the Fall of Berlin which I haven't read. Not ready to read about the horrors of that battle yet.

And although my eyes were open
They just might as well be closed
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: The One Who Knocks  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 18:45

Anthony Beevor has written some amazing books regarding The Second World War's pivotal moments. Stalingrad, Normandy and The Ardrennes (Battle of the Bulge) all get the treatment. As does the Fall of Berlin which I haven't read. Not ready to read about the horrors of that battle yet.

And although my eyes were open
They just might as well be closed
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: calpar  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 18:45

Escort 1978-82, found in an old suitcase doon the glen
I prefer graphic novels
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: londonparsfan  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 18:52

Was that the mkii vs XR3i special?
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Rastapari  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 19:34

Define factual?

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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: widtink  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 19:40

Quote:

londonparsfan, Tue 24 Jul 18:52

Was that the mkii vs XR3i special?


Can't be... The XR3i didn't appear til 1983.
Sort yersel oot min. 😂

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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: londonparsfan  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 20:04

I knew something like that would happen 🤣

Post Edited (Tue 24 Jul 20:04)
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Bandy  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 20:18

I pretty much only read non-fiction - can’t narrow it down to one but my top 3 are probably;

Fermats last theorem - Simon Singh
The music of the primes - Marcus Du Sautoy
Moneyball - Michael Lewis
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Malcolm Canmore  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 20:41

Dispatches by Michael Herr. Probably the only non-fiction book I’ve read more than once.

My dog eats meat
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: kelty_par  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 20:45

Can only echo TOWK above, Anthony Beevor's WWII histories are sensational. Stephen Ambrose also wrote a few, the most famous of which was Band of Brothers, but Beevor goes into incredible detail and his research is top notch.

There are a few sport ones I like, with Ed Smith's Playing Hardball about the similarities and differences between cricket and baseball bring a good read. The likes of Tor! (Germany), Futebol (Brazil) and Brilliant Orange (The Netherlands) explain how football developed in those countries and are all very good.

I also like travelling so some of Marcel Theroux's stuff and of course the Michael Palin books about his adventures (and his diaries, which are incredibly detailed and give a great insight into Monty Python, A Fish Called Wanda and then his travelling adventures).

I really want to read Game Change and Double Down, the two books about the US Elections in 2008 and 2012 but I've not got them yet - the two authors are (were) the hosts of Sky Atlantic and Showtime's the Circus .

In terms of coffee table type books, The Cold War by Jermey Isaacs is am excellent accompaniment to the TV Series of the same name.

I've rambled on for a while, I apologise. To answer the bloody question as some might say, there can be only one answer. It's probably my favourite book ever, fiction or factual. The Miracle of Castel di Sangro. If you've read it, you'll understand. If you haven't, get on Amazon and get yourself a copy.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: AdamAntsParsStripe  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 20:55

Stalingrad most probably.

There can't be anyone who questions Russian soldiers in WW2 after reading this.
Forget Stalin, forget Hitler, these guys and Germans went through utter hell.

Zwei Pints Bier und ein Päckchen Chips bitte
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: red-star-par  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 21:54

I second Kelty Pars recommendation- that is an exceptional read
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Raymie the Legend  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 22:22

I've just ordered the book, Kelty Par. No doubt Mr Riva will be looking to borrow it?




It`s bloody tough being a legend
Ron Atkinson - 1983
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: back oh the net  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 22:44

The sound and the fury by Neil Randon its a book about briSCA formula 1 stockcars it features chapters from the sports top drivers from the 90s and shock and roar also by Neil Randon and also about briSCA formula 1 stockcars this one however is a more modern take on the sport


sure it won’t be of interest to many people on here but this is a sport that is trying in so many ways to get back to the levels witnessed back in the 70s and 80s where is was covered the length and breadth of the country on world of sport which some of the older posters on this forum will remember

Come on ye pars ⚽️
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Bandy  
Date:   Tue 24 Jul 23:31

The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro is a decent read right until the very end when it becomes a little pious for my liking. Personally, for an Italian football memoir I preferred ‘A season with Verona’.

Another great sporting book is ‘Penguins stopped play’. A laugh a minute with an unexpected twist to finish.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: sadindiefreak  
Date:   Wed 25 Jul 00:28

Quote:

PARrot, Tue 24 Jul 16:51

The Bible.


Ha ha. Factual he said.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: sadindiefreak  
Date:   Wed 25 Jul 00:32

As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela: Underground Adventures in the Arms and Torture Trade by Mark Thomas.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: GG741  
Date:   Wed 25 Jul 01:26

I found the following to be truly engaging:

"Scottish Enlightenment: The Scots' Invention of the Modern World"
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: parfection  
Date:   Wed 25 Jul 07:36

Goodness,this is a difficult question. I too have almost all of the Antony Beevor books - I can never quite say I enjoy them, but they are always gripping, and the fact that I’ve bought them all (including a couple of signed copies) would suggest that I think they’re well worth recommending.

I have a few football books that I’ve enjoyed too. My Father and Other Working Class Football Heroes by Gary Imlach is a very engaging book, as is The Ghost of White Hart Lane, the biography of John White. I also have a book about il grande Torino, the Turin side wiped out in a tragic air crash in 1949. They were the top side in Italy by a long way, and Italian football took a long time to recover from their sad demise. The club itself never did recover really although they did win the league once more in 1976. I still look for their results because the book moved me when I read it.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: thenatural  
Date:   Wed 25 Jul 08:20

Memphis 68: the tragedy of southern soul by Stuart Cosgrove (yes, that one) is a mighty piece of work about Stax records in the aftermath of Otis Redding’s death and in the context of appalling inequality, Vietnam and Martin Luther King Jr’s murder. Maybe not the best non-fiction I’ve ever read but definitely best I’ve read this year.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: kelty_par  
Date:   Wed 25 Jul 08:30

Bandy, A Season With Verona is very good too, although I find Tim Parks a little hard to read sometimes. He did do an excellent book about the Italian Railways which was easy to read though.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Raymie the Legend  
Date:   Wed 25 Jul 08:54

"I also have a book about il grande Torino, the Turin side wiped out in a tragic air crash in 1949. They were the top side in Italy by a long way, and Italian football took a long time to recover from their sad demise. The club itself never did recover really although they did win the league once more in 1976. I still look for their results because the book moved me when I read it. "

Next on my list. That was the Superga air disaster. The Torino side of that time was practically the National team as well. Valentino Mazzola was their star player. His son, Sandro, went on to play for Inter and Italy. I'm pretty sure he played against Celtic in 1967?




It`s bloody tough being a legend
Ron Atkinson - 1983
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Bandy  
Date:   Wed 25 Jul 08:54

Yeah - Parks does sometimes likes to show off his intelligence, which gets annoying occasionally.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Secret Garden  
Date:   Wed 25 Jul 09:37

Reading a factual book called ‘A Season With Verona” at the moment, will be right up your street GG.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: parfection  
Date:   Wed 25 Jul 09:49

You’re spot on Raymie. Sandro (the son of the great Valentino) scored the pen against Celtic in 1967. Both father and son were towering figures in the history of Italian football. In the book I have there’s a poignant picture of the two of them together - Sandro was a very young boy when he lost his dad at Superga. A sad, but fascinating book.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: GG Riva  
Date:   Wed 25 Jul 13:08

I like the way this thread is developing. Thanks for all the recommendations so far - keep them coming. I've read both "The Miracle of Castel di Sangro" and "A Season With Verona", both excellent, well told stories. Have also read John White's biography and a number of Bill Bryson's books - I particularly enjoyed "The History of almost Everything. "

No one on this thread so far appears to have read "Bloody Foreigners". Do yourself a favour and get a copy. If you're too stingy to shell out £8 Carnegie Public Library has it. ☺



Not your average Sunday League player.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Mr Mac  
Date:   Wed 25 Jul 13:36

Engineering Archive, about Archibald Leitch who designed some of the iconic stadia in the UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Engineering-Archie-Archibald-Football-Designer/dp/1850749183



Post Edited (Wed 25 Jul 13:36)
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Mr Mac  
Date:   Wed 25 Jul 13:38

If you have an interest in motorsports Alex Zanardi's autobiography is excellent



Post Edited (Wed 25 Jul 13:38)
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: DBP  
Date:   Fri 27 Jul 08:13

quite a recent one, prisoners of geography

"All leaders are constrained by geography. Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Yes, to follow world events you need to understand people, ideas and movements - but if you don't know geography, you'll never have the full picture.

If you've ever wondered why Putin is so obsessed with Crimea, why the USA was destined to become a global superpower, or why China's power base continues to expand ever outwards, the answers are all here."


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Prisoners-Geography-Everything-Global-Politics/dp/1783962437/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532675695&sr=8-1&keywords=prisoners+of+geography
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: OzPar  
Date:   Fri 27 Jul 13:22

In the days before Google, my annual treat to myself was the Pears Cyclopaedia, which in a relatively small and compact volume contained almost all the key references anyone could wish for. Whether it be historical information, economic events, the population of a country or a city, the definition of a term or simply who won the Scottish League Cup in 1948... it was all there.

It is still in print, though I doubt that it sells many copies these days. As the years have gone by and the publishers have tried to cram more information into the same space, the type size has got smaller; so much so, that I would struggle to read it these days.

Still, it certainly qualifies as the best factual book I have ever read.

EDITED TO ADD:

I have just discovered that the Pears Cyclopaedia is to be no more. Its final edition was published this year.

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/906521/Pears-Cyclopaedia-final-edition-NEIL-CLARK-looks-at-history

I am saddened to learn this, but I guess things move on. Nonetheless, the book in its various editions has been a good companion since my teenage years and it represented a very important part of my education.



Post Edited (Fri 27 Jul 14:54)
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: helensburghpar  
Date:   Fri 27 Jul 17:39

The road to Wigan pier by George Orwell. Despite his priveliged upbringing he had a real empathy with the poor people.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Parsman1967  
Date:   Sat 28 Jul 12:32

The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright is a great read about how Al-Qaeda came about and the build up to 9/11.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Dalgety_Par  
Date:   Sun 29 Jul 04:15

The Iceman. Story about Mafia hitman Richard Kuklinski. Fascinating stuff

It's common knowledge that Lionel Messi kept a photo of Hamish French by his bedside as inspiration every morning!
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: parsmad68  
Date:   Mon 30 Jul 07:43

I read riding rockets last year. The book is about an astronaut in the Shuttle space program that discusses the trials and tribulations of becoming an astronaut. Very personal story and very light hearted considering some of the painful moments in this period of space.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Paristotle  
Date:   Tue 31 Jul 23:20

And what's the problem?
It's only non-factual to the extent you don't recognise the literary genre of each book. I.e., if you recognise poetry as poetry, and historical narrative as historical narrative (etc.) within the individual books of the Bible, it's factual as far as it goes.
Which fact is it you're refuting, bearing in mind the previous stipulations?
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Paristotle  
Date:   Tue 31 Jul 23:20

P.S. asking for a mate
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: sadindiefreak  
Date:   Wed 1 Aug 14:41

Quote:

Paristotle, Tue 31 Jul 23:20

And what's the problem?
It's only non-factual to the extent you don't recognise the literary genre of each book. I.e., if you recognise poetry as poetry, and historical narrative as historical narrative (etc.) within the individual books of the Bible, it's factual as far as it goes.
Which fact is it you're refuting, bearing in mind the previous stipulations?


It's not factual historically though. That is one of the major problems. Actual historical figures and events that are in the bible do not match the timeline given in the bible.
One example is that we know the census of Quirinius happened. This was in 6AD. Herod the Great who features in the biblical account died in 4BC a full 10 years before the census.
So they don't have the facts right about actual history, yet we are meant to believe the know the actual words spoken by Jesus.
To me if one part is shown to be inaccurate how can the rest be held up as a reliable source?
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: richie5401  
Date:   Wed 1 Aug 16:35

https://answersingenesis.org/jesus-christ/birth/popular-conservative-journalist-attacks-genesis-and-jesus-birth/
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: sadindiefreak  
Date:   Wed 1 Aug 18:15

Quote:

richie5401, Wed 1 Aug 16:35

https://answersingenesis.org/jesus-christ/birth/popular-conservative-journalist-attacks-genesis-and-jesus-birth/


Really. Answersingenesis. Ha ha ha.
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: average white par  
Date:   Wed 1 Aug 18:39

^^ How to kill an interesting and informative thread stone dead... you two need to get a room...

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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: TAFKA_Super_Petrie  
Date:   Wed 1 Aug 18:48

Quote:

Dalgety_Par, Sun 29 Jul 04:15

The Iceman. Story about Mafia hitman Richard Kuklinski. Fascinating stuff



Have you watched the 2 feature interviews he gave from inside jail? Chilling but fascinating, he just has ao little emotion. Not a single fvck given

---------------------------------------------------------------


"People always talk about Ronaldinho and magic, but I didn't see him today. I saw Henrik Larsson; that's where the magic was."
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 Re: Best Factual Book You've Ever Read
Topic Originator: Dalgety_Par  
Date:   Wed 1 Aug 19:04

Quote:

TAFKA_Super_Petrie, Wed 1 Aug 18:48

Quote:

Dalgety_Par, Sun 29 Jul 04:15

The Iceman. Story about Mafia hitman Richard Kuklinski. Fascinating stuff



Have you watched the 2 feature interviews he gave from inside jail? Chilling but fascinating, he just has ao little emotion. Not a single fvck given


Aye, those interviews are utterly fascinating. Hate the fact i felt intrigued by him, but couldn't help it.

It's common knowledge that Lionel Messi kept a photo of Hamish French by his bedside as inspiration every morning!
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