UKC

Any suggestions on non-climbing biographical type books? I like to read quite a bit over the Christmas break and have realised I better get some books or Kindle downloads ready. The last few years I've got through most of the climbing or mountaineering ones that are available. Also the various people involved with the physics and maths connected to the WW2 nuclear programme, and over in Palestine/ Israel, Sharon and a couple of Palestinian individuals who decided to convert to Christianity. So, i might stay clear of those areas. Has anyone read Alan Johnson's biography? It doesn't have to be political, but I'm not really into celebrity type stuff, or massive egos like Trump, just something that reads well and gives an insight into how different people view the world, or on how important events developed. Currently I'm reading about a chap who's lived rough on the streets of Paris for most of his life, and something more a bit out-of-the-ordinary, in the literary sense, like that would be good.

In reply to wurzelinzummerset:

You have probably read it, but "The Strangest Man" by Graham Farmelo is an excellent biography of Paul Dirac.

In reply to davidbeynon:

Thanks, but you're correct, I read it last Christmas, and very good, too.

In reply to wurzelinzummerset:

Churchill - Boris Johnson .

Fascinating .

Whilst on his charm offensive in the U.S. In 1941,trying to bring the Americans 'on board' ,Roosevelt arranged to have Winston seated next to notoriously outspoken lady of some importance.(don't recall her name)at a State Dinner.

Knowing of the rising strife in Colonial India ,in an attempt to embarrass Churchill ;she asks( and I quote loosely) "And what about these Indians?"

Quick as a flash ,Winston replies "Do you refer to the Indians who have multiplied and flourished under British Colonial rule?......

Or the Indians of North America ,whom I believe are now almost extinct?"

One nil Winston.

Or Game,Set and Match.

In reply to andymac:
*cough*bengal famine*cough*

Although in his defense that didn't happen until 1943. Who was PM then?

Which reminds me. "Late Victorian Holocausts" by Mike Davis is quite a good antidote to a lot of the colonial mythology.

In reply to wurzelinzummerset:

I enjoyed John Humphrey's devil's advocate

In reply to wurzelinzummerset:

Currently enjoying Woody Guthrie's biog 'Ramblin' Man'

In reply to wurzelinzummerset:

David Niven : The Moons a balloon, and Bring on the empty horses, for a fun good read these two books are worth a chance .

In reply to wurzelinzummerset:

"The Man Who Loved Only Numbers" by Paul Hoffman, about the mathematician Paul Erdos. Seriously and wonderfully weird, a man who makes Dirac seem completely normal. He never fathomed what to do with money, for example:

"After collecting his first month's salary [at University College, London] he was accosted by a beggar on Euston station, asking for the price of a cup of tea. Erdos removed a small amount from the pay packet to cover his own frugal needs and gave the remainder to the beggar."

Thanks for the replies. Some interesting things there to consider.

In reply to wurzelinzummerset:

City of Thieves by David Benioff. Without a doubt the greatest novel I have ever read.

In reply to wurzelinzummerset:

I have just read H is for Hawk - A Costa winner by Helen McDonald - recommended by a friend I found it a very good read.

In reply to wurzelinzummerset:
Limonov by Emmanuel Carriere is intriguing. A fictionalised biography of the former Soviet dissident and more recently an opponent of Putin. Try and figure out what is truth...and what is not!
The Maze Maker by Michael Ayrton. A fictionalised autobiography of the Greek mythological figure Daedalus, creator of the Labyrinth and father of Icarus. It's a strange book in many ways and the narrative structure takes getting used to but it attempts to shed light on how different the world of the bronze age was while shedding a little light on a corner of Greek mythology you might not know as much about as you think.
Machiavelli: A Biography by Miles Unger. An excellent read, it is exactly what it says it is on the cover. This one might change your ideas and perceptions about an infamous figure in history.

Thanks for the additional ideas. This thread has been very useful and I've now ordered several of the books people have suggested.