The Best Top 10 Non-Fiction Books

Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash

Let me start by saying that there are a lot of incredible non-fiction books out there and I had a difficult time picking my top ten. 

There are plenty of books that I omitted that are much more relevant as far as the impact they have had on society but my list is subjective. It really depends on what piques your interest. When I considered which books to include I thought about the books that captivated my attention and were well written. I also thought about books that had the biggest effect on me personally—books that caused me to think critically and helped me to understand the world around me. 

Here are my top 10 personal favorites.:

10. A Long Way Gone- by Ishmael Beah

This is the unbelievable and mesmerizing tale of a child soldier's journey through hell and back.

Ishmael was a young boy when civil war broke out in his home land of Sierra Leone. During the violence, Ishmael became separated from his family and wandered the countryside as a homeless youth. He was eventually forced to become a child soldier and fought for the government against rebel forces. He was given drugs, taught to kill, and he was brainwashed to the point where he became dehumanized. He was rescued by UNICEF and relocated to New York City. 

A Long Way Gone chronicles his experience as a kind-hearted child to a soldier and his fight for forgiveness. A real page turner that leaves you wondering how a child could possibly find themselves in a situation such as fighting in a war. 

9. The Smartest Guys in The Room- by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind

This book details the prominent rise and mighty fall of one of America’s most infamous corporations, Enron. 

In the 90’s, Enron was one of the largest and most successful energy companies on the planet. At its height, Enron had over 20,000 employees and a projected revenue of $101 billion. Then suddenly, they closed their doors for business. The collapse of Enron was one of the biggest bankruptcies in U.S history. Shareholders lost everything and employees retirement accounts became worthless overnight. The heads of the company created a culture where greed and ruthlessness were rewarded. This along with some unscrupulous accounting tactics caused the company to go bust. The book highlights how some of the most brilliant minds got together to build one of the most profitable companies in American history, only to implode under the weight of their top executives' arrogance and ego. 

The book is a fascinating case study on how highly intelligent people can become intoxicated on their own talent to the point that they become delusional to the reality around them. 

8. 1491- Charles C. Mann

This book will shatter your understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492. 

The author provides recent research findings in a multitude of scientific fields which suggest that indigenous people living in the Americas were more numerous, had arrived earlier on the continent, were able to manipulate and control natural resources and had a much more sophisticated cultural understanding than previously believed. This book challenges the idea that European societies were more refined and advanced. The book covers the great empires throughout the Americas and how complex their civilizations were. 

Forget what you learned in school about the native population of the Americas and give this book a read.

7. Ghost Wars- by Steve Coll

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll gives a vivid account of the history of covert wars in Afghanistan, contributing to the rise of Islamic extremism, which led to the September 11th attacks. 

Coll’s research into this book is meticulous and he writes in a style that draws you into the story, keeping you on the edge of your seat. The book covers the secret history of the CIA’s involvement in Afghanistan, from its undercover operations against the Soviet Union during its invasion of Afghanistan, to the evolution of the Taliban, the emergence of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. This book clearly explains how Afghanistan became a safe haven for Bin Laden to plan and carry out his attacks on the U.S and other counties. 

A must-read for anyone interested in the contentious relationship between America and theocratic countries in the Middle East. 

6. Into the Wild-  by Jon Krakauer

A national bestseller which was made into a movie directed by Sean Penn. 

The book tells the story about an affluent young man who after graduating college donated his life savings to charity, burned all his money and lived the life of a nomad. After spending years tramping around the U.S, going from adventure to adventure, Christopher McCandless entered the Alaskan wilderness on his greatest adventure never to return. Christopher was living out his dream, alone in nature, but unfortunately, it ended up costing him his life. Christopher’s story has penetrated the consciousness of millions of people around the world. Hundreds have made the pilgrimage to where Christopher spent his last days, an abandoned bus, which he referred to as the “magic bus.” 

This is a book which gives you pause and makes you reflect on life and how you chose to live it.

5. Empire of The Summer Moon- by S.C Gwynne

I can do a top ten list on Native Americans books alone and there are a lot of them, but I am putting this one on my list simply because it is so well written. 

The author has a nice rhythm and flow to his writing which really helps draw you into the story. The book is actually interwoven into two stories. The first chronicles the rise and heartbreaking fall of the Comanches, considered by many to be the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second is the astonishing epic tale of Cynthia Ann Parker, who was kidnapped by Comanches as a nine-year-old girl and her mixed-blooded son who grew to become the last great chief of the Comanches. 

The book is a brilliant account of the contact situation between Europeans and the indigenous population and the devastating effects it had on their way of life. 

4. From Beirut To Jerusalem- by Thomas L. Friedman

Three-time Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and a weekly columnist for the New York Times writes about the tumultuous history of conflicts in Beirut and Jerusalem. 

The book explains the creation of the Jewish state and its relationship with its neighbors. It details the civil wars in Lebanon, as well the fight for Israel to exist in peace. Winner of the National Book Award for nonfiction, it is considered one of the most in depth and thought-provoking books on the Middle east. 

A must-read for anyone interested in, perhaps, one of the most complex regions in the world.

3. Shake Hands With The Devil- by Romeo Dallaire

In 1994, one of the most brutal genocides in history took place in the small landlocked African country of Rwanda. 

In a short span of three months, nearly a million people from the ethnic minority Tutsi tribe were murdered in the most savage and barbaric way, they were hacked to death with machetes. Lt. General Dallaire was the United Nations force commander during the genocide. Considered a hero for saving thousands of people, he witnessed firsthand the vicious atrocities that took place. He begged the UN for more troops to try to stabilize the country but they never came. In the book, General Dallaire recounts his experience as he desperately tries to save as many people as he can from the roving bands of Hutu death squads that moved across the countryside massacring any Tutsi they came into contact with. 

He recounts in blunt detail the horrors he witnessed during his time as UN Lt General and how the world's response to this human catastrophe reflects an ugly indifference that permeates in our collective global society.   

2. Guns, Germs and Steel- by Jared Diamond

If you are into history, anthropology, geology and sociology, this is the book for you. 

An odyssey of a book explaining why Eurasian and North African civilizations have survived, conquered and thrived, while other societies have remained stuck in a primitive way of life. Jared Diamond is a Geographer Professor at UCLA, his thesis of the book is that culture gaps in societies are due to environmental differences which have given some cultures a genetic, technological, agricultural and overall power advantage that some societies did not have. This advantage in turn helped these societies pull away from other civilizations which highly influenced their quality of life. The book explains the origins of empires, religion, farming, writing, language and war. 

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, this is a fascinating book that you won’t be able to put down once you start.  

1. Night- by Elie Wiesel 

This was the first non-fiction book I ever read in my life. 

I read this book in high school and it had a profound influence on me. Considered to be one of the most prolific books on the holocaust, it is written with pure emotion and heartbreaking honesty. Mr. Wiesel writes about his experience in Auschwitz, being separated from his family, and witnessing his father pass away three months before the allied forces liberated the camp that he was being held in. This book encapsulates the horrors the Nazi’s inflicted on millions of people and brings to light the sinister side of humanity. There is no book that encapsulates the human condition and resilience quite like this book. This book is timeless and its messages resonate more than ever with everything that is happening in the world at the present moment. 

If there is one book on this list you should read it would be this one. 

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