Must-Read Non-Fiction for 2018: A Few Recommendations


It has been a while since I have written. There was a sort of “Best Books I Read in 2017” post that I wanted to write. It was then put off because I am who I am, unfortunately. However, that has been on my mind and I have read some excellent books recently, specifically non-fiction. Now, non-fiction is a new thing for me. Whenever people ask whether I read, I would always point out that I read only fiction. In 2017, I decided to change that and I haven’t looked back. As such, this list I am compiling is of the best non-fiction I have read over the past six months.

The books I recommend below are not put in any order. When it comes to non-fiction (as with fiction), it depends on the reader whether they like it or not. The feelings that reading a particular book brings to me might not be the same that comes to others.

The books range from autobiographical to scientific to historical. Mostly, the books deal with history – which was one of my favourite subjects in school ever since Mrs Gita Rajgopal taught me World History in the 9th grade at Our Own, Dubai. Gita Ma’am told us the stories with a flourish and to this day I remember her description of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination. It wasn’t a wonder really, since the woman also directed the most spectacular musicals for our Annual Day celebrations (three of which yours truly was a part of). Growing up in the UAE, you are also taught about the Crusades and Saladin – which a lot of your contemporaries in other parts of the world are not.

History is often told by the victor, it is said. Personally, I think it is important to read different perspectives about a particular event (for example, the Crusades is a subject that is told very differently by different people).

But, I digress. Here is the list I recommend (for now). Leave your thoughts below if you’ve read any of them or if you have any suggestions on books you might think I like.

  • Inferior: How Science got Women Wrong and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story – Angela Saini


Notwithstanding the really long title, this book is a well written collection of the research that has gone into identifying and quantifying the differences between men and women – specifically dealing with research that claims women are biologically inferior to men and the research that goes into proving these age-old theories wrong. For example, did you know that Charles Darwin was horrifyingly sexist and that reflected in his work? CBSE (CBSE: Central Board of Secondary Education – one of the boards in India that draft educational materials and conducts school examinations) only liked to cover the “Survival of the fittest” bit, although, being socially responsible might not be on CBSE’s list of priorities, ironically. The book leads you to examine your own bias in daily situations as well. For those who like reading about science, this is a must-read. Inferior is a systematically researched and well-written book.

  • The Ivory Throne – Manu S. Pillai


Manu S. Pillai is just two years older than I am. That fact loomed over me as I read this mammoth book on the last Queen of Travancore. He has also worked as an aide to Shashi Tharoor. This book was the result of research spanning six years – and it shows. The book begins with a history of Kerala. This first chapter was a fascinating read considering how we were not taught any of it in school. That "Vasco da Gama landed in Kozhikode" is all the textbooks said (at least for CBSE). But, on reading this chapter, I learned that the Europeans, at first, were offended because the Indian market had no use for their trinkets and things and preferred buying from the Arab merchants. I also learned that at one point Vasco da Gama was so infuriated, that he attacked the Kingdom of Calicut while on his ship, which was at a safe distance from the shore. But of course, this is not the focal point of the book. The subject of the book is Rani Sethulakshmi Bayi. There are fascinating parts about Raja Ravi Varma (whose paintings are found in nearly every Malayali’s home). If you, like me, felt like you were cheated out of some brilliant stories from the less-covered states during your history lessons, you will enjoy this book. Another fun fact: patriarchy had to be written into law by the last Queen of Travancore after she was pressurized by her insecure male ministers.

  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – Rebecca Skloot


You might have heard of this book which made the headlines last year because of the movie of the same name that came out starring Oprah Winfrey. If the name is not familiar to you, let me introduce you to the woman whose cells were used for developing the polio vaccine, to study the secrets of cancer, the effects of the atomic bomb and to lead to medical advances like in-vitro fertilization, gene mapping and cloning – these cells known as the “HeLa” cells continue to propel the medical industry forward. Henrietta Lacks, born Loretta Pleasant, was a black woman who grew up in and around coal mining towns. As an adult she was diagnosed with cancer and was treated (a strong word for it, considering the treatment meted out to African-Americans in the US in the twentieth century) at the Johns Hopkins Medical Centre. Her cervical cancer cells were taken during a biopsy and given to George Gey who was a cancer researcher. It was only years later that her family was made aware of the fact that Henrietta’s cells were being widely manufactured and sold within the medical industry. This book follows her life and the struggles her family went through following her death from radiation (in her time, radiation tubes were inserted into the cervix to treat the cancer). I know I’d mentioned there is no order to the list I have written, but if there’s one book you read from this list, make sure it’s this. That said, I don’t think any of the books I have included in this list should be skipped. Important stories are everywhere, as long as you keep your eyes open.

  • The Return: Fathers, Sons, and the Land in Between – Hisham Matar


The Libyan Civil War broke out in 2011. In October 2011, Muammar Gaddafi was killed. Gaddafi was a figure I would see in the news regularly (another effect of having grown up in the Middle East). As a child, you wouldn’t have paid much attention to the gaudily dressed, sunglasses-wearing dictator. I am not sure what prompted me to buy this book, which is a memoir of Matar’s journey back to Libya after the Civil War seeking answers to his father’s fate. Hisham Matar’s father, Jaballa Matar, was a political dissident was kidnapped in Cairo, Egypt while Hisham was studying in London. His father had not been seen since. There are also accounts from his relatives who were imprisoned at the Abu Salim prison – infamous for a 1996 massacre in which 1,270 prisoners (mostly political dissidents) were killed. If you want to read more about the Libyan Revolution, I would say that this is the perfect place to start.

  • Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary – Anita Anand


2018 marks 100 years since the women of the UK were allowed to vote. It is certainly important from an Indian perspective, because this clearly led to the Government of India granting men and women universal suffrage in 1950. Sophia is a lesser known suffragette. Sophia Duleep Singh – the daughter of the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire and god-daughter of Queen Victoria. The Koh-I-Noor diamond was taken from Duleep Singh and to this day belongs to the British royalty. Again, this is a book I am still reading and I have only reached the part about Duleep Singh marrying Bamba Muller – Sophia’s mother. The Woman’s Suffragette movement in the UK was always an interesting topic, but to know that an Indian woman played an important part is quite nice. Her causes also included the fight for Indian Independence. The United Kingdom’s Royal Mail features Sophia Duleep Singh in one of the stamps commemorating 100 years of the suffragette movement.


  • The Romanovs:1613-1918 – Simon Sebag Montefiore



I am still reading this book. It is massive and dense. I have been reading it for a week and I have only covered about 30% of the book. This is a book I bought courtesy Mrs Gita Rajgopal’s history lessons again, and also the Fox animated movie Anastasia. Anastasia was the daughter of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia. There were unfounded rumours that she escaped her captors, the Bolsheviks and the movie is based on that premise. The Romanovs cover the Russian royalty from the time Michael I was elected to rule Russia (reluctantly accepted by him considering the state Russia was in then) up until the Bolshevik Revolution. I have only reached Catherine the Great’s reign so far (circa 1760s). Fair warning: the book is gory, for example, a favourite form of punishment by the Romanovs seems to have been impalement through the rectum. I had read reviews calling the book dense, but really, what else would you expect? This is definitely not light reading – but it is unbelievably interesting.


  • Women & Power: A Manifesto – Mary Beard



Mary Beard’s Wikipedia page tells us that she is a classicist. She has previously written many books about Ancient Rome and Greece. Women & Power seemed to have been released at an opportune time. 2017 was a year that will be remembered for the many revelations and actions that they inspired. Through this book, Beard notes the misogyny that has crept up in literature and art since the time of Homer, especially when it comes to women in power. There’s a fascinating comparison between the treatment of Medusa and the treatment of Hillary Clinton which I will not “spoil” here. The book took me less than a day to complete. It’s a worthwhile read, true. But for all the praise it received, I was slightly disappointed with the content. I suppose, if I had known that Mary Beard specializes in Western Classics before reading the book, I wouldn’t have wondered why there was no mention of literature from the other parts of the world.

*

So that’s the list for now. If you can get your hands on these books, I can assure you they will be great reads. Some of them might not be available in print where you are, in which case I would suggest buying the Kindle version - which you can read with the Kindle Cloud Reader if you do not have a Kindle. 

I am going to try and make the book recommendations a regular thing and write about more great and important books. If you find any factual errors, or want to give suggestions or feedback or your thoughts, do leave the comments below.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Summer in Aleppey

The Tea Vendor

Jacobinte Swargarajyam - A Review