My Favorite Books of Non-Fiction

1. Bell of Africa by W.D.M. Bell

"The greatest elephant book by perhaps the greatest elephant hunter."

How can the greatest elephant book be anything other than the greatest book ever?

2. Elephant Hunting in East Equatorial Africa by Arthur Neumann

Another book written by one of the great elephant hunters.  It compares surprisingly well to Bell of Africa.

The book as about a few years spent in what is now Kenya and surrounding countries ivory hunting.  Read about hiring porters, settling porter disputes, traveling through the African bush on foot...  Mr. (and I don't use that lightly) Neumann was even gored by an elephant and spent a month recovering way, way out in the bush.

A fascinating sort of story-ized journal of several ivory hunting adventures deep into the African bush.

3. Dragon Hunter by Charles Gallenkamp

The story of Roy Chapman Andrews' Asian expedition.  The book is about Roy and his exploration of Mongolia.  He did this in a time when no one visited, Mongolia for any reason.  He did it a handful of years after the invention of the car, with primitive cars, long before anyone else thought that exploration in cars was possible.

A member of his team was the first to discover a dinosaur egg.  But their exploration discovered all sorts of plants and animals new to science.

You've seen Indiana Jones?  Roy Chapman Andrews was one of the inspirations.  He worked for the American Museum of Natural History and was an explorer/ adventurer/ archeologist/ scientist who was one of the greatest explorers of all time.

4. Heart of Asia: True Tales of the Far East by Roy Chapman Andrews

Need an idea for an adventure movie?  Pick a chapter at random and you'll have an excellent story of action and adventure based on a true story.

5. Bang by RooshV

Need improvement in your interactions with girls?  Buy Bang and do what it says.

6. Bourbon for Breakfast by Jeffery Tucker

Marvelous.

Who would have thought that economics could be so fun, personal, and relateable?

Not only is each chapter unique and interesting but the links to other books and movies and fashion and...make this book wonderful for marveling at our world and finding wonderful new books and ideas.

Rethink long held ideas, such as intellectual property (copyrights, trademarks, etc.) being a good idea.

On that note read it, and Its a Jetsen's World, for free here.

7. Its a Jetsen's World by Jeffery Tucker

More of the same great stuff as Bourbon for Breakfast.  With more subjects covered and more great suggestions for other works.

I cannot stress enough how good these two books are.

8. The Wild Wheel by Garet Garrett

An amazing account of the thoughts and creations of the Ford Motor Company from when Ford was running it.  Read about the ways Ford innovated.  Read about the reasons for creating an assembly line.  Read about Ford's methods of business.  Read about how he got started.  Read about how he finished.

A book worth reading weather you are interested in: how to build a company, history, the biography of Henry Ford, economics, and why government interference is a terrible thing.

A superb book that was brought to my attention by Its a Jetsen's World.

If you want to read about the causes of the great depression, then read Garrett's The Bubble that Broke the World.

If you liked Atlas Shrugged and want to read its precursor then read Garrett's The Driver.

9. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford

Genghis Khan was one of the most impressive men in world history.  This account of his life is very informative and interesting.  Read about how he began is life, read about the ancient Mongols way of life, and read about how his empire was created.

10. Eat the Rick by P.J. O'Rourke

I could have picked any of P.J.'s books because they are all interesting, and mildly amusing, accounts of All the Trouble in the World.  His books cover economics, world travel, revolutions, wars, domestic life, living as a bachelor, and cars.

Any of his books are well worth a read, but start with Eat the Rich and see how he compares the various economic systems of the world.