Hello,
I am looking for non-fiction books of strange/multi-faceted/interesting stories, but that read more like fiction or literature. Not interested in biographies, but I do like personal stories about people living through “big moments” in history. Bonus points for stories about ordinary or not well known people or groups who had a big impact on historical events. Partial to Cold War settings as well.
The last few books i’ve really enjoyed include:
In The Garden of Beasts
The Bastard Brigade
Killers of the Flower Moon
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Thanks!
Edited for format.
by _surferrosa
5 Comments
[deleted]
Hey. I’m going to give you (one of the) recommendations I received on my first ever post here. Had a similar request to yours & great responses!
“Fatal Vision” by Joe McGinniss
Description from [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/333907.Fatal_Vision)
Fatal Vision is the electrifying true story of Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, the handsome, Princeton-educated physician convicted of savagely slaying his young pregnant wife and two small children, murders he vehemently denies committing. Bestselling author Joe McGinnis chronicles every aspect of this horrifying and intricate crime, and probes the life and psyche of the magnetic, all-American Jeffrey MacDonald, a golden boy who seemed destined to have it all. The result is a penetration to the heart of darknes that enshrouded one of the most complex criminal cases ever to capture the attention of the American public. It is haunting, stunningly suspenseful-a work that no reader will be able to forget.
Backup option if you’ve not already read it:
“The Stranger Beside Me” by Ann Rule
Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression and The Good War: An Oral History of World War II have some astounding stories to tell from little-known people.
Not necessarily about normal people during a big historical event, but *Evicted* by Matthew Desmond definitely reads like fiction.
*The Unwomanly Face of War* by Svetlana Alexievich