Which Unlikely Books Have Been Responsible For Enhancing Your Education?

[naomi24]

Louisa May Alcott's 184th birthday today. 'Little Women', beautiful and unforgettable of course, but having read it as a child I had no idea why the girls' father was away at war, and the book didn't explain, so it led me to investigate. Further reading on the American Civil War resulted.

Which book, if any, has encouraged you to investigate further?

[Tilly2]

Reading 'Birdsong' by Sebastian Faulks (absolutely stunning book) led me to look, in more detail, at the facts pertaining to the Somme and other scenes of carnage in the Great War.

[zebo]

Not books but I find whatever I am reading I am constantly using my Kindle to look up more information, I am very good at going off at a tangent. I find that a lot of my trivia has been picked up from novels I've read, I recall doing the French Revolution for 'O' level History exam. My teacher was very impressed at the amount of reading I did around the topic, I never told him that I'd gleaned it all from the Dennis Wheatley Roger Brooke series.

[Tilly2]

...actually, my answer doesn't quite fit with your 'unlikely books' title as I was reading about the same subject.

However, that book had a profound effect on me and caused me to look in more detail at the events.

[ethandron]

Gosh Tilly, fancy that, it had a similar affect on me too, and prompted us to go to Belgium to visit all the war sites and cemeteries. It stayed with me a long, long time, and considering I'd not had the least interest in anything like that before it was something of a revelation.
The other book for me was The Island, about Spinalonga the leper colony. It dispelled so many myths I had about leprosy and made me find out more about it.

[Tilly2]

I've read that too, Eth, but I didn't go beyond reading the book. It taught me as much as I needed to know about leprosy, dispelling a few myths that I'd had.

[DTCwordfan]

John Stuart Mill's 'Utilitarianism' in terms of political thinking....

Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game for philosophical thinking, the ending devastating in the suddenness of death of a leader.

'If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.'

[agchristie]

Well, Naomi, I have read hundreds of books mostly fiction and I'm struggling to answer the question off the top of my head.

I've read fiction and non-fiction relating to Islamic matters but I have not read the Koran! It is my plan to read it once I have completed an unrelated trilogy.

[maggiebee]

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows led me to read up on the German occupation of the Chanel Islands during WWII.

[vetuste_ennemi]

The Koran is a tough read, AgChristie, lacking any context or narrative direction. It's not arranged in chronological order, you're always left wondering why such and such a verse was "revealed". So you need the commentaries and the biographical detail to make it intelligible to make sense of it.

This version (£7.01 on the Kindle) arranges the book chronologically AND gives the historical background, so you actually learn the life of Mohammed and the points in it when the revelations occurred (and why) :

https://www.amazon.com/Abridged-Koran-Islamic-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00DXPR1Q0

Like you I'm struggling with an answer to the OP.

[agchristie]

Thanks v_e for that. I don't have a kindle and was wondering what is the best, cheapest paperback version please?

[vetuste_ennemi]

Paperback version of that version is £11.79 from Amazon, Ag.

The other (conventional) Koran I have is the Penguin Classic Qur'an. From £2 upwards on Amazon.

[agchristie]

Thanks v_e!

[jourdain2]

The Gauntlet, (a novel for kids) led me into medieval history, also The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe gave me a taste for the literary world and an understanding of the isolation needed. Then there was the artist in me. Somehow it all coalesced and I became whatever I am. I am proud to be certain that I was a good teacher and still helping kids in my voluntary sessions at the local academy.

[naomi24]

zebo, //whatever I am reading I am constantly using my Kindle to look up more information, I am very good at going off at a tangent.//

Me too. I do it with television programmes too.

[Elina]

Hi Naomi, Mayhews London ... for its sheer detail. A first hand account of all the different occupations of people living in 1800s London. A big chunky book with wonderful illustrations that I couldn't put down.

[EcclesCake]

The Power of One by Bryce Courtney opened my eyes to the inherent multi-cultural racism of South Africa. A fabulous book that stays with me to this day.

I can't remember the title or author but I read a murder mystery set in New York when they were building bridges across the river, the engineering detail was fascinating and I found myself googling for more information. The author was an historian and he had researched the book very thoroughly.

[sunny-dave]

William Cobbett's "Rural Rides" - opened a whole window into a period of English history that I had never even dreamt would interest me.

I have re-read the book many times - the parallels with today's society grow ever more pertinent.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_Rides