So traditionally I read pretty much all fiction but am looking to expand my knowledge of the real world.  So looking for any prolific game changer books on history/war/real people.  Any time period really....

This Kind of War by TR Fehrenbach
Hell in a Small Place and Street Without Joy by Bernard Fall
When Thunder Rolled by Ed Raismus

Wide variety of books. If you have Kindle you can get a lot of stuff through the Kindle Unlimited service.

Paul Reveres Ride, David Hackett Fisher

Modern Times, by Paul Johnson;

https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Times-Revised-Twenties-Perennial/dp/0060935502?tag=vglnk-c102-20


This is an absolutely fantastic history that should be required reading for every American.
The book has two redeeming value points for me. First, it is a very thorough and balanced retelling of how the modern world came to be. The results of EUROPEAN COLONIALISM, and it's present day ramifications are worth the price alone. Secondly, the book has about 100 plus pages of bibliography that allows you to a lot of additional research into a particular topic as you desire. The first 30-40 pages takes a little diligence getting through, but it is well worth the effort. After that the pace picks up considerably and it is an awesome read.

Any biography on U.S. Grant.
Fierce Patriot, The Tangled Lives of William T. Sherman, by Robert O'Connell.
Life On the Mississippi, and Roughing It, by Mark Twain.
Most any of the history books by Stephen Ambrose, wrote Band of Brothers, Undaunted Courage, and others.
Manhattan Project by Stephane Groueff.  About the engineers, businessmen, and wildcat inventors who actually constructed the atom bomb instead of the usual weird scientists and spies.
Company Commander, by Charles MacDonald.  The classic on WWII company command in combat.
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli.
On To Berlin by James Gavin.  WWII 82nd Paratrooper commander.
To Hell and Back, by Audie Murphy.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.
American Rifle: A Biography, by Alexander Rose.
Report From Engine Company 82, by Dennis Smith.
Any of the books on American Special Ops forces by Dick Couch.
Cosmos by Carl Sagan.

The making of the atomic bomb.  By Rhodes.


Definite must read.

Txl

"The Epic Life of Frank Hamer"
John Boessengenecker    Great book.......

Elmer Keith  "Hell, I was there"

The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy--on exactly how economic power is translated into military power during the modern era.  Examines how Spain, then France, then Britain, and now USA became the dominate power.  Written in the late 80s, this book does not quite predict the fall of the USSR but comes pretty close.

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel P. Huntington--this book provides the strategic template for the post-Cold War world and predicted the current struggle between radical Islam and pretty much everyone else.  Necessary reading for policymakers.

The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History by Phillip Bobbitt--a legal, constitutional, and historical analysis of how the international system has changed over the last few centuries and what may lie in store for USA.  Bobbitt predicts USA is in transition to what he calls a "market-state" where the government will provide fair and free access to the marketplace and not much more than that.  I originally thought his prediction was wrong but with the election of Trump he just might be dead on target.

All three of these books are about history, society, politics, economics and the direction we are heading into the future.  I think of these three book as the way things were, the way things are, and the way things may yet be.

Biography of Capt. James Cook, and his journals of his 3 voyages around the world.
Big brass balls doing that stuff, in those old sailing vessels, without charts.

Biography of Abe Lincoln
Biography of Washington Roebling, and the building of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Biography of Thomas Jefferson

Lots of old free stuff on Amazon Prime / Kindle.

My favorite book.  Changed the way I see the world.

This. I re-read it every few years.

Band of Brothers - Stephen E. Ambrose
The Law - Frederic Bastiat
Lies the Government Told You - Judge Andrew Napolitano
Capitalism and Freedom - Milton Friedman


If you're interested in military things I'd also recommend Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden and Inside Delta Force by Eric L. Haney.

Anything by William Manchester:

"American Caesar"
"The Last Lion," Vols. I/II/III
"The Arms of Krupp"
"Disturber of the Peace"
"Death of a President"

This ^ here. One of the best books I have ever read. 

Just finished Six Frigates, and Lee before that. Have to go back and finish Hamilton

Fast Food Nation

Deep Survival "Who lives, who dies, and why." - Lawrence Gonzales

Rebel Yell is a good one.

I bought this as a sale book and it really is quite good.

This is my list of favorites from the last seven years.

Truth Speaks to Power: the counter-cultural nature of scripture.  Walter Bruggeman.  Bruggeman interprets some things in The Holy Bible quite differently than I was accustomed to.  Hard reading at times, but a book I kept after required reading in college for a leadership course.

ADRIFT: 76 days lost at sea.  Steven Callahan.  Gripping survival tale; one of the longest documented sea survival stories at the time.  

American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.  Colin Woodard.  Recommended to me by a Liberal at work, but would have been right at home with some far right groups I used to hang with.

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration.  From Ed Catmull, co-founder (with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter) of Pixar Animation Studios, comes an incisive book about creativity in business.  I could not put this down and I hated the Steve Jobs book.  Recommended (but not mandatory) reading for my bachelor's degree.

Let Your Life Speak: listening for the voice of vocation.  Parker J. palmer.  Short, written by a CEO turned shaker.  Absolutely fascinating.

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. Ashlee Vance.  one of the first bios I have actually enjoyed.

The Millionaire mind; The millionaire next door; Rich dad Poor Dad--all excellent reads.

The Toyota Way To Lean leadership.  Jeffery liker; Gary Convis.    Could this succeed where you work?

The Big Thirst: the secret life and turbulent future of water.  Charles Fishman.  Warns of a global water crisis with little climate change preaching.

The History of Money.  Jack Weatherford.  What is a money?

Delivering happiness: the path to profits, passion and purpose.  Tony Heish. Basically, the Zappos story.  Who would have thought it would be so interesting?

Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker.  Kevin Mitnick.  What can I say, the wrong side of the tracks from silicone valley.

A History of the World in six glasses.  Tom Standage.  The history of booze.  Absolutely fascinating.

The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL.  Eric Greitens.  The guy starts out as an Ivy League peacenick and then realizes the quickest way to effect change is to destroy the enemies of freedom and good.  Bonus:  audio version read by the author.

Extra virginity: the sublime and scandalous world of Olive Oil.  Tom Mueller.  My favorite ever foodie book.  Made me attempt to buy my olive oil at oil bars.

Written in Bone: Buried lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland.  Sally Walker.  Short book, couldn't put it down--and I had the audio version.  Archaeology with a story and not too technical.

The Statues That Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island.  Terry Hunt.  As a kid I was always fascinated by Leonard Nemoy's "in search of" tv show about Easter Island.  This apparently solves the mystery.  Another one I couldn't put down.

Make it in America: the case for reinventing the economy.  Andrew m. liveris.  Good read, didn't agree with all the conclusions.

The Yugo: the rise and fall of the worst car in history.  Jason vuic. interesting book about Yugos and car manufacturing in general.  Was it REALLY the worst car, or did it just suffer from marketing?  Read and find out.

Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them.  Donovan Hohn.  Fairly long and exceptionally entertaining.  If you have any environmentalist leanings at all, you'll like this.  Light on eco-preaching.

Stiff: The curious Lives of Human Cadavers.  Mary roach. A must-read.  Did not change my mind on being a donor.

The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook.  Bruce D perry, Mia salavitz. Really a good read.  touches on the clockwork-oranging of the Branch Davidian children.

The Richest man in Babylon: Success secrets of the ancients.  George S. Classon.  No its not about gold-hoarding.

Thanks for all the replies!

shots fired in anger by lt col. john George.  Get the 2nd edition,not the reprint of the first edition.  He does a comparison of jap and german weapons.  Also tells his story about Merrills Marauders firghting the japs in Burma.  He shot hi power competition before WWII started.  Got activated early with his Ill. National Guard unit as an Inf. 2nd Lt.  Got sent to Guadalcanal early on to help the US Marines.  Volunteered to go to Burma with Merrills Marauders early on.  Big believer in the M 1 Carbine.  Shot expert and was allowed to take his Springfield 03 national match to Guadalcanal.  His comparison of our weapons and enemy weapons is excellent.

Some more I must recommend are...

Marc Bloch, the Historian's Craft, which if you are interested in history is a must-read. It's an explanation of the ways historians do their work.

The Box How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, here in Kindle but if you look, you can find used copies of the previous edition for as cheap as $1.5.

Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human: - classic essays on the Great Plays.

The links are not affiliate links, I attempted to find the cheapest links available for these books.

I'm starting this one tomorrow on my way to work.  Sounds really interesting.  How did you find it?

Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War


Vulcan94

Hitler’s Empire

By Mark Mazower  A history of his regime and attempt to rule Europe.

Stalin  The Court of the Red Tsar

By Simon Sebag Montefiore  Well paced narrative of the private and political man and his relationship with both his Communist inner circle and his family. Drawn from private diaries and other archival information. Very atmospheric, much quoted dialogue. Reads like a novel.