A World of Knowledge: The Folio Editor's Top Non-Fiction Picks
Would you like to journey through history and explore the wonders of the natural world? We knew you would! That's why we've called upon the expertise of Mandy Kirby, our Non-Fiction Editor, to handpick her absolute must-reads for any non-fiction lover.
So why wait? Dive into our blog to explore the mysteries of Jupiter, the age of dinosaurs, and even thrilling tales of adventure that you'll savour with every page.
The Planets - Andrew Cohen and Professor Brian Cox
A reviewer said of this book that it was 'so staggering you go "whoa" every few seconds' – and you absolutely do. Brian Cox thrills us with facts: Jupiter has a storm 15,000 miles wide; Saturn's rings are made up of millions of ice particles, some the size of mountains; Venus was once a watery world just like Earth, with clouds and oceans – this book is a revelation. And if the facts don't make you go 'whoa' then the images almost certainly will. Chosen by expert David Rothery and sourced from NASA, they are both beautiful and mind-bending. The book has a stunning design too, clever and classy.
Mercury, mapped by Messenger. Courtesy of NASA
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs - Steve Brusatte
The book is the very latest on dinosaur research and history (Scientific American called it the ‘ultimate dinosaur biography’), but the collaboration between the author, a world-renowned palaeontologist, and palaeo-artist Davide Bonadonna (whom Steve Brusatte calls ‘the maestro’) makes the Folio edition a very special one for me. There’s exceptional expertise here, from the text to the artwork and all the way through to the fabulous fossil photography and foldout map.
Illustration © Davide Bonadonna 2022
The Anglo-Saxons - James Campbell
This is simply a beautiful edition, inside and out. James Campbell's masterwork, still the best book on the Anglo-Saxon period, deserved special treatment and it certainly received it, from the exquisitely detailed blocked binding image of the Sutton Hoo helmet (front and back!) to the separate colour photo volume of the great treasures of the period. Viking brooches in garnets and gold, carved ivory caskets, pages from the Lindisfarne Gospels – the superb photography shows them all in extraordinary and impressive detail.
Band of Brothers - Stephen E. Ambrose
The 'Band of Brothers' was a legendary US World War Two regiment, brought together in 1942 and made up of citizen soldiers from all walks of life. The story of their exploits, from D-Day to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, is simply one of the best adventure stories ever told and I defy anyone not to be drawn into it. Cole Kingseed’s introduction is invaluable: Cole knew Major Dick Winters, the men’s extraordinary commanding officer, and his piece is a special link back to the Band of Brothers themselves.
A General History of the Robberies & Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates - Captain Charles Johnson
Who would have thought that an 18th-century book could be so much fun? Captain Charles Johnson’s rollicking accounts of the lives and legends of top pirates, including Bluebeard, Captain Kidd, ‘Calico’ Jack Rackham and Anne Bonny, are supremely entertaining and set pirate lore for centuries to come. Our edition includes the original illustrations and motifs of cutlasses, flags and pirate skulls for the all-round piratical reading experience.
S.P.Q.R - Professor Mary Beard
Mary Beard is an absolute wonder and one of my favourite historians. The story of how Ancient Rome grew from backwater to superpower is brilliantly told from all perspectives, but most of all I enjoy her accounts of ordinary lives – bakers, midwives, slaves, bartenders and many others. We tried to cover all angles with our illustrations too, all 100 of them, and each one is a gem.
Non-Fiction's Top Sellers
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Dominion
$100.00Dominion is Tom Holland’s epic exploration of how everything we do has been shaped by Christianity, a subversive sect that grew to a religion. This beautiful Folio Society edition has a striking binding design by Noma Bar with 24 pages of colour images.
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One of the greatest travelogues of the 20th century, Paul Theroux’s The Old Patagonian Express is newly presented as a Folio edition featuring an exclusive new introduction by the author and 24 original colour photographs.
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Commemorating the centenary of Ernest Shackleton’s death, The Folio Society brings together The Heart of the Antarctic and South – thrilling accounts of his greatest polar expeditions in his own words.
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Operation Mincemeat
$100.00Ben Macintyre’s number-one bestseller Operation Mincemeat is the definitive account of the Second World War’s greatest military deception: a daring hoax that fooled Hitler and changed the course of history.
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Micrographia
$115.00Robert Hooke’s science classic Micrographia changed the way we view the natural world. This beautifully crafted Folio Society edition of the complete text includes all Hooke’s original illustrations and an introduction by historian Ruth Scurr.
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The Tudor Age
$130.00In The Tudor Age, historian Susan Brigden brings to life the world of Henry VIII, Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I in a Folio edition superbly illustrated with colour portraiture.
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All Hell Let Loose
$230.00Published in a richly illustrated Folio Society edition, Max Hastings’ All Hell Let Loose is a people’s history of the Second World War from one of its greatest historians: the complete story of the conflict.
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A Bright Shining Lie
$230.00A Bright Shining Lie is Neil Sheehan’s Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the Vietnam War told through lieutenant colonel John Paul Vann, with a new introduction by George Packer for The Folio Society.
