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communick@metacritics.zone

History book that reads like a thriller (alien.top)

submitted 11 months ago by ta9876543205@alien.top to c/books@metacritics.zone

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I am reading Dongri to Dubai by S. Hussain Zaidi.

Growing up in Mumbai in the 1980s/90s, I remember reading news stories about the Mumbai gang wars.

This book covers that in great detail and as such qualifies as a genuine history book.

And yet, it reads like a potboiler. It is essentially unputdownable.

10/10

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[–] orange1317@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (3 children)

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

[–] kidnamedsloppysteak@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Yes, and also same for In The Garden of Beasts, and Dead Wake. Larson really has a knack for this subgenre.

[–] LukeSniper@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

I recently read Thunderstruck, also by Larson, and I found it to be much more tense and exciting. I knew nothing about both stories in that book though. I'd read Harold Schecter's book on Holmes before I read DitWC, so that was likely a factor.

But I recommend Thunderstruck either way.

[–] KatJen76@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

So much scary shit happened to me when I read that book. It was like HH Holmes' ghost didn't want me knowing what he did.