Here are some notable non-fiction books I read during 2025. Alphabetical.

* Fate of the Day by Rick Atkinson. Revolutionary War, volume 2. Appears on many best-of-year lists. Military history much more than the revolution as a whole.

* Gray Matters by Schwartz. Brain surgeon's memoir, with insight into the profession and the brain.

* The Guns at Last Light by Atkinson. Volume 3 of his WW II trilogy, published 2013. Outstanding. From D-Day to the end.

* An Introduction to Constitutional Law by Barnett and Blackman. Summary of important cases and their legal principles.

* The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto. Colonial America, emphasizing the Dutch in the 1600s and now-Metro NYC. The successor published in 2025 ("Taking Manhattan") is not as good.

* Original Sin by Tapper and Thompson. Inside the Biden White House in 2024. Reads more like extended journalism / reporting than a normal non-fiction history.

* King of Kings by Anderson. The rise and fall of the shah of Iran, including America's role in both. Appeared on a few "best" lists. Very impressive.

* Pronoun Trouble by John McWhorter. Love his work on language, and miss his departure from the "Lexicon Valley" podcast. His prior book "Nine Nasty Words" was more fun, as you might expect.

* The Sense of Style by Pinker. From 2014. The author of many popular books discusses how to write.

* Source Code by Bill Gates. Memoir, better than I expected.

* Vision or Mirage by Rundell. Excellent history of Saudi Arabia's formation up the rise of Crown Prince MBS. Learned a lot.