There have been some fascinating contemporary books written about previously obscure historical events recently which may be of interest to this reader.  I would probably first recommend Caroline Hamilton's book Endurance about Shackleton's adventures in the Antarctic and his crew's subsequent stranding on Elephant Island. This book combines a detailed and absorbing narrative with pictures taken by the icebound ship's photographer. Shackleton himself is a really real superhero,  so obsessed with and desperate to save his crew members that he embarks on a suicidal journey in a small boat to escape the island and, at last, bring help. The portrait of a true leader and exemplary human being. I would also recommend the deeply researched and finely detailed books of Erick Larson, Devil in the White City and Isaac's Storm. Although both books describe real events, they are not mere recitations of fact, -- They are exciting narratives with animated and powerful characters -- they represent the quintessential spirit of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the United States. The first, of course, deals with the coincidence of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago with the machinations of a serial killer and the second deals with the single most horrific weather event to date, the Galveston hurricane of 1900 and the inception of the U.S. Weather Service.I might also recommend Drennan's Death in a Prairie House which recounts the shocking massacre of Frank Lloyd Wright's mistress and  children at Taliesin -- a little know event in the life of this universal genius (and badboy). All these books are exciting, fast paced, highly informative, absorbing -- and revelatory of events which are easily forgotten amidst the clamour of war and politics.