
Ask HN: Biographies recommendations – both Westerner and Non-westerner - ahmaman
Which biographies have you enjoyed reading that had somewhat an impact on you? Both westerner &amp; non-westerner biographies are welcome.<p>Some of the topics I care about:
- Philosophy
- Entrepreneurship
- Technology
- Culture
- History
======
ctchocula
The Power Broker - the story of how an idealist turned into Darth Vader

The Years of Lyndon Johnson - the story of how LBJ rigged the 1948 election
for Senate and rose to power

Here's an excerpt from an interview with the author of both books:

> During all these years I did come to understand stuff about power that I
> wanted people to know. You read in every textbook that cliché: Power
> corrupts. In my opinion, I’ve learned that power does not always corrupt.
> Power can cleanse. When you’re climbing to get power, you have to use
> whatever methods are necessary, and you have to conceal your aims. Because
> if people knew your aims, it might make them not want to give you power.
> Prime example: the southern senators who raised Lyndon Johnson up in the
> Senate. They did that because he had made them believe that he felt the same
> way they did about black people and segregation. But then when you get
> power, you can do what you want. So power reveals. Do I want people to know
> that? Yes.

~~~
edanm
I can't recommend The Power Broker more highly. It is one of my favorite
books, and one of the books that I believe actually gave me new insights into
how the world works.

I actually haven't read his LBJ series yet, and I'm really looking forward to
it.

------
schuetze
As a meta-recommendation, I suggest checking out Five Books [1]. It's a
website dedicated to bringing in experts and having them suggest five books
that best represent their given fields. The archive of interviews on Five
Books covers all the topics listed above and more.

[1] [https://fivebooks.com/](https://fivebooks.com/)

------
elliekelly
The Fish Who Ate The Whale. If you think Bezos and Zuckerberg are cunning &
determined entrepreneurs Sam the Banana Man will blow your mind.

To give you a taste: His opponents (a large, well-funded and established
competitor) stymied his attempt to get permission to build a bridge across a
river. Undeterred, Sam built two piers. One from each side of the river. They
told him he couldn’t build a bridge. No one ever told him he couldn’t build
piers.

He was probably _too_ good at what he set out to do but he built an empire
that still exists today out of bananas that were destined for garbage.

~~~
amarghose
My favorite entrepreneurial book to recommend to others because so few have
read or heard of it ... absolutely epic

------
suchoudh
My Experiments with Truth - Mahatma Ghandhi Autobiography of a Yogi - Beyond
the last blue mountain - RM Lala (on JRD Tata) The Autobiography of Benjamin
Franklin by Benjamin Franklin O Manas ke Hans (Hindi biography of Ramkrishna
Paramhans who was the guru of Shri Vivekanand) Narendra Modi - nilanjan
mukhopadhyay Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel - kaushal goyal Steve Jobs - Issacson

(While writing i realized that since last one year my outlook towards reading
has shifted to politics like anything)

------
hardfire
I just finished reading Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Issacson and it was so
good that i had to "reset" my HN password just to make this comment.

~~~
copperx
How good is it compared to Isaacson's Jobs or Einstein biographies?

~~~
hardfire
I unfortunately haven't read either or those. Jobs biography became too famous
that I didn't feel like reading it (^_^). I will pick Einstein at some point
in the future. This was my first read from Issacson.

~~~
amarghose
A book got too famous so you didn't feel like reading it? I don't understand
that logic

------
acomjean
I like biographies by Tracy Kidder:

"A truck full of money" About Paul English the founder of Kyak.com. 'One mans
quest to recover from great success"

[https://www.sfchronicle.com/books/article/A-Truck-Full-of-
Mo...](https://www.sfchronicle.com/books/article/A-Truck-Full-of-Money-by-
Tracy-Kidder-9239645.php)

Another Tracy Kidder biography is "Mountains beyond Moutains" this book traces
the life of physician and anthropologist Paul Farmer
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountains_Beyond_Mountains](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountains_Beyond_Mountains)

It isn't really a biography, but soul of a new machine is really interesting
story about 80s computer companies. He won a pulizer for it.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Soul_of_a_New_Machine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Soul_of_a_New_Machine)

------
ma2rten
Stillness Flowing Biography of Ajahn Chah
[https://www.abhayagiri.org/books/617-stillness-
flowing](https://www.abhayagiri.org/books/617-stillness-flowing)

He is a Thai Buddhist monk, who is responsible for introducing
mindfulness/insight mediation to the west.

------
Kemejii
_Both biography and autobiography_

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman

Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance

My Life and Work by Henry Ford

My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla by Ben Johnston and Nikola
Tesla

The Autobiography of Charles Darwin by Charles Darwin

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

------
kgwgk
Some autobiographical writings:

T. E. Lawrence:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mint_(book)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mint_\(book\))

Władysław Szpilman:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pianist_(memoir)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pianist_\(memoir\))

Primo Levi:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_This_Is_a_Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_This_Is_a_Man)

------
techstrategist
I have a guilty pleasure of reading biographies of people who are moderately
famous/wealthy/successful and are talking themselves up, as I think they
reveal interesting things about the human condition and ambition. On that note
I enjoyed “Time to Make the Donuts” and “Money Monster”, both on
entrepreneurship.

I go back to some greats like Benjamin Franklin as well, but the books on the
margin lacking polish can be more interesting.

------
sn9
_Genius_ by James Gleick is the best biography I've ever read. It's about the
life of Richard Feynman.

Gleick's _Isaac Newton_ is also fantastic.

------
itamarst
[http://meganmarshallauthor.com/books_peabodysisters.shtml](http://meganmarshallauthor.com/books_peabodysisters.shtml)
\- since I live in Boston area, especially interesting to hearabout both how
the area has changed culturally and physically, and to learn about people
whose homes I have visited on tours of historic homes.

[https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Yukichi-
Fukuzawa/dp/023...](https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Yukichi-
Fukuzawa/dp/023113987X) \- great perspective on a period of massive
intellectual/cutural/political change in Japan

[https://www.amazon.com/Annie-Besant-Lives-Modern-
Women/dp/01...](https://www.amazon.com/Annie-Besant-Lives-Modern-
Women/dp/0140086633/) \- interesting to see change and continuity in the life
of someone extremely capable and influential

~~~
samblr
Any other recommendation of Japan's books in English.

~~~
lubujackson
A fictionalized biography to be sure, but I highly recommend Musashi by Eiji
Yoshikawa: [https://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-
Era/dp/156...](https://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-
Era/dp/156836427X) about the famous samurai. It reads like a fantasy novel.

Also Taiko by the same author is a fictionalized version of the 3 kingdoms
period, told from an interesting perspective.

------
simplesleeper
Jungle Soldier - story of Freddie Spencer Chapman (like Lawrence of Arabia,
but even better story)

Left to Tell - Immaculée Ilibagiza's life, story of survival of the Rwandan
Genocide and a tale of how to live on after such tragedy and how to forgive
the unforgiveable.

Longitude - essentially a biography of John Harrison, the man who solved the
longitude problem (and probably thereby made the success of the British
Empire)

X, Y & Z - a brilliant biography of all the French, English and Polish
codebreakers of WW2

Agent Zigzag - the story of the man who betrayed everyone and could possibly
have killed Hitler if he was allowed

William Pitt the Younger (Robin Reilly) - possibly one of the most difficult
periods in British History saw one of the best British Prime Ministers to date

Kukuczka - the story of how he became one of the world's most impressive
climbers despite communist oppression

The Galileo Affair: A Documentary History - a highly interesting book that
brings the necessary documents to the table to help understand a topic that is
often treated in a very facile way

Ivan III and the Unification of Russia - a great book for understanding the
basis on which Russia was built

Xenophon's Anabasis - what a load of fun. How to lead a failed army back home
and gorge on mad honey

------
sonnyblarney
"American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer"

A lot about American and international politics during the Manhattan Project
that is very insightful.

------
craydandy
Here are some that I've enjoyed reading:

Steve Martin - Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

Kevin Mitnick - Ghost In The Wires

Kenneth Roman - The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of
Modern Advertising

Walter Isaacson - Steve Jobs

Alan Deutschman - The Second Coming of Steve Jobs

James Wallace - Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire

Alice Schroeder - The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

Richard Branson - Losing My Virginity

------
dkural
Lawrence in Arabia by Scott Anderson A mathematician's apology by G.H Hardy My
Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern
World by Jack Weatherford Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts
Lenin: The Man, the Dictator, and the Master of Terror by Victor Sebestyen
Hamilton by Ron Chernow

------
mattbee
_Limonov_ by Emmanuel Carrère is a sensitive and conflicting portrait of an
extraordinary Russian (who's still alive).

------
cafard
Quickly read: The "Personal Narrative" sections of Richard Gabriel's _Patterns
of Software_ , available at
[https://www.dreamsongs.com/Files/PatternsOfSoftware.pdf](https://www.dreamsongs.com/Files/PatternsOfSoftware.pdf)

------
jkeat
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World

Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo

Born Standing Up (Steve Martin's autobiography)

------
ai_ia
Shoe dog by Phil Knight, Nike Founder.

Best book on entrepreneurship journey, I have ever read.

The book is a heartfelt autobiography.

------
ljsocal
Wright Brothers by David McCullough Bonanza King: John McKay by Gregory Crouch
Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance My Life as a Goddess by Guy Branum Born a Crime by
Trevor Noah

The last two are especially good as audiobook autobiographies read by the
author.

------
fsloth
All of the Walter Isaacson biographies are fantastic.

To understand how modern digital ecosystem came to be I cannot think of a
better combination than Isaacson's "Innovators" and "The Dream Machine" by
Waldrop.

~~~
dkural
His Leonardo biography is mediocre at best. It may read smoothly but he lacks
a good grasp of the subject matter. Instead, Leonardo is like an earlier Steve
Jobs of some kind.

~~~
jkeat
I've enjoyed some of Walter Isaacson's books but always worried an internet-
intellectual would roast me for that.

I think those biographies are more pop than his fans like to think and more
academic than his detractors might imagine.

~~~
fsloth
I don't think there is anything wrong in 'pop' when the work is intended to be
popular. I expect the biographer to verify her sources but as a reader I'm not
going to go out (generally) to verify them.

Things that happened, happened. Most of all when reading popular biographies I
want to be introduced to real things that happened, and if some of that draws
my interest, I can then dig in to more academic sources.

The popular biographies offer the '100 feet' view over their subject and the
society in which they lived in, and should not be disparaged if they succeed
in doing that in a readable and entertaining manner.

~~~
jkeat
Yeah, I just think 'pop' is a good word to take down something seen as a
comprehensive work when it's more of a '100 foot overview.'

That's a rare thing, though. The adjective should probably be used neutrally
way more often than derogatorily.

------
amrx431
May sound like a cliche but Mahatma Gandhi's "My experiment with Truth." is a
good read to get an idea of the philosophy of a major percentage of world
population throughout the history.

------
mbadros
Two worthwhile autobiographies - Phil Knight's "Shoe Dog" (about the growth of
Nike) and Kay Graham's "Personal History" (about the Washington Post)

------
imraj96
A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age.

Walter Isaacson books

------
julienchastang
I enjoyed iWoz, the autobiography of Steve Wozniak about how Apple Inc. got
started. A little known fact is that Woz still works for Apple doing
promotional stuff for the company.

------
spacegod
The Singapore Story - Lee Kuan Yew

Biography of Malcolm X

Deng Xiaopeng and the Transformation of China

The Power Broker

------
banjo_milkman
The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan by Robert Kanigel ;
it's impossible to understand how he figured out the amazing things he did.
His story is a tragedy.

Locke: A biography by Roger Woolhouse ; the father of classical liberalism in
a time of upheaval in England, interactions with the king, banishment to
Holland, promoted religious toleration

The Double Helix: James Watson; scientific discovery in 1950s Cambridge, the
thrill of the race to be first, controversy with Rosalind Franklin

The Caro books on Lyndon Johnson; insight into the ugly guts of politics, what
it takes to win & the course of mid-20th century American history

The Mark Levison book on the Beatles is amazing - the only volume he has
finished takes ~700 pages to get to the release of their first single.
Arguably the most important cultural phenomenon of the 20th century.

Andrew Hodge's biography of Alan Turing

------
ahmaman
Now I have a large list of biographies to read! thanks a lot to everyone's
recommendation I really appreciate it! :)

------
chefkoch
I really loved "My wicked, wicked ways" about the live of Errol Flynn.

If even half of it is true, he had enough adventures for a lot of movies. Also
such a fun read.

------
faitswulff
Any biographical recommendations on Srinivasa Ramanujan?

~~~
banjo_milkman
I really enjoyed the Man who knew Infinity by Kanigel. Seemed to capture the
flavor of Cambridge at the time. It's a movie too, but I haven't seen it.

------
humility
Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman - Richard Feynman

------
samblr
My Life and Work - Henry Ford

A true engineer at heart. His comeback in life is very similar to that of
Steve Jobs. Man was a true genius.

------
fiftyacorn
It doesnt fit into your categories - but comedian Billy Connolly's "Made In
Scotland" autobiography is really good

------
User23
Here’s another vote for Ben Franklin’s autobiography. It’s full of remarkably
good advice and aged very well.

------
nestorherre
Elon Musk - Ashlee Vance.

Hands down one of the most inspiring and motivating biographies I've read.

~~~
amarghose
Agreed - after reading this one I really stepped up my reading game (Audible
helps a lot!) and it's helped my creativity and problem solving a lot :-)

------
aestetix
The Last Lion - a multi-volume biography of Winston Churchill, by William
Manchester.

------
auslegung
Anything by Walter Isaacson.

Memoirs of Jacques Casanova

Autobiography of Benvenuto Cillini

------
BaudouinVH
Last train to Memphis - Peter Guralnick (Elvis)

------
asdf_321
The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin

------
javabird
Benjamin Franklinis

------
adityapurwa
The Biography of Prophet Muhammad: [https://www.amazon.com/Ar-Raheeq-Al-
Makhtum-Sealed-Nectar-Bi...](https://www.amazon.com/Ar-Raheeq-Al-Makhtum-
Sealed-Nectar-Biography/dp/1591440718)

Learning the ups & downs of a human, who tried to change the world, and
delivered the religion of Islam.

------
chungleong
Irena Sendler: Mother of the Children of the Holocaust

------
skookumchuck
"Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War"

[https://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Fighter-Pilot-Who-
Changed/dp/031...](https://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Fighter-Pilot-Who-
Changed/dp/0316796883)

