Another suggestion or 2 - Exactly, Simon Winchester. All his other books are well worth reading, especially The Doctor of Crowthorne, lately a movie with Mel Gibson and Sean Penn. For something more cerebral, ALL the books by Jared Diamond - IMHO his Collapse is very pertinent to Australia now. Workshop manual on the Jag D type is good. Darwin's Origin of Species (almost free for Kindle) is a surprisingly easy read for its time....shouldnt have got me started.