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A collection of nonfiction books in honor of my favorite podcast, Doomsday.
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
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Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection
by
John Green (Goodreads Author)
4.40 avg rating — 122,002 ratings
score: 272,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 2 |
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The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
by
David Grann (Goodreads Author)
4.17 avg rating — 193,566 ratings
score: 196,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 3 |
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Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
by
4.54 avg rating — 130,276 ratings
score: 193,
and
2 people voted
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| 4 |
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The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
by
Steven Johnson (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 55,564 ratings
score: 184,
and
2 people voted
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| 5 |
|
Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them
by
Jennifer Wright (Goodreads Author)
4.23 avg rating — 13,774 ratings
score: 171,
and
2 people voted
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| 6 |
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Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues
by
Jonathan Kennedy (Goodreads Author)
3.94 avg rating — 10,417 ratings
score: 169,
and
2 people voted
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| 7 |
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Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan's Disaster Zone
by
Richard Lloyd Parry (Goodreads Author)
4.20 avg rating — 7,910 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 8 |
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Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm, and the Sinking of El Faro
by
4.22 avg rating — 4,895 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 9 |
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Trial by Fire: A Devastating Tragedy, 100 Lives Lost, and A 15-Year Search for Truth
by
Scott James (Goodreads Author)
4.25 avg rating — 856 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 10 |
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Denali's Howl: The Deadliest Climbing Disaster on America's Wildest Peak
by
Andy Hall (Goodreads Author)
3.88 avg rating — 4,162 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 11 |
|
Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11
by
Mitchell Zuckoff (Goodreads Author)
4.67 avg rating — 7,440 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 12 |
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Triangle: The Fire That Changed America
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 7,646 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 13 |
|
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
by
David Grann (Goodreads Author)
3.90 avg rating — 108,253 ratings
score: 92,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 14 |
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In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors
by
4.33 avg rating — 23,355 ratings
score: 91,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 15 |
|
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883
by
3.88 avg rating — 21,631 ratings
score: 90,
and
1 person voted
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| 16 |
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The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America's Wildlands
by
3.68 avg rating — 8,172 ratings
score: 89,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 17 |
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Into Thin Air
by
Jon Krakauer (Goodreads Author)
4.26 avg rating — 556,834 ratings
score: 88,
and
1 person voted
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| 18 |
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The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time
by
John Kelly (Goodreads Author)
3.88 avg rating — 11,355 ratings
score: 87,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 19 |
|
The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party
by
Daniel James Brown (Goodreads Author)
4.25 avg rating — 36,370 ratings
score: 86,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 20 |
|
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster
by
Adam Higginbotham (Goodreads Author)
4.37 avg rating — 62,333 ratings
score: 84,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 21 |
|
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
by
4.41 avg rating — 278,313 ratings
score: 83,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 22 |
|
When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time
by
4.10 avg rating — 1,529 ratings
score: 82,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 23 |
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The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History
by
3.98 avg rating — 42,191 ratings
score: 81,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 24 |
|
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
by
Timothy Egan (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 60,758 ratings
score: 80,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 25 |
|
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
by
Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)
4.05 avg rating — 70,957 ratings
score: 79,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 26 |
|
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
by
Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)
4.13 avg rating — 158,856 ratings
score: 78,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 27 |
|
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa
by
4.19 avg rating — 67,246 ratings
score: 77,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 28 |
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Iceland's Secret: The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Con
by
Jared Bibler (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 245 ratings
score: 76,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 29 |
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Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage
by
4.04 avg rating — 3,146 ratings
score: 75,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 30 |
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The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
by
4.22 avg rating — 27,392 ratings
score: 74,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 31 |
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To Sleep with the Angels: The Story of a Fire
by
4.40 avg rating — 2,005 ratings
score: 70,
and
1 person voted
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| 32 |
|
The Great Halifax Explosion
by
4.18 avg rating — 3,912 ratings
score: 69,
and
1 person voted
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32 books ·
4 voters ·
list created January 2nd
by Ow1goddess (votes) .
Tags:
disaster, nonfiction
People Who Voted On This List (4)
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