Whats the saddest non-fiction book you've read?

[scpanther22]

Been more in the mood recently to read real human stories, Doesn't have to be sad could be anything that truly moved you.

My choice for something recent I am reading is "Gaddafis Harem". Which I am about half way through now. A reporter is recounting the story of a young girl that was kidnapped by Muammar  Gaddafi and was subjected to years of rape and torture. Honestly doesn't seem real all the stuff this girl had to go through.

[Davidson Deac II]

The rise and fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer.

[Jaycat]

In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of its Survivors.

The ship had just delivered components of the Hiroshima bomb to Tinian and was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Due to incompetence on the Navy's part, 900 men were left in the water for nearly 5 days to suffer shark attacks, dehydration, and madness. Only 316 survived.

To add insult to injury, Captain McVay was court martialed for failing to zigzag. Sad chapter in the history of the US Navy. They used McVay as a scapegoat to cover their asses. He committed suicide in 1968.

[PhillyB]

1 hour ago, Jaycat said:

In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of its Survivors.

The ship had just delivered components of the Hiroshima bomb to Tinian and was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Due to incompetence on the Navy's part, 900 men were left in the water for nearly 5 days to suffer shark attacks, dehydration, and madness. Only 316 survived.

To add insult to injury, Captain McVay was court martialed for failing to zigzag. Sad chapter in the history of the US Navy. They used McVay as a scapegoat to cover their asses. He committed suicide in 1968.

great book. seeing those PBYs buzzing overhead for days had to be incomprehensibly catastrophic to morale. 

[Anybodyhome]

For those of you who never got this lesson in your high school history classes, the United States rounded up thousands of Japanese-Americans and put them into prison camps, although they were called internment camps or relocation camps. The vast majority of them were American citizens who owned businesses and were an integral part of the community. But they were Japanese and after Pearl Harbor, it was good enough reason for some....

Sound familiar?  

[imminent rogaine]

This is historical fiction, I suppose.  Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. Though it is fiction and set in WWI, this story, no-doubt, has played out countless times throughout history. I think the character was even based on the story of a real soldier. This book touched me particularly deeply because around the time I first read it, my wife's friend's husband was injured in an IED explosion.  At the time, he was the most severely injured member of our military to not die. His injuries were very similar to the ones the soldier has in the book. It was as if I was reading a first hand-account of what he was living through and thinking.

This book was powerful enough that they quit publishing it during WWII. I recommend it to everyone.