17 Escapist Nonfiction Books That Will Spirit You Away

Nonfiction doesn’t get much more escapist than the first-hand accounts of an American couple on a journey across England and Italy. Armed with only their bicycles, Elizabeth Robins Pennell and her husband Joseph Pennell were pioneers in extreme sports, taking the newly-advanced bicycle technology of the 1880s and running—or rather, biking with it—helping usher in a new age of leisure touring. 

The vivid diaries of this couple will take you not only to another place, but another time, allowing you to see the European continent from a first-person point of view so rarely offered in nonfiction, and so rarely as captivating. 

It’s no secret that the sport known as “America’s pastime” has decidedly fallen from that pedestal in recent years: football has largely replaced baseball as America’s most watched and most loved sport, with basketball in second place. So what happened? And is there anything the MLB can do to fix it?

In this insider exposé that is part history of baseball in American culture, part takedown of the modern MLB, Joe Kelly analyzes changes to rules, player attitudes, and other specific developments within the sport that have led to its decline. 

A baseball-lover at heart, Kelly ultimately seeks to return the game to its former glory, making the MLB see the error of its ways and offering suggestions on how it can carve out a new path forward.

Leave the present behind with a history of the Roman Empire like you’ve never seen it. Far from a dry account, The Way of the Gladiator takes on the flavor of a fabulously-researched pop history book by a gifted writer. 

Daniel P. Mannix dissects one of the world’s first spectator sports with a vividness and verve that will captivate history buffs, sports fans, and complete strangers to the subject alike. It’s no wonder this book served as the basis for Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000) and Gladiator II (2024). 

Some people watch movies to escape reality—why not read about them instead? Screenwriter Charles Brackett and his partner in crime, director Billy Wilder, defined the Golden Age of Hollywood with instant classics like Sunset Boulevard and The Lost Weekend. 

Through the eyes of Brackett, supplemented by the critical analysis of film historian Anthony Slide, readers get a rare glimpse into the politics and creative intrigue at the heart of Hollywood institutions like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Screen Writers Guild. If the dramas these artists wrote for the silver screen don’t suck you in, the drama of their own lives certainly will. 

The French Quarter in New Orleans is one of the most famous neighborhoods in the United States, and with good reason. From pirates to prohibition, voodoo to Vieux Carré, and, of course, Mardi Gras, the rich history of this historic neighborhood could fill an entire book—and it does!

Street by street, story by story, local historian Andy Peter Antippas takes readers on a tour of this famed and fabled neighborhood. 

If any writer could be said to have the trick of drawing you into their world, it would be Ruth Gruber. In this memoir, Gruber cobbles together her notes and essays from 11 years of travel. Gruber surveyed Alaska for the federal government, went to Israel to assist European emigrants, spent time with Eleanor Roosevelt, and met all sorts of extraordinary people. Inside of Time is inspiring and deeply absorbing.

If you’re like us, you may be finding it tough to dig into a long and involved book right now. The Land of Little Rain is the perfect remedy. First published in 1903, you’ll find a series of lyrical essays about the American Southwest inside this slim volume. Whether you dip in and out or swallow it whole in one gulp, Austin’s rhapsodizing will take you into a new land.

Although aimed at young adults, readers of any age will find a sweet treat among these pages. Exploring the history of cacao and chocolate from ancient American civilizations to its use in the world wars, Frydenborg makes societies of all eras come alive.

Early 20th-century Paris was a hotspot for intellectuals, culture, sex, and change. In this detailed history of a key era, you’ll encounter some of the world’s most famous artists and learn about those time has forgotten. Franck’s immersive style and researched facts will draw you out of 2020 and place you into the previous century.

This riveting tale of a potentially forged Van Gogh painting is true crime for history fans. Grundvig traces the provenance of a Van Gogh hanging at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art back to its original restorer at the turn of the century. Combining investigation and art history, this fascinating book weaves a tale you won’t be able to turn away from.

An intriguing and entertaining look at our first President in his army days, Kitman explores Washington through his use of an unfettered expense account. Revealing and carefully researched, this book offers a new perspective on a national hero.

Escape into the world of Althea Altemus, a Jazz Age secretary. After her divorce in 1917, Altemus found herself newly in need of a job. She quickly made herself useful to a number of prominent businessmen in Chicago as a secretary—and got an inside look at the dealings of the rich and powerful. Although her employers are disguised, this charming memoir gives you a glimpse of the glamor and power of the 1920s.

Whether air conditioners are in the news for causing climate change or making offices just too cold, the seemingly simple household appliance gets a lot of attention. In Cool, Basile charts an invention from the moment of its creation through its outsized impacts on the world and our culture. 

Although best known for her mystery novels, Donna Leon’s delight in Venice has created more than a deeply felt sense of setting. In Gondola, Leon charts the use of Venice’s ubiquitous man-powered vehicle from getaway vehicle to tourists’ conveyance. 

Another exploration of the twinning of art and deception, Chasing Aphrodite explores the past behind many pieces from Los Angeles’s Getty Museum. Despite (or because of) its immense collection and immense wealth, many of the objects and paintings that Getty has acquired over the years have had a hint of impropriety around them. Authors Felch and Frammolino take their readers inside years of skulduggery that have created the wealth of the Getty and countless other museums like it with confidential interviews with staff and cataloguing of records.

“Anthropologist of everyday life” Margaret Visser turns her eye to gratitude in this enthralling examination. From gift-giving to saying thank you, gratitude is a key component of societies around the world. Visser investigates both how gratitude is given and received and what happens when proper gratitude is withheld, as well as the many different ways cultures around the world share their thanks.

Longing for the days of bonnets and Empire waists? Let Malcolm Day guide you through the mores of Jane Austen’s society, expanding your understanding of her classic novels through the real lives of the people who surrounded Austen and were reflected in her novels.