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Notable Non-Fiction April 2026 |
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Mafia: A Global History
by Ryan Gingeras
Historian Ryan Gingeras' (The Last Days of the Ottoman Empire) sweeping account surveys the origins and exploits of organized crime syndicates throughout the world, including the Mafia, yakuza, triad, and more. Try this next: Naples 1343: The Unexpected Origins of the Mafia by Amedeo Feniello.
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The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind
by Simon Winchester
Author and journalist Simon Winchester presents a celebration of wind. Drawing fascinating references from science, engineering, and literature, Winchester is clearly enraptured by this natural force, evidenced by his vivid depictions of its role in civilization’s destruction (typhoons, tornadoes, wildfires) and salvation (wind-powered energy solutions). This is a captivating ode to elemental nature in the vein of Cynthia Barnett’s Rain: A Natural and Cultural History.
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Oblivious: Residential Schools, Segregated Hospitals, and the Use of Indigenous Peoples as Slaves of Race Science
by Elaine Dewar
An investigative journalist reckons with the cost of settler privilege in this gripping expos of racism and unethical science. In the last thirty years, various parties have exposed government archives recording the facts of Canada's genocidal attempt to destroy its Indigenous populations, a gradual holocaust of segregation, poverty, coerced labour, avoidable infectious diseases, forced migrations, and even unethical and cruel scientific experiments, all while the descendants of Prairie settlers enticed by the same government to take over Indigenous territories prospered at their expense.
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The Best Dog in the World: Essays on Love
by Alice Hoffman
Anyone who has ever been fortunate enough to share their life with a dog knows the experience is both profound and transformative. Here, in this charming collection of essays, fourteen celebrated authors share unforgettable tales of the dogs who left their pawprints on their hearts. A love letter to the loyal companions who enrich our lives and teach us about empathy, joy, and unconditional love, this anthology is the perfect gift for dog lovers everywhere, offering a blend of laughter, tears, and inspiration that will resonate with anyone who has been fur-ever touched by the love of a dog.
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Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe
by Matti Friedman
In 1944, a team of young women and men who had escaped the Holocaust made the inconceivable choice to parachute back into Nazi-occupied Europe under the cover of a British military operation. Yet by the end of the mission, not a single Nazi was harmed and not a single Jew was saved, and many of the parachutists died in the process. Even so, some of their names would become legendary, especially that of twenty-three-year-old Hannah Senesh, the author of the beloved Hebrew song Eli, Eli. Their story would become one of the young state of Israel's founding myths--but what exactly was the mission, and what had the parachutists actually accomplished?
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Winning Pitch: Canada's Search for World Cup Success and Beyond
by Murray Mollard
A must-read for any soccer fan who wants to understand the full North American World Cup story. In Winning Pitch, author and soccer executive Murray Mollard explores Canada's soccer history, from their past FIFA heartbreaks in 1986 and 2022 to the current strategic blueprint being built for 2026. Through exclusive interviews with coaches, executives, and players, readers will discover the lessons learned and the changes being made to ensure Canada's team is ready for the world's biggest stage. Drawing on this research and over five decades in the sport as a player and executive, Mollard aims to get to the heart of what it will take to secure Canada's future in the Beautiful Game. succeed.
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Love Thy Stranger: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West
by Bart D. Ehrman
When we donate money to victims of natural disasters, or offer our forgiveness, or consider it a government's responsibility to provide some basic assistance to those in need--, we are (knowingly or not) demonstrating the enduring legacy of a particularly Christian kind of love. For centuries, Greek and Roman moral philosophers prioritized generosity towards friends and family. Even Old Testament exhortations to love your neighbor gave little reason to consider the suffering of those beyond your own community. Jesus changed all this, introducing a revolutionary new ethical obligation to love those you didn't even know--unconditionally--and to demonstrate that love through acts of care. The implications of this radical commandment would be debated, misunderstood, and resisted by early Christians. But by the fifth century, a new common sense began to transform the moral conscience--and the politics--of the West.
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