Justin Hardy Hardy itibaren Próchnowo, Polen
Penelope Liverly won the Booker Award for this book, and it's the story of a non-academic historian who is telling the history of the world on her last day of life. The "Moon Tiger" of the story is, in essence, a spiral, and this is her image of history, particularly as she relives it in her dementia. It's brilliantly written and is, I think, the culmination of her fascination with history. I read this in the boundary waters on a layover day and was completely taken up with it.
If you liked the film 'Kingdom of Heaven' and you want to find out the history that the story was (loosely) derived from then this is the perfect book.
I really find this book useful. I have particularly used the parts on knowing you are confused and then on how to fix confusion. I have photocopied parts right out of the book and given them to my 9th graders.