You might enjoy Last Chance to See, from Douglas Adams.<p>It is a tells how he traveled searching for near extinct species. It is non-technical and non-fiction, but it is a Douglas Adams book, so he explains a lot of things and makes up stories a long the way. That is his style.
Flight From The Reich, Dwork, D. 2009<p>Personal histories of Jews successfully escaping Nazis and not. Remember December, 1939, the border closes, and in that foul month, crossing the Georgia Straight can be hazardous.