These Gifts Will Make History at Your Next Holiday Gathering

This tome boasts over 700 pages of fun facts that will leave readers scratching their heads. Does NASCAR have roots in bootlegging moonshine? Did Ronald Reagan see not one but two UFOs during his lifetime? You’ll find the answers to these questions and more you never even thought to ask.

For those who like their history with a side of humor, gift them this world history edition of Mad Libs—the fill-in-the-blank word game where you come up with your own hilarious version of events.

Wow a friend or family member with this book full of surprising World War II trivia. The chapters are bite-sized and easy to read, and it’s perfect for anyone who’s expressed a passing interest in the topic or even studies WWII as a hobby.

Queen Victoria was related to nearly every royal family in Europe by the end of her life, whether through her own bloodlines or her children’s marriage. This 2020 release interrogates her particularly difficult relationship with the doomed Romanov family. Could the British queen have saved them from their final fate—and why, exactly, did she not lift a finger to do so?

A charming read for anyone who grew up with Sesame Street—or anyone who plunked their child in front of the show to catch a half-hour break. Sunny Days investigates how the 1970s became the birth of children’s television and catalogs the many, many shows that brought education to the silver screen.

In 1630, the governor of Massachusetts Bay shared a sermon that since become a symbol of America itself—John Winthrop described his colonists’ destination in America as a city upon a hill, which could shine out to the rest of the world as an example of political, spiritual, and moral righteousness. Van Engen explores how the phrase has shaped American exceptionalism and been a guide and a specter over American lives, values, and government. 

This fascinating 2020 release explores the service and the lives of the Women Airforce Service Pilots who flew across Europe during World War II. Although the WASP women were not allowed to serve in combat, they made vital contributions as flight trainers and in carrying supplies and bombs across the warfront.

Up your thematic gift-giving game with this exploration of how the Victorian era shaped Christmas traditions that continue to the present day. From Christmas trees to the effect Prince Albert had on Christmas in Britain, many of the historic traditions will ring a jingle bell.

This gorgeous coffee table book is perfect for particularly detail-oriented military historians. Covering 4,000 years of weaponry, Roger Ford and R.G. Grant take browsers through the evolution of weapons of every form, from knives to guns and everything in between.