Five Great Gift Ideas for History Book Lovers

If you know a reader of historical fiction and nonfiction and they don't have one of these titles already in your library, head immediately to the bookstore. These five books (listed in no particular order) are essential for any history buff's bookshelf:

1. 1776 by David McCullough

Bestselling author and highly esteemed historian David McCullough explores what is perhaps the most crucial year in American history - the first year of our nation's formal existence, 1776. McCullough looks primarily at the military side of that tumultuous year, which nearly saw both the birth and death of the United States of America. McCullough delivers with though-provoking insight and impressive scholarship. It becomes abundantly clear to the reader that McCullough's hero is George Washington, to whom we owe a debt we can never repay. McCullough brilliantly captures the desperate situation that Washington and his Continental Army found themselves in 1776, and the reader can't help but be thrilled with Washington's breathtaking triumphs at Trenton and Princeton at year's end. McCullough's book is hard to put down, and is one of the best books ever written on the American Revolution.

2. A Godly Hero by Michael Kazin

The only time most people learn of William Jennings Bryan is when they're introduced to the caricatured "fool" of the famous Scopes "Monkey Trial" of 1925, when Bryan was allegedly humiliated for his biblical fundamentalism and creationist ideology by renowned attorney Clarence Darrow. This caricature is given devastating depth in the popular movie Inherit the Wind, a fictionalized take on the Scopes Trial, written initially as a play and later translated onto the silver screen.

Kazin's more complex and sympathetic portrait of Bryan is far closer to the genuine artifact. William Jennings Bryan was, quite simply, one of the most influential public leaders in American history. The apex of his career extended from his first Democratic presidential nomination in 1896 until his departure as Woodrow Wilson's peace-loving Secretary of State on the eve of America's entry into World War I. Bryan was at the forefront of several amendments to our Constitution, including the controversial Prohibition amendment (later repealed) and the income tax as well as granting women the national right to vote. Kazin's book shows how the three-time presidential candidate and legendary orator acquired this influence and cast such a huge shadow over American society. It's well worth the read.

3. Washington's Secret War by Thomas Fleming

One of the only soldiers who stayed with the revolutionary cause from the very beginning to its complete end, enduring the hardships in between, was George Washington. Far from the bland, granny-like portrait on the dollar bill, the real George Washington was a tough, determined, larger-than-life leader who perservered through desperate circumstances to achieve final victory in America's longest conflict until the Vietnam War. But, as Thomas Fleming points out, Washington's greatest challenge didn't come from the British, but from the homefront. Thus, more than any other military commander in American history, George Washington had to be equally adept at political maneuvering as he was in military strategy.

Washington's political (and even military) foes grew in number as the difficult years of the war dragged on. Things came to a head while Washington was struggling to keep his army clothed, fed, and sheltered in the bitter months at Valley Forge.

Fleming provides a great service in highlighting this aspect of the Revolution, an aspect no less important than the battles we learned about in grade school.

4. The Rising Tide by Jeff Shaara

If the person you're buying for likes historical fiction, try Jeff Shaara's latest, The Rising Tide. Shaara's father, Michael, wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning classic The Killer Angels, a literary masterpiece about the Battle of Gettysburg. The Killer Angels was as much fact as fiction, in that it stayed true to historical events and personalities, but veered into fiction by utilizing diaries and eyewitness accounts to recreate dialogue and get into the "minds" of the principals. Jeff has followed in his father's footsteps, churning out some real page-turners of historical fiction, including the prequel (Gods and Generals) and sequel (The Last Full Measure) to his father's book as well as treatments of the Mexican War (Gone for Soldiers), the American Revolution (Rise to Rebellion and Glorious Cause), and World War I (To the Last Man). His latest, The Rising Tide, is sure to be a hit!

5. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Doris Kearns Goodwin's bestselling book on the Lincoln presidency is now in paperback. Goodwin, a renowned historian, examines President Lincoln and three of his key Cabinet members: William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates. As Goodwin points out, Lincoln's skill with people was perhaps his greatest strength as a leader, and his Cabinet reflected that. Any Civil War buff who likes to read will enjoy this book.

Bottom line...you can't go wrong with any of these books, unless of course, the person you're buying for already has them. If that's the case, read them yourself. You won't be disappointed.