Ho ho ho, by request of longtime regular /u/HallenbeckJoe we are re-running a feature thread we did this same time last year. So please use this thread to share your favorite history-themed gift ideas, or request ideas for your most hard-to-shop-for history buffs, and maybe bookmark it for use for birthdays and other gift-giving occasions.
If you're looking for a gift for a Roman history buff, I love the Marcus Didius Falco mystery books a whole bunch. They're a funny Nick-and-Nora style series, the jokes are self-aware and amusingly anachronistic. In addition the author starts researching her books not from literary sources as is more common, but from Roman archaeology, which gives her books an unusually vibrant subaltern-focused view of Rome.
I'm going to recommend a couple of pieces of good historical fiction (two novels and a film).
First, El Siglo de las Luces, by Alejo Carpentier. Amazing novel. In the more concrete sense, it follows several Cuban elites as the live and travel around the Caribbean, France, and Spain, during the French Revolution and in view of its impact on the Caribbean (such as the Haitian Revolution). It is based on a good bit of historical research, with amusing tidbits like how Barbados has a tombstone dedicated to one of the last Palaiologos (last Byzantine dynasty), who ended up as a priest, dying in a quaint town in the middle of the Caribbean. The most interesting part is how Carpentier attempts to understand the real life figure of Victor Hugues; a French Revolutionary who begins as a firm Jacobin but is able to survive and even thrive despite the Revolution steadily turning to the right and against all his original ideals. Really well done attempt at a psychological study of how people's minds change during revolution. Also a really cool portrait of late 18th century Cuba, for those interested.
Another novel, The War of the End of the World (also translatable as 'War at the Ends of the Earth'), by Vargas Llosa. It is a 200+ character historical novel following the seemingly self-contradictory rebellion in Canudos, in the impoverished North East of the country. The book is a great study not only in what happened in Canudos but also how people attempt and fail to understand contemporary events. It is a study in how everyone was blinded by their own ideological presumptions about what was going on in Canudos and interpreted it however they wished; as a Revolutionary uprising of the people, as a backwards reaction of the clergy, and the misguided fanaticism of the uneducated.
Film wise, I'd suggest Fernando Pérez' master work El Ojo del Canario (Eye of the Canary), about the early years of José Martí. Martí is famous for reorganizing the Cuban independence movement from exile and dying in combat shortly after the second independence war was ignited (1895). This film follows his early years (12-16) when he began to glimpse the injustices of the Spanish regime, began his own pro-independence newspaper (at 16) and was sent to forced labor camps where he was on the verge of death before having his sentence commuted to simple exile instead of brutal work in the quarries. The film is also highly important in contemporary Cuba since its release less than five years ago, since it has important sections where democracy and the importance of standing up for what is right are portrayed in obvious allusions to contemporary Cuban politics. The part where Martí goes on a rant against the repression of his free speech make me, as a Cuban American, get goosebumps everytime. The idea that this was filmed, produced, and shown in contemporary Cuba hints at how censorship has diminished in recent years.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cuban-movie-Jose-Marti-El-Ojo-del-Canario-NEW-Cuban-DVD-/121287176231
Give the scent of death this holiday season with Piedra de Sol by Fueguia. With a scent based on copal, a tree sap used by Mesoamericans for incense, heads will turn when Death itself walks into the room. Copal has long since had connotations with death and the afterlife from ancient times to modern with the tree resin still being burned for Dia de los Muertos ceremonies. Suitable for men or women Piedra de Sol is a great compliment for any collection of fragrances. Don't believe me? Ask the countless older folks that have one leg in the grave who have complimented me on this relaxing yet morbid scent.
How about some movies?
Let's say you want to gift a person one of the most historically accurate war movie ever made. If that person in question has nothing against black-and-white movies with subtitles, you can not go wrong with the fantastic The Battle of Algiers (1966) which is available on Blu-Ray and DVD through the Criterion Collection. It comes packed with extra features which includes historical documentaries on the topic, talks regarding the film itself and its influences (as well as craft) and even reprinted primary sources(!).
So if you and your loved ones have a love for postcolonial cinema, war cinema and the study of urban terrorism - this is the movie for you. (Seriously, watch it, it's fantastic.)
Historic rubber ducks! My brother has got me one every year for the last few years. Not entirely sure how much they cost, but they're mildly amusing and wouldn't be a bad secret Santa gift. Ones I've currently got: a pharaoh duck, a Viking duck (I know this came from the British museum and that for a lot of major exhibitions they'll have themed ducks), a Shakespeare duck and an American colonial era duck, for example, this is the Shakespeare duck I can find on Amazon.
Like Historical Fiction? Heres a little known Jewel of an author.