Looking for a gift for a history enthusiast? Try this list of suggestions provided by the editors of World History Group’s magazines.

American History

  • Revolutionary Founders: Rebels, Radicals, and Reformers in the Making of the Nation, ed. by Alfred Young, Gary Nash and Ray Raphael
  • The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies, by Alan Taylor
  • David Crockett: The Lion of the West, by Michael Wallis
  • Grant’s Final Victory: Ulysses S. Grant’s Heroic Last Year, by Charles Bracelen Flood
  • American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900, by H.W. Brands

America’s Civil War

  • America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation, by David R. Goldfield
  • 1861: The Civil War Awakening, by Adam Goodheart
  • Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War, by Tony Horwitz
  • Lincoln on War: Our Greatest Commander-in-Chief Speaks to America, edited by Harold Holzer
  • A Glorious Army: Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia From the Seven Days to Gettysburg, by Jeffry Wert

Aviation History

  • Bombs Away! The World War II Bombing Campaigns Over Europe, by John R. Bruning
  • Come Up And Get Me: The Autobiography of Colonel Joe Kittinger, by Joe Kittinger and Craig Ryan
  • How the Helicopter Changed Modern Warfare, by Walter J. Boyne
  • Mission to Berlin: The American Airmen Who Struck the Heart of Hitler’s Reich, by Robert F. Dorr
  • The Flight of the Century: Charles Lindbergh and the Rise of American Aviation, by Thomas Kessner

British Heritage

  • Britain After Rome: The Fall and Rise, 400 to 1070, by Robin Fleming
  • London’s Classic Restaurants: A Guide to London’s Iconic Restaurants and Eateries, by Cara Frost-Sharratt
  • The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century, by Ian Mortimer

Civil War Times

  • The Siege of Washington: the Untold Story of the Twelve Days That Shook the Union, by John Lockwood and Charles Lockwood
  • The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, by Eric Foner
  • Stuart’s Tarheels: James B. Gordon and His North Carolina Cavalry in the Civil War, 2nd Edition, by Chris J. Hartley
  • Soldiering in the Army of Northern Virginia: A Statistical Portrait of the Troops Who Served under Robert E. Lee, by Joseph T. Glatthaar
  • Decisions at Gettysburg: The Nineteen Critical Decisions That Defined the Campaign, by Matt Spruill

Military History

  • Give Me Tomorrow: The Korean War’s Greatest Untold Story, by Patrick K. O’Donnell
  • What It Is Like to Go to War, by Karl Marlantes
  • A History of the World in 100 Weapons, by Chris McNab
  • Mr. and Mrs. Madison’s War, by Hugh Howard

MHQ

  • Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, by James D. Hornfischer
  • The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies, by Alan Taylor
  • The First Clash: The Miraculous Greek Victory at Marathon and Its Impact on Western Civilization, by Jim Lacey

See a more complete list at MHQ’s Reviews: Best Books of 2011.

Vietnam

  • Haunting Legacy: Vietnam and the American Presidency From Ford to Obama, by Marvin and Deborah Kalb
  • No Sure Victory, by Gregory A. Daddis
  • The Vietnam War: An Assessment by South Vietnam’s Generals, ed. with essays by Lewis Sorley
  • The Vietnam War—A Chronology of War, ed. by Col. Raymond Bluhm Jr.

Wild West

  • Kit Carson: The Life of an American Border Man, by David A. Remley
  • Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands, by Roger L. Di Silvestro
  • Buffalo Bill: Scout, Showman, Visionary, by Steve Friesen
  • Bandido: The Life and Times of Tiburcio Vasquez, by John Boessenecker
  • The Last Gunfight: The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral—And How it Changed the American West, by Jeff Guinn

World War II

  • Combat! The complete series on DVD
  • Brothers, Rivals,Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe,  by Jonathan W. Jordan
  • Black Sheep: The Life of Pappy Boyington, By John F. Wukovits
  • Always Faithful: U.S. Marines in World War II Combat, by Eric Hammel
  • Dino D-Day: A frantic, team-based, first-person shooter about … Nazi dinosaurs