Need the Howard Zinn of secret santas

December 19, 2011 11:03 AM

Recommend-a-gift: political/historical book edition.

In my extended family's secret santa, I drew my uncle's partner, who I don't really know that well. Am thinking of getting him a book-- he likes politics (very left leaning), he's middle aged, from detroit... so, book recommendations based on that? Not sure of specific interests within history/politics.

Complication: would like something that not every self-respecting left leaning political book owner would have (maybe something released really recently?) YET still something I could find at a physical bookstore in a metro area rather than paying for fast shipping.

Other bland gift ideas for this sort of situation also welcomed, ha.

posted by geegollygosh to media & arts (11 answers total)

A book I found very interesting was "The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia" which I remember I was able to find in Barnes and Noble when I bought it for my dad at the last minute for Christmas last year :)

If your uncle's partner is a little bit radical they might find it interesting. The book goes into how mountain tribes in Southeast Asia historically avoided conscription into "State-Building Projects" - first by the Chinese and Indian empires, and later with respect to Communism and proxy wars. It might be interesting to someone living in Detroit, where there seems to be a growing interest in non-state sponsored community building, as well as to someone who lived through the Vietnam era, as it talks about the mountains being involved in that war against their will generally.

Good luck!
posted by permiechickie at 11:11 AM on December 19, 2011

I just bought Hark a Vagrant for a friend that fits into that profile. It's hilarious, awesome for anyone that has a sense of humor and loves history, and is probably something they'd never thought of getting for themselves.
posted by sawdustbear at 11:28 AM on December 19, 2011

Jon Hodgman from the Daily Show has a new book which might be good if he also likes funny things.
posted by dizziest at 12:07 PM on December 19, 2011

Seconding Hark a Vagrant.
posted by scruss at 12:24 PM on December 19, 2011

Oh, dude, you should get him Detroit: I Do Mind Dying. Or the new David Graeber, Debt: The First 5000 Years. Or if you're not looking for totally contemporary US history, Peter Linebaugh's Many- Headed Hydra and The London Hanged.

Or what about a gift certificate to a radical or otherwise fancy bookstore or press? Then he could order for himself. PM Press does gift certificates and they have some really good books, plus it's a more obscure press so it's still a thoughtful present. So does AK Press. I am myself a radical in what I must admit is the last of youth/early middle age, and I would love a gift certificate to either of these.
posted by Frowner at 1:48 PM on December 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oooh, links are all screwed up, but the PM Press and AK ones should go through.
posted by Frowner at 1:48 PM on December 19, 2011

Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy is a pretty incredible collection of interviews with Jacqueline Kennedy just after her husband was killed. It's a number of DVDs and a small book. I got it for my Kennedy-obsessed mother.
posted by General Malaise at 2:22 PM on December 19, 2011

My favorite book on grassroots organizing is Going Public by Michael Gecan. It's got a lot of great information in there while still being a really easy and enjoyable read.
posted by cheerwine at 2:46 PM on December 19, 2011

Came to say Detroit, I Do Mind Dying and Frowner has it there already.
posted by Abiezer at 2:52 PM on December 19, 2011

The Warmth of Others Suns

In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, ...including Detroit!

Really, it is an amazingly good book.
posted by R. Mutt at 4:21 PM on December 19, 2011

*The Warmth of Other Suns, I mean.
posted by R. Mutt at 4:22 PM on December 19, 2011