# Choose my dad's Xmas gift (book) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-my-dads-xmas-gift-book/474248 "2008-11-24T14:55:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-my-dads-xmas-gift-book/474248/1 "2008-11-24T14:55:45Z")
I always get my dad a book for Christmas, usually one that I’ve seen a review of or heard an author interviewed about, but nothing’s jumping out at me this year. I’m hoping one of you will have a suggestion, maybe something you’ve read recently and enjoyed. About my dad: prefers non-fiction or historical fiction retired CIA and politically conservative (I don’t like to get him books that have a left-wing slant, because they annoy him, but I also don’t like to feed the flames with anti-liberal stuff). interested in history, science, politics, current events previous gifts I know he’s enjoyed: _The Pentagon: A History_ by Steve Vogel, _Pillars of the Earth_ and the “sequel”, _Jefferson_ DVD ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-my-dads-xmas-gift-book/474248/2 "2008-11-24T15:00:00Z")
My husband is enjoying \*The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington \*by Jennet Conant. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-my-dads-xmas-gift-book/474248/3 "2008-11-24T16:50:50Z")
Fantastic Historical Fiction - [Genghis - Birth of an Empire](http://www.amazon.com/Genghis-Birth-Empire-Conn-Iggulden/dp/0440243904/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227545321&sr=8-1). I picked this up in a grocery store as a time-waster, and ended up devouring it and the sequel. If you don’t mind getting him hooked on a trilogy, this is a great start, and part III comes out in March (already preordered!). ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-my-dads-xmas-gift-book/474248/4 "2008-11-24T16:58:10Z")
If he hasn’t already read it (it’s a couple years old), then [Agent Zig Zag](http://www.amazon.com/Agent-Zigzag-Story-Espionage-Betrayal/dp/0307353419/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227545632&sr=1-1) by Ben McIntyre. His story could only be told after the opening of a bunch of previously secret records, and it’s fascinating. He was a British double agent in WWII, and quite the enigmatic character. Another good one is _The Last Hard Time_ by Tim Egan – it’s about the Dust Bowl years. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-my-dads-xmas-gift-book/474248/5 "2008-11-24T17:28:27Z")
I liked [Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World](http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Rome-1960/David-Maraniss/e/9781416534075/?itm=1). It’s all about how Cold War issues played out on the world stage at the Rome Olympics, so a lot of history and politics. I would say it’s okay for both liberals and conservatives. It’s actually on my list to get for _my own_ Dad, he also likes politics and I think it would be interesting for a person who lived during that time and remembers when it happened. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-my-dads-xmas-gift-book/474248/6 "2008-11-24T17:39:16Z")
These are all great suggestions - thanks! I might have to get the Genghis book for myself; that’s something I’d enjoy. **singular1** , have you seen the movie [Mongol](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416044/)? I have it on my Netflix queue. That period in history and that area of the world have always been interesting to me. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-my-dads-xmas-gift-book/474248/7 "2008-11-24T18:04:57Z")
He’ll either love it or hate it, but Robert Litell’s novel Company ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-my-dads-xmas-gift-book/474248/8 "2008-11-26T13:14:12Z")
> [@C3](#): > > These are all great suggestions - thanks! I might have to get the Genghis book for myself; that’s something I’d enjoy. **singular1** , have you seen the movie [Mongol](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416044/)? I have it on my Netflix queue. That period in history and that area of the world have always been interesting to me. I have - it’s billed as the first movie in a trilogy, so I thought it may be an adaptation of the books. Sadly, it’s not. There are some big differences in the story. But the basic tale is the same, and it’s good to get a visual to back up what you’ve been seeing in your mind’s eye as you read. The movie is not as good as the book, but still very much worth seeing. My spouse and co-workers are practically quivering in anticipation for the third book in the series, but merely curious to see if the other two movies get made (the second one is due in 2010). Given the amazing battles covered in the second book, I’m a little skeptical that the director can pull it off - the battle scenes in the film were shaky and incomplete, and it seemed he was more interested in making a love story than sticking to the facts. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-my-dads-xmas-gift-book/474248/9 "2008-11-26T16:00:37Z")
My Husband loved “Havana Nocturne.” ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-my-dads-xmas-gift-book/474248/10 "2008-11-26T16:23:30Z")
Not a full recommendation but one that’s on my list this year is _History in the Making_. Each chapter takes an event and then includes segments from history books describing the event at various later points. For example, with the Mexican War they include text from mid 1800s text and a current text. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-my-dads-xmas-gift-book/474248/11 "2008-11-26T16:52:26Z")
If your dad is a classic old-school conservative, he might like Pat Buchanan’s **Where the Right Went Wrong**. The history buff in him will probably also enjoy Buchanan’s **Hitler, Churchill and “The Unnecessary War”**. If he has a good sense of humor, try any of P.J. O’Rourke’s books for political humor with a conservative/libertarian slant.