FOR HISTORY BUFFS
“Alexander Hamilton: The Illustrated Biography” by Richard Sylla (Sterling) Don’t think your Secret Santa will have the time to read Ron Chernow’s doorstopper bio or the money to catch the show on Broadway? Pick up this coffee-table book, an “illustrated biography,” that tells Hamilton’s life story through photographs, illustrations and maps.
“Pumpkin Flowers: A Soldier’s Story” by Matti Friedman (Algonquin) Amazon chose this nonfiction account of a little-known war between Israel and Hezbollah in Palestine during the 1990s as their must-read this holiday. “Sober and sometimes poetic account of fighting,” says Amazon’s Chris Schluep. “I believe this is a modern war classic.”
“American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant” by Ronald C. White (Random House) Historian Ronald C. White pivots from Lincoln to Grant in this nuanced and well-researched biography that took seven years to write. The portrait of Grant is “one of a moral, passionate, and three-dimensional leader,” says the Strand’s Andrea Klinker.
“Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis” J.D. Vance (Harper) Far and away the breakout literary hit postelection, J.D. Vance’s memoir/treatise on rural white America is one of Amazon’s top picks for the holiday season.
“The Undisclosed Files of the Police: Cases from the Archives of the NYPD” by Bernard Whalen, Philip Messing and Robert Mladinich (Black Dogs & Leventhal) This is one of The Post’s favorite books (it’s also one of Mysterious Bookshop’s picks) — and not just because one of our own reporters, Philip Messing, contributed to it. This is a fascinating look at some of the most infamous crimes in New York City history — complete with analysis, never-before-seen crime photos and lots of guts and gore.
“Nonstop Metropolis” by Rebecca Solnit (University of California Press) “The perfect gift for the New York City-obsessed, Solnit masterfully orchestrates a team of literary superstars in uncovering the unique history of the city we think we know but most definitely love.” — Astoria Bookshop