Gift Guide for History Buffs

Halloween is done and the retail elves (aka merchandisers who are wonderful) have switched over displays from Halloween to holidays. Now I know that I am being met with a chorus of people protesting too early, but it is what it is. You don’t have to buy your gifts now, but if you want to, it’s easier to get started. (Limited holiday editions, am I right?) And I’m sticking with what I know for this post-history! This is my gift guide for history buffs, the best ideas for what to give the historian in your life!

If you are one of those people who rages that people get started on the holidays too early, please feel free to come back to this post when you are ready to get started. I personally start my holiday shopping in September- I can’t afford to buy everything at once, and I’ve been able to catch sales. (Also, if you do order from a smaller business, or internationally, shipping deadlines are REAL.) By the time you are reading this, I’m almost done with my shopping! To each their own, and if you are on the hunt for your history themed gifts, look no further- this is your gift guide for history buffs!

Museum Membership

This is one of my favourite gift ideas- you get to give the gift of history to someone, and the museum benefits, as well! I would recommend finding a local museum for your recipient, and buying them an annual membership. A lot of museums will change their exhibitions throughout the year, so they absolutely will have a reason to visit more than once. Also, many museums will have private, members-only events, giving you a chance to meet other members and get a behind the scenes look at the museum. You can often “sponsor” objects in museums as well, if they already have a membership. When you sponsor an item, you are often helping with the cost of conservation and your name is displayed with it, which appeals to most historians. (I think that membership is an especially wonderful gift idea if someone has moved to a new city, and is looking to get involved.) And while massive museums like the V&A are always fun, think about supporting a smaller local museum. They don’t typically have the same funding base as larger museums, and will truly appreciate the support.

Tickets to Six the Musical

My love of Six the Musical knows no bounds, obviously, and I am thrilled to see how successful it has become! In case you have somehow missed my raving about Six, it is a pop concert musical about the six wives of Henry VIII. It turns history on its head, and is incredibly fun from start to finish! (And at only 80 minutes with no intermission, it zips along.) Which queen had the worst time of it all with Henry’s BS? Only a sing-off will determine that! It is clever, it is hilarious, and it is bringing Catherine, Anne, Jane, Anna, Katherine, and Catherine back into the spotlight! Her-story has never looked this fantastic.

I was lucky enough to see the original West End cast in London on my trip in February, and I’ve just seen the Canadian premiere of Six in Edmonton. However, it is becoming much easier to see Six now. If you live in the UK, there is a permanent cast on the West End at the Arts Theatre, as well as a touring cast travelling all over the UK for the next 6+ months. There is also a North American cast touring currently that will be heading to Broadway in February, as well as a second cast that will be heading back to Chicago (where the NA tour began). Come January, the Australian Queens will make the

ir debut. And if that isn’t enough, there are two separate casts of Queens performing on Norwegian Bliss cruise lines. (And I wouldn’t be shocked if more tours/casts were announced.) If the historian in your life is near any of these cities/casts, absolutely get them a ticket!

Books 

This is a gift guide for history books, obviously I was including books! I’m lucky enough that I’m able to read advanced copies of many new history books through NetGalley, and there have been some fantastic books out this year. However, I’ll also be recommending some older books as well- I’ve found that older books and items often get left off of gift guides. So, what books do I think you should be buying for your historian?

Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King, Antonia Fraser

The self-proclaimed Sun King, Louis XIV ruled over the most glorious and extravagant court in seventeenth-century Europe. Now, Antonia Fraser goes behind the well-known tales of Louis’s accomplishments and follies, exploring in riveting detail his intimate relationships with women.

The king’s mother, Anne of Austria, had been in a childless marriage for twenty-two years before she gave birth to Louis XIV. A devout Catholic, she instilled in her son a strong sense of piety and fought successfully for his right to absolute power. In 1660, Louis married his first cousin, Marie-Thérèse, in a political arrangement. While unfailingly kind to the official “Queen of Versailles,” Louis sought others to satisfy his romantic and sexual desires. After a flirtation with his sister-in-law, his first important mistress was Louise de La Vallière, who bore him several children before being replaced by the tempestuous and brilliant Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. Later, when Athénaïs’s reputation was tarnished, the king continued to support her publicly until Athénaïs left court for a life of repentance. Meanwhile her children’s governess, the intelligent and seemingly puritanical Françoise de Maintenon, had already won the king’s affections; in a relationship in complete contrast to his physical obsession with Athénaïs, Louis XIV lived happily with Madame de Maintenon for the rest of his life, very probably marrying her in secret. When his grandson’s child bride, the enchanting Adelaide of Savoy, came to Versaille she lightened the king’s last years—until tragedy struck.

With consummate skill, Antonia Fraser weaves insights into the nature of women’s religious lives—as well as such practical matters as contraception—into her magnificent, sweeping portrait of the king, his court, and his ladies.

Antonia Fraser is one of my favourite historians. She has a deft hand with historical figures. Her other studies have focused on Mary, Queen of Scots, Henry VIII’s wives, and Marie Antoinette, among others. She is incredibly talented at what she does, and has been made a Dame of the British Empire for her contributions to historic studies. I enjoy this specific book because it takes a new look at Louis XIV, the infamous Sun King, a more personal look. It also brings these women and their lives to the forefront. Fraser’s books are often quite hefty, but this is one of her shorter books, making it a little easier to read if you have a busier schedule. And after getting started on series on the history of ballet, I’ve renewed my interest in Louis XIV. (And yes, ballet does make an appearance in this book!) It was published in 2007, so it isn’t new, but it is still quite easy to find.

The Crown: The Official Companion, Volume 2: Political Scandal, Personal Struggle, and the Years that Defined Elizabeth II (1956-1977), Robert Lacey 

In this eye-opening companion to seasons 2 and 3 of Netflix’s acclaimed series The Crown, renowned biographer–and the show’s historical consultant–Robert Lacey takes us through the real history that inspired the drama.

Covering two tumultuous decades in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, Lacey looks at the key social, political, and personal moments and their effects–not only on the royal family but also on the world around them. From the Suez Crisis and the U.S.-Soviet space race to the legacy of the Duke of Windsor’s collaboration with Hitler, along with the rumored issues with the royal marriage, the book provides a thought-provoking insight into the historic decades that the show explores, revealing the truth behind the on-screen drama.

Extensively researched and complete with beautifully reproduced photographs, this is a unique look behind the history that inspired the show and the years that would prove to be the making of the Queen.

I hemmed and hawed about including a book that I haven’t read yet, but I decided to go for it. The Crown’s third season is one of the biggest show releases of 2019, and I think that more and more people are going to be interested in the history of her reign. I really enjoyed the first volume that covered season one- it was a in-depth but fast-paced look at the beginning of QEII’s reign. However, I am even more excited for volume two as it covers season two and season three. I will be getting this for myself, so you can expect a review by the end of the year!

Update: I have read it now, and it is fantastic! It lays a solid foundation for the history behind The Crown, and specifically mentions when things have been altered or added for dramatic effect (very useful). More later!

Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII, Gareth Russell

Written with an exciting combination of narrative flair and historical authority, this interpretation of the tragic life of Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, breaks new ground in our understanding of the very young woman who became queen at a time of unprecedented social and political tension and whose terrible errors in judgment quickly led her to the executioner’s block.

On the morning of July 28, 1540, as King Henry’s VIII’s former confidante Thomas Cromwell was being led to his execution, a teenager named Catherine Howard began her reign as queen of a country simmering with rebellion and terrifying uncertainty. Sixteen months later, the king’s fifth wife would follow her cousin Anne Boleyn to the scaffold, having been convicted of adultery and high treason.

The broad outlines of Catherine’s career might be familiar, but her story up until now has been incomplete. Unlike previous accounts of her life, which portray her as a naïve victim of an ambitious family, this compelling and authoritative biography will shed new light on Catherine Howard’s rise and downfall by reexamining her motives and showing her in her context, a milieu that goes beyond her family and the influential men of the court to include the aristocrats and, most critically, the servants who surrounded her and who, in the end, conspired against her. By illuminating Catherine’s entwined upstairs/downstairs worlds as well as societal tensions beyond the palace walls, the author offers a fascinating portrayal of court life in the sixteenth century and a fresh analysis of the forces beyond Catherine’s control that led to her execution—from diplomatic pressure and international politics to the long-festering resentments against the queen’s household at court.

Including a forgotten text of Catherine’s confession in her own words, color illustrations, family tree, map, and extensive notes, Young and Damned and Fair changes our understanding of one of history’s most famous women while telling the compelling and very human story of complex individuals attempting to survive in a dangerous age.

I chatted about this is in my reading guide for the Six Queens, but I had to include it again! Catherine Howard is endlessly fascinating to me, and is often shoved off for being young, attractive, and naive. Sadly, I think that Catherine is one of the most relevant of the queens right now. I wish it wasn’t, but with the ever-continuing list of women being taken advantage of not slowing down, she remains a tragically relevant woman. Also, from a historical perspective, we have near complete records of her household (rare for a Tudor queen). It is more difficult to study the other five queens, as there tends to be a good amount of extrapolation and guesswork simply because records have been lost. Catherine’s time as queen is well-documented, though, and Russell has done a fantastic job of bringing her back to life for us.

What would you include in your gift guide for history buffs? 

Cheers,
The Historian
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