Looking for books to put in your Christmas letter to Santa?
Below are listed a few suggestions courtesy of the editors of National Review. You can order these books online straight from NRO and, if you order before December 13th, Mr. Claus can have them under your tree before the big day. There are plenty to choose from but here's a few I'm enclosing in my personal letter to the North Pole...which Claire usually reads before taking to the post office.
1) Here's one for those of you tired of liberal doctrines masquerading as science. It is The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science by Tom Bethell.
As the NRO editor's review states, In science, dispassionate, objective inquiry reigns supreme, and researchers will readily give up their most cherished views if the evidence proves them wrong -- right? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Science, like virtually everything else these days, has become a highly politicized field in which the Left has worked energetically to present its pet theories and schemes -- all of which just happen to advance their case for the necessity for ever more government control over our lives.
By the way, if Bethell's book looks good to you, check out Pamela Winnick's A Jealous God which explores adjacent territory.
2) 1776 by David McCullough.
McCullough is a rare bird in that his research, balance, and writing skill really deserves the two Pulitizer Prizes he has been awarded. I'm looking forward to a January reading of this important history. (You still reading, hon?)
3) The Kingfisher Book of Toy Stories edited by Laura Cecil
Somehow, all little children know it's true -- when they're sleeping or away from home, their toys come alive, performing feats of daring-do and going on grand adventures (which is why kids can never find their toys where they left them). Now, in one enchanting volume, delight to 8 best-loved tales that prove the secret magic of toys. (Description from the NRO review.)
4) Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday.
From the NRO review, For generations, Mao Tse-tung has been the acceptable, even fashionable face of communist tyranny. With the appearance of this book, that perception can no longer stand. Mao: The Unknown Story exposes its subject as one of the greatest monsters of the 20th century, alongside Hitler and Stalin. Indeed, in terms of sheer numbers of deaths for which he responsible, Mao, with some 70 million, exceeded both.
5) The National Review Treasury of Classic Children's Literature, Volumes I and II
by William F. Buckley Jr., ed.
St. Nicholas Magazine, the renowned children's monthly that was published from 1874 until 1941, was a treasure trove of stories, tales, fables, and adventures, written by the literary giants of the time. Now, The National Review Treasury of Classic Children's Literature gives a new home to over 80 of these classic works, many of them at risk of being forgotten. (Description from the NRO review.)
6) Andrew Jackson His Life and Times by H.W Brands
From the review... The first "common man" to rise to the presidency, Andrew Jackson set a still young America on its path to greatness and ushered in the Age of Democracy (the term "Jacksonian democracy" is embedded in our national lexicon). Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times by H.W. Brands is the first full-length, single-volume biography of Jackson in decades and brings "Old Hickory" to vivid life.
