In the centre of the image is a gift wrapped in white paper, with twine as a ribbon and accented with a pine sprig, pinecone, and a small card. The gift is being held by two hands above a table, covered in similarly-wrapped gifts, more pinecones, and some ornaments. On the right there is also a mug of hot chocolate, with a marshmallow with a snowman's face painted on.

Do you know a Canadian historian? (::nods::) Are they impossible to shop for because they already own all the books? (::nods vigorously::) Then have we got just the thing for you. Welcome to the Third Annual Unwritten Histories Holiday Gift Guide for Canadian Historians! Once again, I have compiled a list of gift suggestions for historians and other history professionals, with some extra help from  Kesia Kvill, Krystal Raven, Catherine Ulmer, Krista McCracken, Jenny Ellison, Michelle Desveaux, Danielle Lorenz, Matthew Hayday, Leah Wiener, Shannon Stettner, Gillian Leitch, Erin Millions, Maddie Knickerbocker, Carling Christina, Lee Blanding, and Stephanie Pettigrew. Since I didn’t want to just repeat myself, this is an entirely new list of goodies. That said, I do highly recommend checking out the 2016 Gift Guide and the 2017 Gift Guide for even more suggestions (including information on what not to give your Jewish friends).

As usual, two quick caveats:

  • Warning to loved ones of historians and history professionals: It is so lovely that you remembered that we love history and that most of us love reading. However, we strongly recommend against the purchase of history books for holiday gifts, unless they are specifically requested. If you are dead-set on buying a history book for your loved-one, at least make sure that it is: from an academic press (it will say the word University in the title of the publisher) and it is by a person with a Ph.D. in history (Google is your friend – just put their name and the word history to find out). You may also want to make sure that your loved-one doesn’t already own the book in question, or have easy access to it from their institutional library. We have provided a couple of suggestions for non-history books that might be a better fit.
  • While I am Canadian, and many of the recommendations I’ve included down below are specific to Canadian history, this list should be helpful to history professionals no matter their country of origin or residence.

 

Once again, I have cheekily divided this list according to academic rank, mostly because I think it’s funny. Enjoy!

 

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