This is unreservedly my pick for the best holiday gift this year. For a mere 70 bucks, or some $42 at Costco or Amazon, you and yours can have every single issue of National Geographic going all the way back to 1888 on CD-Rom. That’s got to be one of the bargains of the century. The digital transfer of these magazine issues is simply gorgeous, with none of the flaws that plagued the New Yorker set a few years back. The search engine is also a thing of wonder, allowing you to search both broad and narrow topics and effectively find relevant articles and photos from across those many years in mere minutes. This collection is an essential addition to the home of every single person with a curious spirit and every parent owes it to their children to have this set on hand for them as they move through their education. I also highly recommend a yearly subscription to National Geographic for both yourself and gift recipients, as you can snag a one-year subscription online for only $15 at shopng.com.

—Sarah Zupko

Herblock: The Life and Work of the Great Political Cartoonist

(W.W. Norton)

 Amazon

Dr. Seuss & Co. Go to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of America's Leading Comic Artists

(The New Press)

 Amazon

Social strife, dirty politics, gadawful war—none of it’s funny, dammit. At least not ‘til some eagle-eyed, tongue-in-cheek talent comes along and nails current events and its players to the seemingly simple format of a single panel cartoon. We check ‘em out, grain of salt held firmly between our back molars, and chuckle at the absurdities of human nature, and marvel that we survive as a species at all. 

Not all political cartoons intend to evoke laughter, but they certainly aim to provoke thought, poke holes in things deemed sacred, and ideally, capture a moment in our historical timeline that will speak volumes to future generations with, maybe, just a few words. Herblock: The Life and Work of the Great Political Cartoonist, showcases Herblock’s 72-year career under 12 presidential administrations, Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush. There’s a lot of history captured between these pages and in the accompanying DVD. The work speaks volumes, as well, about what was in the American headlines, in its editorial pages, and on everyone’s mind during some of the most tumultuous years of the 20th century.

The man who instructed an entire generation on how to behave, Theodore Seuss Gisel, aka Dr. Seuss, had his hand in editorial cartoons covering World War II during his career as a political cartoonist for the New York daily newspaper, PM. The man of morals makes no bones about what he thinks Americans on the brink of war, and largely resistant to getting involved, should do. In the company of fellow progressive cartoonists Al Hirschfeld, Arthur Szyk, Carl Rose, Mischa Ricter and others (the ‘& Co.’ of the title), more than 300 cartoons spanning six years of the war are provided, here. This makes a nice companion book to Herblock for the history buff.

—Karen Zarker

Harmonia Mundi is well known for elegant and comprehensive classical box sets and their new Sacred Music limited edition is no exception. Plus, given the subject matter, it’s perfectly timed for this part of the year. Spanning a staggering 29 discs, the set covers all manner of, you guessed it, sacred music from the Gregorian chants of early music up to the 20th century masses of Leonard Bernstein and Francis Poulenc. There’s also an in-depth book and a PDF disc containing all the tests of the music. Highlights include the full Handel’s “Messiah” and Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis”, but the star of the collection is an utterly transcendent version of Mozart’s “Requiem” that argues the case for this being among the finest works of music ever created by a human being.

—Sarah Zupko

Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression

Morris Dickstein

(W.W. Norton)

 Amazon

Cultural history is one of the abiding passions of PopMatters, and in that spirit we heartily recommend picking up Morris Dickstein’s new study of the music, theatre, film and literature of the ‘30s. This ambitious text is the result of 30 years of research and writing, a work of consummate scholarship that is perfectly timed, given the ongoing economic malaise worldwide and the recent near-return to “depressionary” times. Thoroughly interdisciplinary in scope and focused on the expressions of creative individuals of the time, Dancing in the Dark convinces that these artistic “responses should resonate with us again today as we go through the stresses and anxieties that remind us too much of the Great Depression”.

—Sarah Zupko

The Sims 3

• Review [17.Jun.2009]

My virtual son has a logical mind and a natural talent for music, but he prefers to be alone and tends to act and speak inappropriately. In other words, to mirror my real-life family, I created a little kid with high-functioning autism.

As a life simulator, Electronic Arts latest addition to the Sims family, The Sims 3, is more powerful than ever. As a video game, it builds on the success of its forerunners and extends the franchise without becoming labyrinthine or needlessly complex. The biggest change between The Sims 2 and The Sims 3, however, is the dynamic, walkable, living neighborhood for your sims to explore. Walk to a community lot or hop on a bike or into a car and visit a neighbor, no load screens are required. This feature has really given a big hit to my household productivity; I used to fold laundry or knit during venue changes, and now, they’re so quick that I barely have time to pick up my knitting needles.

The controls are easier to use and faster to learn than ever, and at the same time, the player has more control and more choices at every turn. With the third and newest version of its hit series, the developers have struck precisely the right balance between complexity and intuitiveness. Playing in the virtual doll house is as fun as ever.

—Jamie Lynn Dunston

Assassin's Creed II

Despite its slow beginning hours, Ubisoft’s follow up to Assassin’s Creed makes up for its poor early pacing with its commitment to adding more variety and depth to the franchise. Combining the visceral pleasures of free running and precision stealth kills with thought provoking plotting that considers the dichotomy of faith and reason in the Italian Renaissance, Assassin’s Creed is audacious in its willingness to tackle topics that few mainstream video games have done more than graze: religion and philosophy. Not many games would charge the protagonist with assassinating the Pope in the heart of the Vatican. Oh, and then follow up that sequence with musings on the mysteries of cosmology.

Ubisoft has taken full advantage of the medium’s ability to create worlds from the ground up and taken to recreating historical periods that are often not those focused on in contemporary gaming environments. Does the world need another game set during World War II? Instead, the first game allowed the player a view of Damascus during the time of the Crusades. Now players explore the streets and canals of Venice at the height of the Renaissance. Visually astonishing, both thoughtful in its narrative and brutal in its gameplay, Assassin’s Creed II is one of the best games of the year.

—G. Christopher Williams