Thomas Sowell recently suggested the following books would make excellent Christmas gifts. In his own words:

— “The Immigration Solution” is an excellent new book that discusses illegal immigration without the political rhetoric, spin, demagoguery, and unsubstantiated claims that have become all too common in the media and among politicians.

— “Mugged by Reality” by John Agresto is an eyewitness account of life inside Iraq by someone who does not take either the Bush administration line or the Congressional Democrats’ line. Nor does he hesitate to admit that what he saw in Iraq changed the opinions with which he first entered the country.

— “The Prince of Darkness” by Robert Novak is a big book detailing half a century of his experiences in Washington, dealing with both political figures and other members of the print and broadcast media. He names names.

— For those who like history, there is a new history of one of the most decisive decades in American history — the decade of the Great Depression of the 1930s — titled “The Forgotten Man” by Amity Shlaes.

— For those who want more in-depth analysis of the economic consequences of New Deal policies, Jim Powell’s book “FDR’s Folly” would make an excellent supplement to Amity Shlaes’ book.

— “Until Proven Innocent” by Stuart Taylor and K.C. Johnson is an account of the Duke University “rape” case that goes far beyond the misdeeds of the disgraced District Attorney Michael Nifong.

— An excellent present for those parents and students who want to find academic institutions that have not succumbed to the ideological corruption found at Duke and other colleges and universities would be the book “Choosing the Right College.“

— A very moving account of the life of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas can be found in his very readable and insightful memoir, “My Grandfather’s Son,” which has been on the best-seller list for eight weeks thus far.