Month: July 2019

  • The Escape Artists by Neal Bascomb

    The Escape Artists by Neal Bascomb

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Escape Artists: It’s Hogan’s Heroes, only it’s set in WWI and it’s real. Quick synopsis: Story of various POWs in WWI German prisons and their attempts to break out. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: One of the escapees immediately sent a telegram after making it to neutral territory. It…

  • Random Musing: Why are Magazines Still a Thing?

    Random Musing: Why are Magazines Still a Thing?

    What’s this musing about: Why do people publish magazines anymore? I intended to do a review of Smithsonian Magazine. I would give it the insightful and serious review I do the books I read. While reading my third month of the magazine, it dawned on me. What’s the point here? The first thing I did…

  • In the Enemy’s House by Howard Blum

    In the Enemy’s House by Howard Blum

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for In the Enemy’s House: Spying sounds exhausting. Quick synopsis: An espionage story about breaking Russian code after WWII in an attempt to stop the leaking of nuclear secrets. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Military recruiters lying their asses off! Who knew? Not a bunch of women during World War II…

  • Chernobyl (HBO)

    Chernobyl (HBO)

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Chernobyl: In Soviet Russia, miniseries make you look incompetent and corrupt. Quick synopsis: The story of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The miniseries shows what happens when you look into an open nuclear core even for a few seconds. Spoiler alert: You die. Fun…

  • Dannemora by Charles Gardner

    Dannemora by Charles Gardner

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Dannemora: This was a hell of a lot more like Shawshank than I expected. Quick synopsis: The prison escape of Richard Matt and David Sweat from New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility in 2015. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Seriously, it’s just like Shawshank! The two guys dug out of their…

  • History Detective: Charles Dawson Part III

    History Detective: Charles Dawson Part III

    The final installment of my search into Charles Dawson through his World War I photo. For Part I, go here. For Part II, go here. Once Charles and his unit landed in France, it didn’t take long for them to get into the thick of it. And by thick of it, I mean the deadliest…

  • The Shipwreck Hunter by David Mearns

    The Shipwreck Hunter by David Mearns

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Shipwreck Hunter: It is really hard to find old shipwrecks. Who knew?! Quick synopsis: Selected shipwreck findings of celebrated explorer/shipwreck hunter David Mearns. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Shipwrecks are sometimes so easy to find it’s kind of embarrassing. The Esmeralda, a 500-year-old ship was found in about 5…

  • History Detective: Charles Dawson Part II

    History Detective: Charles Dawson Part II

    My continued search into Charles Dawson through his World War I photo. For Part I, go here. The hardest part by far is figuring out the bottom middle of the photo. I knew it contained Charles’ unit number because I could clearly make out “D Company.” The unit number was much fainter. After a whole…

  • Brendan by Morgan Llywelyn

    Brendan by Morgan Llywelyn

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Brendan: I hate this book so much. Quick synopsis: A biography of Brendan of Clonfert and his legendary voyage. I guess. Not sure I can really tell for reasons outlined below. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: St. Brendan discovered America. No, I will not entertain arguments and facts to the…