Month: September 2019

  • Museum Review: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

    Museum Review: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

    Museum Focus: This is the annex of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Where is it: 14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway, Chantilly, VA 20151. Just outside of Washington D.C. to the west. What does it cost: Free! Well, sort of. It’s $15 for parking although every time I go there is no one at…

  • Murder Aboard by C. Michael Hiam

    Murder Aboard by C. Michael Hiam

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Murder Aboard: Of course, they blamed the minority and not the previously incarcerated crazy dude. Quick synopsis: A true crime story about murders aboard a ship in 1896. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Canadians used to call New England the “Boston States.” I feel like everywhere but Boston would find…

  • Wolves at the Door

    Wolves at the Door

    And now for something completely different. Yes, I wrote a poem. Skip this article if that bothers you. I was inspired by Stalingrad written by Antony Beevor. Towards the end, you start to feel the helplessness of the German soldiers as they know the inevitable red crush is coming. I turned that feeling into an…

  • Stalingrad by Antony Beevor

    Stalingrad by Antony Beevor

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Stalingrad: Which mass murderer is dumber, Hilter or Stalin? You decide! Quick synopsis: A chronicle of the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II. Basically, the soldiers were heroes and all the megalomaniacs at the top were…well megalomaniacs. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Yes, Russians actually shot their own troops…

  • Battle of the Books on Alfred the Great

    Battle of the Books on Alfred the Great

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for This Book Battle: He did more than just whoop the Vikings. Quick synopsis: Biography of Alfred the Great, England’s first king (well, kinda. It is a super long story about who the first “king” is and well, let’s just assume he is.) Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Alfred the Great…

  • The Killer Across the Table – J. Douglas/M. Olshaker

    The Killer Across the Table – J. Douglas/M. Olshaker

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Killer Across the Table: You won’t want to be a criminal profiler after this. You may want to be Dirty Harry, though. Is that reference too old? Ok, you’ll want to be the Punisher. Quick synopsis: John Douglas (the guy who made criminal profiling a “thing”) recounts four scum he…

  • Versailles

    Versailles

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Versailles: T&A with a touch of history. Quick synopsis: The story of Louis XIV and his buildup of Versailles as the center of the French aristocracy. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: They do a whole story arc on the Man in the Iron Mask! It’s probably made up though. But…

  • The Winter Fortress by Neal Bascomb

    The Winter Fortress by Neal Bascomb

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Winter Fortress: I love it when the good guys blow stuff up! Quick synopsis: The story of a group of Norwegian commandos in World War II trying to take out an important enemy site tied to an atomic bomb. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: It seems like something made…