Category: Books/Museum Reviews
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Challenger by Adam Higginbotham
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Challenger: It was a question of when, not if. Quick synopsis: The story of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: When Neil Armstrong first stepped foot on the moon in 1969, an estimated 600 million people were watching. Fun Fact for History Nerds: It…
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Skies of Thunder by Caroline Alexander
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Skies of Thunder: Catch-22 only real life. Quick synopsis: The story of World War II pilots flying routes over the Himalayas. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: There are currently nearly 600 planes lying where they crashed along the route. Fun Fact for History Nerds: When British forces took over Burma…
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Left for Dead by Eric Jay Dolin
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Left for Dead: Well, maybe they should have left the poor sea otters alone. Quick synopsis: The story of castaways left for dead in the Falkland Islands during the War of 1812. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Sea otters have the densest fur of any animal with as many as…
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Throne of Grace by Tom Clavin and Bob Drury
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Throne of Grace: Life without a map. Quick synopsis: The story of one of America’s forgotten explorers, Jedediah Smith. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Arithmetic used to be called ciphering in schools. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Between 1700 and 1822, European markets purchased nearly forty million pieces of beaver…
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The Great Abolitionist by Stephen Puleo
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Great Abolitionist: Who would have thought slavery proponents could be so violent? Quick synopsis: The life of ardent American abolitionist and senator, Charles Sumner. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: While I don’t condone caning someone, it turns out Sumner did mock a colleague who just had a stroke during…
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1217 by Catherine Hanley
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for 1217: King John was as bad as Mel Brooks said he was. Quick synopsis: The story of why King John was just the worst. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The nobility and religious communities at this time made up about 6% at most of the population meaning the other 94%…
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The Shooter at Midnight by Sean Patrick Cooper
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Shooter at Midnight: Farming folk can be just as murderous as city folk. Quick synopsis: The story of the 1990 murder of Cathy Robertson in Missouri. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The farming crisis of the 1970s saw farmers take their own lives at double the national rate. Fun…
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Otherworldly Antarctica by Edmund Stump
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Otherworldly Antarctica: I wanna go! Quick synopsis: A photographic look at Antarctica from a long-time visitor. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Antarctica is a desert. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Ice covers 98% of Antarctica which is 90% of Earth’s ice and 70% of our fresh water. My Take on…
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Alien Earths by Lisa Kaltenegger
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Alien Earths: Just in case we need another one. Quick synopsis: A look at the possibilities (and probabilities) of another planet just like ours. Fact for Non-History People: The nearest star to us besides the Sun is Proxima Centauri which is 25 trillion miles away. It takes light 4 years to…