Category: Books/Museum Reviews
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Kinky History by Esmé Louise James
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Kinky History: It’s history. But sexy. Quick synopsis: A look at the history of sex and how humans talked about it. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Seriously, go back and read Shakespeare. Dude was filthy. Fun Fact for History Nerds: James Joyce wrote many things to his wife about her……
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Cue the Sun! by Emily Nussbaum
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Cue the Sun!: Yeah, it was always kind of a mess. Quick synopsis: The history of reality TV. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Smoking Gun website took off when it first posted information about a lawsuit related to Fox’s Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?. Fun Fact for History…
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When Women Ran Fifth Avenue by Julie Satow
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Turns out women know how to sell to other women. Who knew?! Quick synopsis: The story of the women who ran department stores in the mid-1900s. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Department stores used to have nurseries so the kids wouldn’t ruin a great shopping…
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Taking London by Martin Dugard
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Taking London: Sometimes it takes an island. Quick synopsis: The story of the Battle of Britain through the eyes of four Allied pilots. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Nazi Party grew from just a small movement in 1920 to about 400,000 people by World War II. Fun Fact for…
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When the Sea Came Alive by Garrett Graff
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for When the Sea Came Alive: D-Day in their own words. Quick synopsis: On oral history of D-Day from various records of the people who lived it. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Nearly 133,000 Allied troops landed on D-Day. Fun Fact for History Nerds: By June 30th, over 850,000 men, 148,000…
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There Is No Ethan by Anna Akbari
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for There Is No Ethan: This is a “read in one sitting” book. Quick synopsis: The bonkers story of a catfish and the women who brought them down. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: There was a guy on OkCupid called the “Swiss Cheese Pervert” and he’s exactly what you think he…
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Cunning Folk by Tabitha Stanmore
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Cunning Folk: Magic without getting burned at the stake. Quick synopsis: The story of benevolent magic practitioners during the medieval and early modern period. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: There used to be a food called buttocks bread. No, I won’t explain why. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Among other…
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College Girl, Missing by Shawn Cohen
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for College Girl, Missing: That’s it. My kid is not going to college. Quick synopsis: The story of the disappearance of Indiana University student Lauren Speirer in 2011. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: I’ve been very drunk at Indiana University before. So, there’s that. Fun Fact for History Nerds: California has…
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Paradise of the Damned by Keith Thomson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Paradise of the Damned: Europeans loved falling for the old “city of gold” trick. Quick synopsis: The story of Sir Walter Raleigh’s obsession with El Dorado. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Columbus’s first voyage covered 3,700 miles in 36 days of sailing. Fun Fact for History Nerds: The Orinoco River…