Category: Books/Museum Reviews
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Self-Help from the Middle Ages by Peter Jones
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Self-Help from the Middle Ages: Poor people couldn’t turn to Instagram to fix their lives. Quick synopsis: A look at psychological thought in a time period you wouldn’t expect. Fact for Non-History People: The Seven Deadly Sins were used as an early diagnostic tool. Fact for History Nerds: Catholic confession could…
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The Black Death by Thomas Asbridge
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Black Death: The ultimate equalizer. Quick synopsis: A look at the most devastating plague in human history. Fact for Non-History People: There are still 1,000 to 2,000 cases of plague reported each year. Fact for History Nerds: People who lived through it didn’t call it the Black Death. They called…
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This Dark Night by Deborah Lutz
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for This Dark Night: It’s a family thing. Quick synopsis: The life of author Emily Brontë. Fact for Non-History People: Emily’s initial pen name was Ellis Bell. Fact for History Nerds: Emily first received attention when she co-authored a book of poems with her sisters. My Take on This Dark Night: Ah,…
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The Lost Empire of Emanuel Nobel by Douglas Brunt
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Lost Empire of Emanuel Nobel: Too much money being made for Stalin’s taste. Quick synopsis: The story of oil titan Emanuel Nobel. Fact for Non-History People: The current Nobel Prize monetary award is about $1 million. Fact for History Nerds: Previous nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize include Adolf Hitler,…
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The Long Run by Martin Dugard
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Long Run: Much easier to read this than actually run. Quick synopsis: The story of the marathon and the worldwide running boom. Fact for Non-History People: The marathon distance wasn’t officially standardized at 26.2 miles until 1921. It was very complicated before that. Fact for History Nerds: The fastest official…
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Athens and Sparta by Adrian Goldsworthy
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Athens and Sparta: THIS! IS! Well, Athens and Sparta. Not just the one. Quick synopsis: The story of the ancient Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta. Fact for Non-History People: At its peak, Athens had a population of 250,000 – 300,000 people. Fact for History Nerds: Sparta had two hereditary kings…
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Hammer of the Gods by Don Hollway
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Hammer of the Gods: Have hammer. Will travel. Quick synopsis: The story of King Olaf and his conquests. Fact for Non-History People: Olaf attacked England which was ruled at that time by Aethelred the Unready. Aethelred later became Olaf’s godfather because that’s how they rolled back then. Fact for History Nerds:…
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Days of Love and Rage by Anand Gopal
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Days of Love and Rage: It takes a city. Quick synopsis: The story of the city of Manbij, Syria during the Syrian Revolution. Fact for Non-History People: The revolution would last 13 years and result in over 500,000 deaths. Fact for History Nerds: In 2023, while the revolution was still ongoing,…
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The Fallen by Louise Brangan
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Fallen: Talk about dirty laundry. Quick synopsis: The story of the Magdalene Laundries of Ireland where “fallen” women were confined. Fact for Non-History People: It is estimated the laundries confined an estimated 30,000 women and girls from the 18th to late 20th century. Fact for History Nerds: The last laundry…