Category: Books/Museum Reviews
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Astoria by Peter Stark
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Astoria: This has nothing to do with the Goonies. Sorry. Quick synopsis: The story of John Jacob Astor trying to populate the Pacific Northwest and monopolize the fur trade in the area. Fact for Non-History People: Astoria, Oregon is named after John Jacob Astor. He never stepped foot there. Too busy…
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Season of Shattered Dreams by Eric Vickrey
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Season of Shattered Dreams: No more buses on mountains for me. Quick synopsis: The story of the deadliest accident in American professional sports where a baseball team’s bus crashed off a mountain in 1946. Fact for Non-History People: More than 500 major leaguers served in World War II. Fact for History…
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No More Secrets by Betty Webb
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for No More Secrets: Secrets, secrets can be fun! Quick synopsis: The story of Betty Webb who served at Bletchley Park and the Pentagon in World War II. Fact for Non-History People: The Pentagon is the third-largest office building in the world. Fact for History Nerds: Bletchley Park’s activities were kept secret…
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Champlain’s Dream by David Hackett Fisher
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Champlain’s Dream: Apparently, you didn’t need to be a genocidal madman to start a new colony. Quick synopsis: The founding of New France by Samuel de Champlain. Fact for Non-History People: Saint John, New Brunswick was established before Jamestown and Plymouth. Fact for History Nerds: Samuel de Champlain’s burial site is…
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Morningside by Aran Shetterly
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Morningside: Bet you can’t guess the ending. Quick synopsis: The story of the 1979 Greensboro, N.C. massacre. Fact for Non-History People: Greensboro is named after Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene. Fact for History Nerds: James Gardner was a N.C. congressman around this time along with being a co-founder of the Hardee’s…
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The House of War by Simon Mayall
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The House of War: (Afraid to say anything that might get me cancelled.) Quick synopsis: A look at some of the major battles of Christians and Muslims from history. Fact for Non-History People: Muslims back in the day referred to places where Islam did not dominate as the “House of War.”…
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Raised by a Serial Killer by April Balascio
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Raised by a Serial Killer: Father does NOT know best. Quick synopsis: The story of April Balascio being raised by her father and serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards. Fact for Non-History People: The U.S. leads the world in the number of documented serial killers and have more than the next ten…
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Naming Gotham by Rebecca Bratspies
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Naming Gotham: We’re gonna need to rename a few things after this. Quick synopsis: The various stories about how major parts of New York City were named. Fact for Non-History People: Major Deegan was actually an army major. His full name was William Francis Deegan. Fact for History Nerds: When Anne…
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The Immortal Irishman by Timothy Egan
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Immortal Irishman: This guy packed a lot into 44 years. Quick synopsis: The story of Thomas Francis Meagher who was an Irish Nationalist and American Civil War general. Fact for Non-History People: Meagher was actually sentenced to death by the British. His sentence was commuted to life in Tasmania. Yeah,…