Category: Books/Museum Reviews
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Battle of Ink and Ice by Darrell Hartman
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Battle of Ink and Ice: I’d rather go to the Arctic than a newsroom. Quick synopsis: The story of the newspaper wars around the expeditions to the North Pole by Robert Peary and Frederick Cook. Fact for Non-History People: For years, the New York Times was boring on purpose. Fact for…
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The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel by Douglas Brunt
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: The engine’s name is truly apt. Quick synopsis: The life and mysterious death of the creator of the Diesel engine, Rudolf Diesel. Fact for Non-History People: By 1885, there were only 250,000 electric light bulbs in America. By 1902, there were 18 million. Fact for…
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Flee North by Scott Shane
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Flee North: Thomas Smallwood is the KING of trolling 1800s slaveowners. Quick synopsis: The story of an extremely successful branch of the Underground Railroad in the 1840s. Fact for Non-History People: After helping slaves escape, Smallwood would write and articles that Torrey published mocking the slaveowners for “losing” their slaves. Again,…
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The Six by Loren Grush
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Six: Space: yet another place I have no intention of visiting. Quick synopsis: The story of the first six female astronauts at NASA. Fact for Non-History People: A totally of 8,079 people applied to be astronauts between 1976 and 1977. Fact for History Nerds: From 1950 to 1960, women represented…
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To Besiege a City by Prit Buttar
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for To Besiege a City: I hate being forced to root for the Soviets. Quick synopsis: A look at the first two years of the siege of Leningrad in World War II. Fact for Non-History People: The Germans took about 5.7 million Soviet soldiers prisoner during World War II. About 3.3 million…
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Bitter Peleliu by Joseph Wheelan
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Bitter Peleliu: “Bitter” is putting it mildly. Quick synopsis: The story of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II. Fact for Non-History People: Japanese engineers created over 500 caves on the island before the battle. Fact for History Nerds: The Black Marine unit on Peleliu had the highest casualty rate…
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Pure Wit by Francesca Peacock
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Pure Wit: Pure indifference to people’s opinions, as well. Quick synopsis: A biography of Margaret Cavendish, an author in 1600s England. Fact for Non-History People: The title of a pamphlet in this time period for context, “The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward, and Unconstant Woman.” Fact for History Nerds: Cavendish was…
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Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult: You might kick her out, though. Quick synopsis: A memoir by standup comedian Maria Bamford. Fact for Non-History People: Maria puts an actual financial breakdown of what she makes for doing a show in the book. I’m not kidding. It’s a spreadsheet. Fact for History Nerds:…
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The Devils Will Get No Rest by James Conroy
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Devils Will Get No Rest: The Reality TV Reunion Show of World War II. Quick synopsis: The story of the Allied Casablanca Conference of World War II. Fact for Non-History People: FDR saw Churchill naked. No, I won’t explain it any further. Fact for History Nerds: During World War II,…