Category: Books/Museum Reviews

  • The Wrong Stuff by John Strausbaugh

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Wrong Stuff: Better to be lucky than good. Quick synopsis: The story of the Soviet space program during the Space Race. Hilarity ensues. Fact for Non-History People: During World War II, upwards of 27 million Russian soldiers and civilians were killed in comparison to 420,000 American casualties. Fact for History…

  • The Devil Behind the Badge by Rick Jervis

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Devil Behind the Badge: 100% accurate title. Quick synopsis: The story of Border Patrol agent and serial killer Juan David Ortiz and his victims. Fact for Non-History People: By 2009, 12% of all military veterans who served in combat zones were diagnosed with depression, anxiety, or acute stress. (Additional note:…

  • Alexander at the End of the World by Rachel Kousser

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Alexander at the End of the World: Bro did not know when to go home. Quick synopsis: The story of Alexander the Great’s final 7 years. Fact for Non-History People: Alexander was never defeated in battle. Fact for History Nerds: Alexander named over 70 cities after himself. Self-obsessed much? Am I…

  • A Hunger to Kill by Kim Mager and Lisa Pulitzer

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for A Hunger to Kill: A one-way love story. Quick synopsis: The story of how Detective Kim Mager helped put away an Ohio serial killer. Fact for Non-History People: From 1992-2019, Ohio has had 505 victims of serial killers. Fact for History Nerds: In that same time period, California leads the U.S.…

  • Lovers in Auschwitz by Keren Blankfeld

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Lovers in Auschwitz: They found love in a hopeless place. Quick synopsis: The story of the two people who fell in love and survived Auschwitz in World War II. Fact for Non-History People: In 1941, the Warsaw ghetto covered 2.4% of the city but housed 30% of the city population. Fact…

  • The Rent Collectors by Jesse Katz

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Rent Collectors: Better pay up. Quick synopsis: The story of gang violence in L.A. and a botched murder. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Pray you never have to find out what it is to “keister” something. Fun Fact for History Nerds: When the lake at MacArthur Park was drained,…

  • The Mighty Moo by Nathan Canestaro

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Mighty Moo: A very moooooving story. (I said what I said!) Quick synopsis: The story of the USS Cowpens aircraft carrier in World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Mighty Moo was caught in Typhoon Cobra which has 70 foot waves and winds of 120 knots. Fun…

  • The Last Island by Adam Goodheart

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Last Island: Leave them alone. Quick synopsis: The story of North Sentinel Island and the isolated tribe that calls it home. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Andaman Island chain contains nearly 600 islands and thousands of species that don’t exist anywhere else in the world. Fun Fact for…

  • Perfect Wife (Hulu)

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Perfect Wife: Perfect at being a narcissist. Quick synopsis: The story of the disappearance of Sherri Papini. Fact for Non-History People: The crime of kidnapping is hard to number because many people just become missing persons. There were 70,000 missing persons over the age of 18 cases in 2001 for instance.…