Category: Books/Museum Reviews

  • Ask Not by Maureen Callahan

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Ask Not: Ask not what this family did to women, ask why they got away with it. Quick synopsis: The story of all the women destroyed by the Kennedy family. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The firefighter who retrieved Mary Jo Kopechne’s body at Chappaquiddick estimated she stayed alive for…

  • The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum by Margalit Fox

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum: Her talent was crime. Quick synopsis: The story of Gilded Age crime boss, Fredericka Mandelbaum. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Brooks Brothers was founded in 1818 in New York City and was known for the shoddy products it provided to the Union Army during the Civil…

  • Wide Awake by Jon Grinspan

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Wide Awake: I don’t know who they liked, but I do know who they hated. Quick synopsis: The story of the Wide Awakes, who fought against the “slave power” around the time of the Civil War. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: A huge supporter of the Wide Awakes was P.T.…

  • Vanishing Act by Dan Hampton

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Vanishing Act: It’s more fun when the Russians don’t know you’re coming. Quick synopsis: The story of why one of the Doolittle Raiders may have ended up in Russia. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: In just two hours of the Pearl Harbor attack, 18 warships and 2,403 Americans were killed.…

  • A Gentleman and a Thief by Dean Jobb

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for A Gentleman and a Thief: So smooth you’d thank him for stealing. Quick synopsis: The story of Jazz Age jewel thief, Arthur Barry. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Barry stole over $60 million dollars (in today’s dollars) worth of jewels during the Roaring Twenties. Fun Fact for History Nerds: The…

  • The Explorers by Amanda Bellows

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Explorers: The story of people who refused to sit still. Quick synopsis: A look at different explorers who are often overlooked in history. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Daniel Boone never wore a coonskin cap. He probably wore a beaver hat. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Sacagawea had an…

  • 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……

  • 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…

  • 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…