Category: Books/Museum Reviews
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Operation Thunderbolt by Saul David
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Operation Thunderbolt: Idi Amin was a real whackjob. Quick synopsis: The story of Operation Thunderbolt, an Israeli action to save hostages on a hijacked plane. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The flight crew was given the option to be released with non-Jewish passengers but refused. Fun Fact for History Nerds:…
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The Good Assassin by Stephan Talty
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Good Assassin: Of course he’s a good assassin. He’s killing Nazis. Quick synopsis: The story of the hunt and killing of Herbert Cukurs, the Butcher of Latvia. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Ilha da Queimada Grande, an island off the coast of Brazil, has one snake for every 6…
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The Confidence Men by Margalit Fox
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Confidence Men: Maybe I’ve had fortune tellers wrong this whole time. Quick synopsis: The story of how two British POWs in World War I make their escape… by using telepathy. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: This may be the only example in military history of a conviction on espionage…
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The Babysitter by Liza Rodman and Jennifer Jordan
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Babysitter: I actually dislike the mother more than the serial killer. Quick synopsis: The story of serial killer Tony Costa and the memories of Liza Rodman, who was babysat by Tony Costa on many occasions (and didn’t kill her, obviously). Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The murders took place…
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Enemy of All Mankind by Steven Johnson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Enemy of all Mankind: Piracy, the original get rich quick scheme or die trying. Quick synopsis: The story of arch-pirate Henry Every. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Henry Every is the most successful pirate of all time. He was only a pirate for two years. He was also never caught.…
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The Immortals by Steven Collis
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Immortals: A priest, two ministers, and a rabbi walk onto a boat…. Quick synopsis: The story of the SS Dorchester, a World War II troop ship sunk by a Nazi U-boat and the men who died saving others. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: All four chaplains would independently give…
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Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Agent Zigzag: I believe the English term for a guy like this is “cheeky.” Quick synopsis: The story of Eddie Chapman, the most unexpected double agent of World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: One of the men in this book was known as “Passion Pants.” Fun Fact for…
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No Beast So Fierce by Dane Huckelbridge
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for No Beast So Fierce: Well, I won’t look at the Cincinnati Bengals the same way again. They represent a murderer! Quick synopsis: The story of deadliest animal in history: the Champawat Tiger. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Champawat Tiger killed 435 people. Yes, you read that correctly. Fun Fact…
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Louis XIV by Josephine Wilkinson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Louis XIV: Current world record holder for longest reign! Quick synopsis: A biography of Louis XIV of France, the Sun King. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Guess how Louisiana got named? Yup, this guy. He is the longest reigning monarch of all time (72 years, 110 days). Queen Elizabeth is…