Category: Books/Museum Reviews
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A Furious Sky by Eric Jay Dolin
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for A Furious Sky: Don’t live in Florida. Or Texas. It’s science. Quick synopsis: The 500-year history of hurricanes in America. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: When hurricanes started being given proper names, they were only women’s names. It led to some rather hilarious adjectives being attributed to storms like “moody.”…
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The Agitator by Peter Duffy
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Agitator: Commies vs. Nazis. Who ya got? Quick synopsis: The story of William Bailey who boarded a German luxury liner and threw the swastika flag into the Hudson River. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Everyone knows that the Nazis hated the Jews. What most people don’t realize is that…
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The Zealot and the Emancipator by H.W. Brands
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Zealot and the Emancipator: The Civil War era was crazy. Glad politics got so much better since then. Quick synopsis: A dual biography of John Brown and Abraham Lincoln. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: John Brown was seriously deranged, and we all are pretty clear about that today. But…
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Antarctica by David Day
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Antarctica: I really want to go here. Someone want to make a donation? Quick synopsis: The story of Antarctica from the 1770s to today. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Antarctica is a desert. It hasn’t rained there in 2 million years. Go ahead, check my work. Fun Fact for History…
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Commander Will Cushing by Jaime Malanowski
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Commander Will Cushing: This mofo was CRAZY! Quick synopsis: A biography of Commander William Cushing with a major focus on his bonkers actions in the military during the Civil War. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Cushing was basically an action movie hero. The big event in his life was during…
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American Fire by Monica Hesse
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for American Fire: Bad sex life? Let’s burn down buildings. Quick synopsis: The story of an arsonist couple in rural Virginia. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The arson spree the couple committed ended in a tally of 70 fires. Fun Fact for History Nerds: There are about 17,000 residential arson fires…
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Labyrinth of Ice by Buddy Levy
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Labyrinth of Ice: Just don’t go to the Arctic. It’s a bad idea. Quick synopsis: The story of the Greely Polar Expedition in 1881. It went badly. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: You don’t get a cold in the Arctic. The lack of people and germs means you just won’t…
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Catherine the Great by Robert Massie
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Catherine the Great: She’s not even Russian! Quick synopsis: An in-depth biography of Catherine the Great of Russia. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: There is a rumor Catherine died while having sex with a horse. No, she didn’t, you sicko. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Catherine is one of the…
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The Bounty by Caroline Alexander
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Bounty: All of this over a plant. Quick synopsis: The story of the mutiny on the Bounty in 1789 in the middle of the South Pacific. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The mutineers who ended up at Pitcairn Island created a society that today comes from only 4 family…