Category: Books/Museum Reviews
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Brilliant Beacons by Eric Jay Dolin
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Brilliant Beacons: I have nothing snarky for this one. Lighthouses are awesome. Quick synopsis: A comprehensive history of the American lighthouse. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: A Fresnel lens can be seen 20 miles out to sea. It may not seem like very far to you, but if you are…
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The Phantom Killer by James Presley
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Phantom Killer: Another win for the press with cool serial killer names. Quick synopsis: A true crime story from 1946. The Phantom Killer murdered 5 people and assaulted 3 more in Texarkana, Texas. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Texas Rangers were so frazzled by this guy that they…
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A Dune Adrift by Marq De Villiers and Sheila Hirtle
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for A Dune Adrift: The island is literally moving as we speak. Quick synopsis: The history of Sable Island off the coast of Canada. Yes, it is more interesting than it sounds! Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Sable Island is home to at least 350 shipwrecks. It’s also home to 500…
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Island of the Lost by Joan Druett
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Island of the Lost: Seriously, stories like this are why I didn’t go in the navy. Quick synopsis: The story of the shipwreck of the Grafton on the Auckland Islands in 1864. Oh, it’s also the story of the shipwreck of the Invercauld on those same islands just a few months…
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The Nuns of Sant’Ambrogio by Hubert Wolf
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Nuns of Sant’Ambrogio: Lesbian nuns. Don’t give me a dirty look. It’s literally true. Quick synopsis: It’s 1858 at a convent in Rome. Stuff is about to go down. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Lesbian nuns. Am I appealing to the lowest common denominator? Yes. It’s still true. Fun…
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Grand Avenues by Scott Berg
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Grand Avenues: This is why Washington, D.C. traffic sucks. Quick synopsis: The story of Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s efforts to plan out Washington, D.C. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: L’Enfant got hired to plan D.C. and got fired before completing it because of bureaucracy. Yes, D.C.’s problems preceded D.C. itself! Fun…
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The Forgotten Storm by Wallace Akin
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Forgotten Storm: I’m never living in Tornado Alley. Quick synopsis: The story of the Tri-State Tornado of 1925. It is the deadliest tornado in US history. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The author of this book was in the tornado. In fact, he was in his house. Which the…
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Midnight Rising by Tony Horwitz
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Midnight Rising: John Brown was a nutjob. A well meaning nutjob, but a nutjob. Quick synopsis: The story of John Brown’s Raid on the Harper’s Ferry Arsenal before the Civil War. It went poorly. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: John Wilkes Booth was at John Brown’s execution. Fun Fact for…
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The Ghost Ships of Archangel by William Geroux
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Ghost Ships of Archangel: Stalin was kind of a jerk? You don’t say. Quick synopsis: The story of PQ-17, a World War II supplies convoy headed for Russia. The convoy needed to pass across German occupied seas, and it goes…. badly. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Technological limitations lead…