Category: Books/Museum Reviews
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The Shipwreck Hunter by David Mearns
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Shipwreck Hunter: It is really hard to find old shipwrecks. Who knew?! Quick synopsis: Selected shipwreck findings of celebrated explorer/shipwreck hunter David Mearns. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Shipwrecks are sometimes so easy to find it’s kind of embarrassing. The Esmeralda, a 500-year-old ship was found in about 5…
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Brendan by Morgan Llywelyn
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Brendan: I hate this book so much. Quick synopsis: A biography of Brendan of Clonfert and his legendary voyage. I guess. Not sure I can really tell for reasons outlined below. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: St. Brendan discovered America. No, I will not entertain arguments and facts to the…
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The Impeachers by Brenda Wineapple
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Impeachers: Worst. President. Ever. Quick synopsis: The story of the only ever impeachment of a sitting president, Andrew Johnson. Seriously, he sucked. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: By the end of Andrew Johnson’s term, both political parties hated him and wanted him to go away. This may also be…
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Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Bad Blood: How Elizabeth Holmes made very smart people look very dumb. Quick synopsis: A full investigation of the Theranos scam by the reporter who discovered the corruption. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Elizabeth Holmes’ voice is probably fake! Henry Kissinger got pulled into this! Walgreen’s almost went under because…
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Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Killers of the Flower Moon: Damn, white people look really bad after reading this one. Quick synopsis: Investigation into the Osage Indian murders of the 1920s. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Osage Indians in the 1920s were the richest people per capita in the world because they were settled…
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The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Radium Girls: This is why you shouldn’t eat radioactive materials. Quick synopsis: The story of the “Radium Girls.” Two groups of women who worked at plants painting materials with a mixture containing radium. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: File this under, “how can people be so stupid?” Radium was…
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Battle of the Books on the White Hurricane
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline: The perfect storm was a drizzle compared to this. Quick synopsis: The story of the Great Lakes (Snow) Hurricane of 1913. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: This storm was so destructive that 12 ships sank and over 248 people lost their lives. And you’ve probably never heard of it. Fun Fact…
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Rampage by James M. Scott
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Rampage: You’ll cancel your hibachi reservation after reading this. Quick synopsis: Story of the battle of Manila in World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Nothing “fun” about this subject matter. More people were killed in the Battle of Manila than in the Battle of Britain. Fun Fact for…
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The River of Doubt by Candice Millard
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The River of Doubt: I don’t recommend exploring uncharted tributaries of the Amazon. Quick synopsis: The story of when Teddy Roosevelt decided to take a vacation and explore a tributary of the Amazon. Didn’t go well. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Did you see the synopsis above? I am a…