Category: Books/Museum Reviews

  • The Halifax Explosion by Ken Cuthbertson

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Halifax Explosion: When Canada decides to go big, they go really big. Quick synopsis: The story of the Halifax Explosion of 1917, one of the worst man-made disasters in history. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: This is still the largest non-nuclear man-made explosion in human history. Fun Fact for…

  • Conan Doyle for the Defense by Margalit Fox

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Conan Doyle for the Defense: Need to get out of jail? Just get the most famous detective writer ever! Quick synopsis: The story of how Arthur Conan Doyle (who wrote Sherlock Holmes) helped secure the release of wrongly convicted Oscar Slater. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: After Pearl Harbor, Life…

  • Valor by Dan Hampton

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Valor: The story of a man who refused to enjoy a beach vacation. Quick synopsis: The story of Bill Harris in World War II as he fights, gets captured, fights, fights some more and absolutely refuses to sit still. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Chicago’s mayor thought it was possible…

  • The Moors Murderers by Chris Cook

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Moors Murderers: Yeah, no one should have been shocked when these two got arrested. Quick synopsis: The story of the child killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in the 1960s. Fun Fact for Non-History People Will Like: There were quite a few early indicators Ian Brady was a psychopath. Punching…

  • Judgment Ridge by Dick Lehr/Mitchell Zuckoff

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Judgment Ridge: Teenagers are the absolute worst. Quick synopsis: The story of the murder of Dartmouth professors Half and Susanne Zantop. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: One of the murders refused to kill a dog. Because, obviously, that would be too far. Fun Fact for History Nerds: High school worked…

  • The Fighting Bunch by Chris DeRose

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline: Pissing off soldiers back from World War II seems like a bad strategy. Quick synopsis for The Fighting Bunch: The story of the Battle of Athens, where armed soldiers back from World War II took on a corrupt local government. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Only 139 cars were made during…

  • Endurance by Alfred Lansing

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline: I would have just laid down and died. Quick synopsis: The story of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition of 1914–1917 led by Sir Ernest Shackleton. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: No one died from the Endurance. Read the book. They all should have. Fun Fact for History Nerds: When the expedition returned…

  • My Mother’s War by Eva Taylor

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for My Mother’s War: What’s worse than a concentration camp? Multiple concentration camps. Quick synopsis: The story of the author’s mother who lived through multiple concentration camps. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Spies actually evaded capture by acting drunk. It doesn’t just work in movies! Fun Fact for History Nerds: Also…

  • Madam by Debby Applegate

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Madam: Our grandparents never told us these stories. Quick synopsis: The story of Polly Adler, a very famous madam during the jazz age of New York City. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: After 1900, out of wedlock sex went from 13% to 51%. Fun Fact for History Nerds: The Jewish…