Category: Books/Museum Reviews

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • The Holly by Julian Rubinstein

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Holly: Denver is a damn mess. Quick synopsis: The story of Terrance Roberts and the gang war he both participated in and fought against. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Rick Ross, the rapper, is actually using the name of “Freeway” Rick Ross, the convicted drug dealer. The drug dealer…

  • Gibraltar by Roy and Leslie Adkins

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Gibraltar: (In Sean Connery voice) Welcome to the Rock! Quick synopsis: The story of the Siege of Gibraltar from 1779 to 1783. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: There were so many cannonballs shot into the streets that you could basically walk on them as if they were the actual street.…

  • Columbine by Dave Cullen

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Columbine: It’s worse than you remember. Quick synopsis: The Columbine school massacre of 1999. If you were alive, I am sure you remember where you were. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Columbine is only the 5th most deadly school shooting in U.S. history. Fun Fact for History Nerds: One of…

  • Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Shadow Divers: Damn Nazis are still causing problems. Quick synopsis: The discovery and attempts to identify an unknown Nazi sub off New Jersey in 1991. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Back in 1991, when the book takes place, a diver could only be at a wreck for about 20 minutes…

  • A Storm of Witchcraft by Emerson Baker

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for A Storm of Witchcraft: The same type of thinking which led us to anti-vaxxers! Quick synopsis: The Salem Witch Trials. Literally every American knows this one. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Still one of the most badass examples of what we now know as “pleading the fifth.” Giles Corey, who…

  • Empire of Sin by Gary Krist

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Empire of Sin: Never had a title been so apt. Quick synopsis: The story of New Orleans in the early 1900s. Honestly, not that far off from NOLA today. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Guess which city had the first legal red-light district in the country? Yup, you got it.…

  • The Ratline by Philippe Sands

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Ratline: Nazi blood runs deep. Quick synopsis: The story of Nazi Otto van Wachter and his family. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The path many Nazis took to avoid prosecution was called the “Ratline.” I don’t know of a term that was so apt. Fun Fact for History Nerds:…