Category: Books/Museum Reviews
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Targeted: Beirut by Jack Carr and James Scott
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Targeted: Beirut: Very dangerous fish stuck in a barrel. Quick synopsis: The story of the 1983 U.S. Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut. Fact for Non-History People: When the Marines first occupied the airport in Lebanon, they had to clear away 125 different types of unexploded ordinance from 19 different countries.…
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Tuskegee Airmen by Samuel de Korte
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Tuskegee Airmen: I wouldn’t want to mess with them. Quick synopsis: The true story of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. Fact for Non-History People: The airmen won over 850 medals. Fact for History Nerds: 150 Tuskegee Airmen lost their lives in World War II. My Take on Tuskegee…
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Eden Undone by Abbott Kahler
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Eden Undone: Should’ve been renamed Cuckoo Island after they left. Quick synopsis: The true story of people trying to live in isolation on an island in the Galápagos. Insanity ensues. Fact for Non-History People: Tortoises on the Galápagos have been measured as weighing as much as 700 pounds. Fact for…
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The Daring Exploits of Pirate Black Sam Bellamy by Jaime Goodall
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Daring Exploits of Pirate Black Sam Bellamy: Pirates, witches, and Cape Cod. Quick synopsis: The story of the notorious pirate Black Sam Bellamy. Fact for Non-History People: By some measures, Bellamy is the richest pirate ever with about $120 million stolen by today’s estimates. (Disclaimer: This is a really hard…
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Marquis de Lafayette Returns by Elizabeth Reese
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Marquis de Lafayette Returns: That’s my boy right there! Quick synopsis: The story of the Marquis de Lafayette’s return to the U.S. years after the revolution. Fact for Non-History People: Lafayette spent about $250,000 of his own money during the revolution ($5 million today). Fact for History Nerds: The throat infection…
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The Siege by Ben Macintyre
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Siege: Proof that fiction can’t touch great non-fiction. I said what I said. Quick synopsis: The story of the 1980 hostage crisis of the Iranian embassy in London. Fact for Non-History People: British police did not carry guns except for Diplomatic Protection officers. That becomes very important. Fact for History…
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Our Flag Was Still There by Tom McMillan
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Our Flag Was Still There: This book is a Star-Spangled Banger. Quick synopsis: The story of the flag over Fort McHenry both before and after the battle. Fact for Non-History People: Francis Scott Key’s son was murdered in the middle of Washington D.C. over an affair. Fact for History Nerds: The…
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Reaping the Whirlwind by Dominic Etzold
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Reaping the Whirlwind: More reasons never to go in a submarine. Quick synopsis: A look at the submarine war in World War I off the coast of the U.S. Fact for Non-History People: Only 5 German subs made it across the Atlantic to the U.S. coast during World War I as…
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The Stalin Affair by Giles Milton
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Stalin Affair: Romancing Uncle Joe. Quick synopsis: A look at the alliance between Stalin, Churchill, and FDR in World War II. Fact for Non-History People: A U.S. poll taken two days after the German invasion of the Soviet Union found that two-thirds of the country was against aiding Stalin. Fact…