Tag: American history
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Battle of Ink and Ice by Darrell Hartman
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Battle of Ink and Ice: I’d rather go to the Arctic than a newsroom. Quick synopsis: The story of the newspaper wars around the expeditions to the North Pole by Robert Peary and Frederick Cook. Fact for Non-History People: For years, the New York Times was boring on purpose. Fact for…
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Flee North by Scott Shane
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Flee North: Thomas Smallwood is the KING of trolling 1800s slaveowners. Quick synopsis: The story of an extremely successful branch of the Underground Railroad in the 1840s. Fact for Non-History People: After helping slaves escape, Smallwood would write and articles that Torrey published mocking the slaveowners for “losing” their slaves. Again,…
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The Six by Loren Grush
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Six: Space: yet another place I have no intention of visiting. Quick synopsis: The story of the first six female astronauts at NASA. Fact for Non-History People: A totally of 8,079 people applied to be astronauts between 1976 and 1977. Fact for History Nerds: From 1950 to 1960, women represented…
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Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult: You might kick her out, though. Quick synopsis: A memoir by standup comedian Maria Bamford. Fact for Non-History People: Maria puts an actual financial breakdown of what she makes for doing a show in the book. I’m not kidding. It’s a spreadsheet. Fact for History Nerds:…
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The Devils Will Get No Rest by James Conroy
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Devils Will Get No Rest: The Reality TV Reunion Show of World War II. Quick synopsis: The story of the Allied Casablanca Conference of World War II. Fact for Non-History People: FDR saw Churchill naked. No, I won’t explain it any further. Fact for History Nerds: During World War II,…
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Trail of the Lost by Andrea Lankford
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Trail of the Lost: If you don’t have a plan, one may be made for you. Quick synopsis: The search for three missing hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail. Fact for Non-History People: The Pacific Crest Trail travels 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada. So, it can kill you by cold…
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Gallop Towards the Sun by Peter Stark
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Gallop Towards the Sun: Be careful trusting a dude with three first names. Quick synopsis: The story of Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison as they battled both literally and figuratively. Fact for Non-History People: Presidential trivia! William Henry Harrison is the shortest serving president since he gave a long inauguration speech…
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Road to Surrender by Evan Thomas
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Road to Surrender: It did not go down how you think it did. Quick synopsis: The story of the decision to drop the atomic bomb. Fact for Non-History People: Even after the dropping of the second atomic bomb, Japan’s Supreme Council was deadlocked on whether to surrender. Fact for History Nerds:…
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Valiant Women by Lena Andrews
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Valiant Women: They also had to be very patient. Quick synopsis: The story of U.S. women’s integration into the military during World War II. Fact for Non-History People: The U.S. military needed a force of 16 million personnel to fight World War II. Fact for History Nerds: U.S. women would ultimately…