Tag: American history
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The Apache Wars by Paul Andrew Hutton
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Apache Wars: Everything is inevitable if you are stubborn enough. Quick synopsis: A chronicle of the Apache Wars which was really a bunch of smaller wars over about 30 years. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Nickname fail: One of the main characters was half white, half Apache named…the Apache…
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The Sinners All Bow by Kate Winkler Dawson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Sinners All Bow: Truth is more tragic than fiction. Quick synopsis: The story of the death of Sarah Cornell in 1832, who did it, and the connection to The Scarlet Letter. Fact for Non-History People: Not only does this story include a connection to Nathaniel Hawthorne, but also the ancestors…
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The Sugar Barons by Matthew Parker
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Sugar Barons: Before the tea party was the sugar hell. Quick synopsis: The story of how a sugar empire was built in the Caribbean in the years after 1650. Fact for Non-History People: Processing sugar could kill you in many ways including by exploding stills. Fun Fact for History Nerds:…
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Astoria by Peter Stark
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Astoria: This has nothing to do with the Goonies. Sorry. Quick synopsis: The story of John Jacob Astor trying to populate the Pacific Northwest and monopolize the fur trade in the area. Fact for Non-History People: Astoria, Oregon is named after John Jacob Astor. He never stepped foot there. Too busy…
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Season of Shattered Dreams by Eric Vickrey
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Season of Shattered Dreams: No more buses on mountains for me. Quick synopsis: The story of the deadliest accident in American professional sports where a baseball team’s bus crashed off a mountain in 1946. Fact for Non-History People: More than 500 major leaguers served in World War II. Fact for History…
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Morningside by Aran Shetterly
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Morningside: Bet you can’t guess the ending. Quick synopsis: The story of the 1979 Greensboro, N.C. massacre. Fact for Non-History People: Greensboro is named after Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene. Fact for History Nerds: James Gardner was a N.C. congressman around this time along with being a co-founder of the Hardee’s…
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Raised by a Serial Killer by April Balascio
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Raised by a Serial Killer: Father does NOT know best. Quick synopsis: The story of April Balascio being raised by her father and serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards. Fact for Non-History People: The U.S. leads the world in the number of documented serial killers and have more than the next ten…
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Naming Gotham by Rebecca Bratspies
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Naming Gotham: We’re gonna need to rename a few things after this. Quick synopsis: The various stories about how major parts of New York City were named. Fact for Non-History People: Major Deegan was actually an army major. His full name was William Francis Deegan. Fact for History Nerds: When Anne…
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The Immortal Irishman by Timothy Egan
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Immortal Irishman: This guy packed a lot into 44 years. Quick synopsis: The story of Thomas Francis Meagher who was an Irish Nationalist and American Civil War general. Fact for Non-History People: Meagher was actually sentenced to death by the British. His sentence was commuted to life in Tasmania. Yeah,…