Tag: American history
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Beverly Hills Spy by Ronald Drabkin
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Beverly Hills Spy: The climate is even great for spying! Quick synopsis: The story of Frederick Rutland who spied for the Japanese against America in World War II. Fact for Non-History People: Rutland was so poor that when he enlisted in the navy, he was only 5’2” and 85 pounds. Fact…
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Brotherhood of the Flying Coffin by Scott McGaugh
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Brotherhood of the Flying Coffin: There is no damn way you’d get me in one of those things. Quick synopsis: The story of the American glider pilots of World War II. Fact for Non-History People: The U.S. produced 14,612 gliders between 1941 and 1945. Fact for History Nerds: General William Westmoreland…
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Escaping Twin Flames (Netflix)
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Escaping Twin Flames: Dating is hard enough without this nonsense. Quick synopsis: The story of the Twin Flames Universe, a dating cult. No, that is not a typo. Fact for Non-History People: Their Facebook group had 14,000 people. The interesting part is that people are still using Facebook. Hey-oh! Fact for…
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Paradise Falls by Keith O’Brien
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Paradise Falls: An entirely different kind of sightseeing. Quick synopsis: The story of the environmental disaster at Love Canal, NY. Fact for Non-History People: The chemical company at the center of this story sold contaminated land to board of education for $1… so the board could build a school on top…
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Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons by Charlotte Gray
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons: Mommy knows best. Quick synopsis: A dual biography of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt. Fact for Non-History People: Around the 1850s, 700 British families owned four fifths of the land in Britain. Fact for History Nerds: Between 1870 and 1914, 454 titled Europeans married American…
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Tripping on Utopia by Benjamin Breen
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Tripping on Utopia: I’ll stick to beer, thanks. Quick synopsis: The people and science at the beginning of widespread drug experimentation. Fact for Non-History People: The CIA did experiments with LSD for mind control purposes. Fact for History Nerds: LSD was first synthesized by Swiss scientists in the 1930s. My Take…
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American Girls by Jessica Roy
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for American Girls: I’m just thankful I have brothers after reading this one. Quick synopsis: The story of an American girl who joins ISIS and the sister who tries to bring her home. Fact for Non-History People: When the girls’ mother thought their house was haunted, church leaders identified the source of…
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Among the Bros by Max Marshall
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Among the Bros: Bros being bros. Quick synopsis: The story of a drug ring centered around fraternity members at the College of Charleston. Fact for Non-History People: How ingrained is Greek life in America? Only 2% of the population is involved in Greek life but they make up 80% of Fortune…
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Too Much Sea for Their Decks by Michael Schumacher
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Too Much Sea for Their Decks: Never go on a Great Lake in November. Quick synopsis: A look at shipwrecks on Lake Superior. Fact for Non-History People: Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world with 31,700 square miles of surface area. Fact for History Nerds: November shipwrecks on…