Tag: American history
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Our Ancient Faith by Allen Guelzo
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Our Ancient Faith: The ultimate democracy fanboy. Quick synopsis: A look at how Abraham Lincoln treasured and communicated his love for American democracy. Fact for Non-History People: Abraham Lincoln is in the Wrestling Hall of Fame. Fact for History Nerds: Lincoln is the only president who holds a patent. It was…
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Save Our Souls by Matthew Pearl
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Save Our Souls: Probably shouldn’t trust the crazy dude you meet on a deserted island. Quick synopsis: The story of the shipwreck of the Wandering Minstrel and the attempts at survival of the captain’s family and the crew. Fact for Non-History People: Elizabeth Walker, the captain’s wife, would unknowingly become the…
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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…