Tag: European history
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Absolute Monarchs by John Julius Norwich
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Absolute Monarchs: Popes behaving badly. Quick synopsis: It’s about the Pope. All of them. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Pope Stephen VI put Pope Formosus on trial. The catch? Formosus was dead for 7 months. They exhumed him and had him sit there during the trial. It’s called the Cadaver…
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The Last Duel by Eric Jager
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Last Duel: This is why we have lawyers. Quick synopsis: The story of the last trial by combat in France in 1386. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are set to write and act in the movie version of this book. That is all the…
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The Nuns of Sant’Ambrogio by Hubert Wolf
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Nuns of Sant’Ambrogio: Lesbian nuns. Don’t give me a dirty look. It’s literally true. Quick synopsis: It’s 1858 at a convent in Rome. Stuff is about to go down. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Lesbian nuns. Am I appealing to the lowest common denominator? Yes. It’s still true. Fun…
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My Favorite History: Saint Thomas More
Imagine being one of the great philosophers of your age. You serve a king, die a martyr’s death, and are revered by the Catholic Church. However, your greatest contribution to the world is a book you wrote on a lark. And the title is used today to mean the exact opposite of the point you…
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Madame Fourcade’s Secret War by Lynne Olson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Madame Fourcade’s Secret War: Spying sounds exhausting. Quick synopsis: The story of Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the spy master of a massive network in France throughout World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Spying in France during World War II was very often a family affair. Olson notes multiple instances where…
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Battle of the Books: Catherine of Aragon
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Catherine of Aragon: Yes, they all talk about the same woman (Catherine/Katherine). They just spelled it differently. Quick synopsis: Biographies of Catherine of Aragon by Giles Tremlett, Patrick Williams, and Amy Licence. She was the first wife of Henry VIII and yes then it all went wrong. Fun Fact Non-History People…
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Voyage of Mercy by Stephen Puleo
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Voyage of Mercy: Want to know why Ireland hates England? Well, here is one of the many reasons! Quick synopsis: The story of America’s first true humanitarian mission during the Great Irish Famine. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: One of the donations to Ireland came from the Choctaw Indian tribe.…
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Never In Finer Company by Edward G. Lengel
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Never In Finer Company: Military egomaniacs get their men in a jam? You don’t say. Quick synopsis: Story of the “Lost Battalion” in World War I. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Jokes about using pigeons to send messages are commonplace as jokes. I think people forget that it actually was…
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The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Ghost Map: If you thought doctors were clueless now…. Quick synopsis: The story of the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak in England and how two men figured out why it was happening. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The cholera outbreak chronicled here killed 616 people. It all came from…