Tag: European history
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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…
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The Book Was Better: King Leopold’s Ghost
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for King Leopold’s Ghost: You’ll never look at rubber the same way again. Quick synopsis: The story of King Leopold II of Belgium and how he took over. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Leopold II of Belgium is responsible for the death of about 10 million Africans. Some people today still…
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The Polar Bear Expedition by James Carl Nelson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Polar Bear Expedition: We invaded Russia? We invaded Russia! Quick synopsis: Story of the Polar Bear Expedition, where the Allied Powers at the end of World War I invade near Archangel, Russia to…. well no one was quite sure what the hell they were doing there. Fun Fact Non-History People…
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A Great and Terrible King by Marc Morris
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for A Great and Terrible King: Braveheart was such a stupid movie. Quick synopsis: A complete biography of Edward I of England. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Other than the fact Edward I and William Wallace existed, Braveheart got everything else wrong. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Edward I effectively took…
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Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Romantic Outlaws: Like mother, like daughter. Almost literally. Quick synopsis: A dual biography of Mary Wollstonecraft, a very famous feminist writer and her daughter Mary Shelley who wrote a little book called Frankenstein. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Basically, Frankenstein got written because Mary Shelley was on vacation and someone…
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A Night to Remember by Walter Lord
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for A Night to Remember: Better than the movie. Certainly shorter. Quick synopsis: The classic retelling of the sinking of the Titanic. Enough said. This book was used as reference material for James Cameron when he wrote Titanic. Walter Lord wrote it in 1955. I believe that’s the definition of timeless. Fun…