Tag: European history
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Prisoners of the Castle by Ben Macintyre
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Prisoners of the Castle: Life is so much more civilized without Nazis. Quick synopsis: The story of Colditz Castle and the prisoners and guards placed there in World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: “Augustus the Strong” lived in Colditz where he played “fox-tossing” (yes, it’s what you think…
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The Templars by Dan Jones
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Templars: They really need a public relations overhaul. Quick synopsis: The story of the Knights Templar which most people think are a secret organization bent on world domination. That was literally never a thing. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Most Templars were really just bankers. They protected personal belongings,…
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Inventing the It Girl by Hilary Hallett
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Inventing the It Girl: Sex sells. Quick synopsis: A biography of novelist and screenwriter Elinor Glyn. Fun Fact for Non-History People Will Like: In the 1890s, 46,000 women died giving birth in England and Wales. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Elinor’s sister and brother-in-law survived the sinking of the Titanic. My…
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The School That Escaped the Nazis by Deborah Cadbury
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The School That Escaped the Nazis: A school that kids actually wanted to go to! Quick synopsis: The story of Anna Essinger and how she relocated her school to England out of the Nazi’s reach. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: In December 1938, almost 2,000 children were saved from Nazi…
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Agent Josephine by Damien Lewis
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Agent Josephine: Celebrities can work for the greater good! Quick synopsis: The untold story of how entertainer Josephine Baker was also a French spy in World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: A list of animals Josephine took with her nearly everywhere: a Great Dane, monkey, golden lion tamarin,…
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The Black Joke by A. E. Rooks
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Black Joke: If you can’t beat them, steal their ship and then beat them. Quick synopsis: A story of a slave ship turned freedom ship off the coast of Africa in the 1800s. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: A quarter of all the freed enslaved people were courtesy of…
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The Pope at War by David Kertzer
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Pope at War: I’m going to skip Mass this week. Quick synopsis: The story of Pope Pius XII during World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like #1: The Nazis took over 1,000 Jews from Rome during World War II. Only 16 survived. Fun Fact for History Nerds #2:…
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Black Flags, Blue Waters by Eric Jay Dolin
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Black Flags, Blue Waters: The English are the reason we can’t have nice things like a Pirate Republic. Quick synopsis: An overview of piracy in the Americas. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Blackbeard was actually one of the least violent popular pirates. He used theatrics (like lighting fuses and sticking…
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Hitler’s Boy Soldiers by Helene Munson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Hitler’s Boy Soldiers: Just when you thought the Nazis couldn’t get any worse. Quick synopsis: The story of how Hitler and the Nazis indoctrinated young men even before World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: What was a good exercise for these young men? Manning anti-aircraft guns! Yes, really!…