Tag: European history
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The Great Mortality by John Kelly
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Great Mortality: If you think the coronavirus sucks… Quick synopsis: A look at the Black Death as it raged across Europe. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: In Italy, some towns saw over an 80% death rate. Think of 10 of your neighbors. 8 of them would have been dead…
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Target Tokyo by James M. Scott
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline: Wait, we bombed Tokyo right after Pearl Harbor? I’ll be damned. Quick synopsis: We bombed Tokyo right after Pearl Harbor. Yes, really. Jimmy Doolittle and his Doolittle Raiders actually did a hell of a lot. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: When the Doolittle Raiders took off for their bombing run, they…
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The Volunteer by Jack Fairweather
Quick synopsis of The Volunteer: The story of Polish World War II hero, Witold Pilecki. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The dude VOLUNTEERED to be sent to Auschwitz to foment rebellion in the camp. Yes, THAT Auschwitz. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Dude then BROKE OUT OF AUSCHWITZ. My Take on The Volunteer: Well,…
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The Lady in the Cellar by Sinclair McKay
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Lady in the Cellar: A lady in the cellar and a lot of bats in the belfry. Quick synopsis: A true crime story about a woman murdered in a boarding house in the late 1800s. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Asian décor was big in the late 1800s of…
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Hannibal by Patrick Hunt
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Hannibal: This book has nothing to do with Anthony Hopkins. Quick synopsis: A biography of Hannibal Barca focusing mainly on his time in the area of today’s Italy and surrounding areas. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Archimedes, a nerdy math guy, came up with a mirror he could use to…
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The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Republic of Pirates: The English are the reason we can’t have nice things like a Pirate Republic. Quick synopsis: The story of how pirates tried to create their own society and the man who destroyed it. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Golden Age of Piracy was relatively short…
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Scholars of Mayhem by Daniel Guiet/Timothy Smith
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Scholars of Mayhem: PhD in killing Nazis. Quick synopsis: The story of Jean Claude Guiet and his team of saboteurs in World War II France. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Once France was liberated, you could tell which women collaborated with the Germans by their telltale shaved head which was…
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Six Days in August by David King
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Six Days in August: Who wouldn’t fall in love with their kidnapper? Quick synopsis: The story of the Norrmalmstorg bank robbery in Sweden in 1973. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Why do you care about a bank robbery with a funny name? This is how “Stockholm Syndrome” entered the public…
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Faster by Neal Bascomb
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Faster: Apparently, Hitler would have loved the Fast and the Furious movies. Quick synopsis: The story of how a French race car driver and American heiress embarrassed the German racing team on the eve of World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Car racing in the 1920s and 30s…