Tag: exploration
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The Last Island by Adam Goodheart
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Last Island: Leave them alone. Quick synopsis: The story of North Sentinel Island and the isolated tribe that calls it home. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Andaman Island chain contains nearly 600 islands and thousands of species that don’t exist anywhere else in the world. Fun Fact for…
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The Explorers by Amanda Bellows
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Explorers: The story of people who refused to sit still. Quick synopsis: A look at different explorers who are often overlooked in history. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Daniel Boone never wore a coonskin cap. He probably wore a beaver hat. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Sacagawea had an…
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Paradise of the Damned by Keith Thomson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Paradise of the Damned: Europeans loved falling for the old “city of gold” trick. Quick synopsis: The story of Sir Walter Raleigh’s obsession with El Dorado. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Columbus’s first voyage covered 3,700 miles in 36 days of sailing. Fun Fact for History Nerds: The Orinoco River…
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Throne of Grace by Tom Clavin and Bob Drury
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Throne of Grace: Life without a map. Quick synopsis: The story of one of America’s forgotten explorers, Jedediah Smith. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Arithmetic used to be called ciphering in schools. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Between 1700 and 1822, European markets purchased nearly forty million pieces of beaver…
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The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Wide Wide Sea: Retire before the job kills you. Quick synopsis: The final voyage of legendary explorer Captain James Cook. Fact for Non-History People: Cook’s second circumnavigation of the globe took 1,100 days and about 100,000 nautical miles. Fact for History Nerds: Cook never had a sailor die of scurvy…
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The Ship Beneath the Ice by Mensun Bound
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Ship Beneath the Ice: Ok, I’d get on a boat for something like this. Quick synopsis: The story of finding Shackleton’s ship, Endurance. Fact for Non-History People: In the last 35 years, the Adelie penguin population has decreased 80%. SAVE THE PENGUINS!! Fact for History Nerds: Due to salinity, seawater…
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Battle of Ink and Ice by Darrell Hartman
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Battle of Ink and Ice: I’d rather go to the Arctic than a newsroom. Quick synopsis: The story of the newspaper wars around the expeditions to the North Pole by Robert Peary and Frederick Cook. Fact for Non-History People: For years, the New York Times was boring on purpose. Fact for…
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Empire of Ice and Stone by Buddy Levy
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Empire of Ice and Stone: The lesson, as always, is don’t go to the Arctic. Quick synopsis: The story of the Karluk, which was shipwrecked in the Arctic and the crew’s attempts to survive. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Friendly reminder that many of the events in the Arctic take…
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River of the Gods by Candice Millard
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for River of the Gods: Who knew adventurers could be so catty? Quick synopsis: The story of the men who tried to find the source of the Nile River. Well, the first Europeans anyway. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: When you wear a cardigan, you can thank the man it was…