Tag: Russian history
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The Lighthouse of Stalingrad by Iain MacGregor
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Lighthouse of Stalingrad: Hard reading about the Russians as good guys right now. Quick synopsis: The story of the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The U.S. suffered 419,000 killed in action in World War II. The Soviets suffered 27,000,000. Fun Fact for…
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The Sinner and the Saint by Kevin Birmingham
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Sinner and the Saint: Hard to feel bad about your own life when you read about Dostoevsky. Quick synopsis: A biography of Fyodor Dostoevsky as he writes Crime and Punishment with inspiration from a notorious French criminal. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: On page 225, Kevin Birmingham pulls out…
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Catherine the Great by Robert Massie
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Catherine the Great: She’s not even Russian! Quick synopsis: An in-depth biography of Catherine the Great of Russia. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: There is a rumor Catherine died while having sex with a horse. No, she didn’t, you sicko. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Catherine is one of the…
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Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Dead Mountain: This is why I never go camping. OR In Soviet Russia, mountain kill you! Quick synopsis: The story of the mysterious death of 9 hikers in the Ural Mountains of Russia in 1959. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The nine hikers’ bodies were found in various forms of…
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Catherine the Great (HBO)
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Catherine the Great: Bold move by the screenwriters making Catherine the Great suck. Quick synopsis: Part of Catherine the Great’s life but not really. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: You can watch the first episode. All of it is exposition in a very distracting and terrible way. Fun Fact for…
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Wolves at the Door
And now for something completely different. Yes, I wrote a poem. Skip this article if that bothers you. I was inspired by Stalingrad written by Antony Beevor. Towards the end, you start to feel the helplessness of the German soldiers as they know the inevitable red crush is coming. I turned that feeling into an…
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Stalingrad by Antony Beevor
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Stalingrad: Which mass murderer is dumber, Hilter or Stalin? You decide! Quick synopsis: A chronicle of the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II. Basically, the soldiers were heroes and all the megalomaniacs at the top were…well megalomaniacs. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Yes, Russians actually shot their own troops…
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In the Enemy’s House by Howard Blum
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for In the Enemy’s House: Spying sounds exhausting. Quick synopsis: An espionage story about breaking Russian code after WWII in an attempt to stop the leaking of nuclear secrets. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Military recruiters lying their asses off! Who knew? Not a bunch of women during World War II…
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Chernobyl (HBO)
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Chernobyl: In Soviet Russia, miniseries make you look incompetent and corrupt. Quick synopsis: The story of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The miniseries shows what happens when you look into an open nuclear core even for a few seconds. Spoiler alert: You die. Fun…
