Tag: true crime
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Life Sentence by Mark Bowden
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Life Sentence: “The Wire” is more realistic than we want to admit. Quick synopsis: The life and crimes of Montana “Tana” Barronette in Baltimore. Fact for Non-History People: In 2015 Sandtown, Baltimore, there were 64 murders and only 18 people ended up being charged. Yes, that’s a very bad rate. Fact…
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The Wager by David Grann
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Wager: Maybe the mutineers had a point. Quick synopsis: The story of the shipwreck and mutiny on the HMS Wager. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: If you were the captain of an English ship and it sank, you were automatically given a court martial. Well, assuming you survived. Fun…
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Follow Me to Hell by Tom Clavin
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Follow Me to Hell: They never end up going to hell. Just Texas and Mexico. Quick synopsis: The story of legendary Texas Ranger Leander McNelly. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Texas Rangers were created in 1823 but wouldn’t actually be called the “Texas Rangers” for two years. Fun Fact…
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Life Sentence by Amy Bell
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Life Sentence: No good deed goes unpunished. Quick synopsis: The story of how defending two killers ruined a man’s life. Fun Fact for Non-History People: Before the murder of the police officers in this story in 1974, no policeman had been killed on Moncton, Canada since 1892. Fun Fact for History…
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Koresh by Stephan Talty
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Koresh: He was way more awful than you remember. Quick synopsis: The story of David Koresh and how his life led to the tragedy at Waco. Fun Fact for Non-History People: David Koresh’s real name was Vernon Wayne Howell. Fun Fact for History Nerds: The Branch Davidians didn’t exist because of…
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The Lionkeeper of Algiers by Des Ekin
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Lionkeeper of Algiers: At least you could own a bar. Quick synopsis: The story of James Leander Cathcart, who was kidnapped at sea and held for ransom in Algiers. Fun Fact for Non-History People: Cathcart was only 8 years old when we became a seaman. Fun Fact for History Nerds:…
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There Will Be Fire by Rory Carroll
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for There Will Be Fire: They didn’t get lucky even once. Quick synopsis: The story of the near miss assassination attempt on Margaret Thatcher by the Irish Republican Army in 1984. Fact for Non-History People: The tagline refers to the message from the IRA after the bombing: “Today we were unlucky, but…
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The Peking Express by James Zimmerman
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Peking Express: This trip took way longer than expected. Quick synopsis: The 1923 attack and subsequent kidnapping of the people on China’s Peking Express. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Peking Express was actually bulletproof because bandits were expected to exist on the route. It didn’t do much help…
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Gangbuster by Alan Prendergast
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Gangbuster: Denver needs to rename a few landmarks. Quick synopsis: A true crime story about Denver District Attorney Philip Van Cise. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: In 1876, there were two working telephone lines in the world. By 1922, there were over 15 million phones in the U.S. alone. Fun…