Tag: World history

  • The Black Death by Thomas Asbridge

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Black Death: The ultimate equalizer. Quick synopsis: A look at the most devastating plague in human history. Fact for Non-History People: There are still 1,000 to 2,000 cases of plague reported each year. Fact for History Nerds: People who lived through it didn’t call it the Black Death. They called…

  • The Long Run by Martin Dugard

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Long Run: Much easier to read this than actually run. Quick synopsis: The story of the marathon and the worldwide running boom. Fact for Non-History People: The marathon distance wasn’t officially standardized at 26.2 miles until 1921. It was very complicated before that. Fact for History Nerds: The fastest official…

  • Athens and Sparta by Adrian Goldsworthy

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Athens and Sparta: THIS! IS! Well, Athens and Sparta. Not just the one. Quick synopsis: The story of the ancient Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta. Fact for Non-History People: At its peak, Athens had a population of 250,000 – 300,000 people. Fact for History Nerds: Sparta had two hereditary kings…

  • Hammer of the Gods by Don Hollway

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Hammer of the Gods: Have hammer. Will travel. Quick synopsis: The story of King Olaf and his conquests. Fact for Non-History People: Olaf attacked England which was ruled at that time by Aethelred the Unready. Aethelred later became Olaf’s godfather because that’s how they rolled back then. Fact for History Nerds:…

  • Seven Sisters by Veronica Buckley

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Seven Sisters: Maria Theresa didn’t raise wallflowers. Quick synopsis: The story of the seven surviving daughters of Empress Maria Theresa. Fact for Non-History People: Maria Theresa had 16 children in total but only 10 survived to adulthood. Fact for History Nerds: Maria Theresa is the only woman to hold the title…

  • Small Earthquakes by Shafik Meghi

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Small Earthquakes: Not everyone forgot. Quick synopsis: A look at the forgotten connections of Great Britain and South America. Fact for Non-History People: The 1982 Falklands War was a 74-day undeclared war. Fact for History Nerds: Valparaiso, Chile was known as the “Jewel of the Pacific” in the 19th century. My…

  • Heiresses by Miranda Kaufmann

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Heiresses: You don’t even need to be there to be a terrible person. Quick synopsis: A look at the women who inherited Caribbean slaves. Fact for Non-History People: British enslavers were compensated over 20 million pounds when slavery was abolished. Fact for History Nerds: The debt I just mentioned wasn’t paid…

  • Carthage by Eve MacDonald

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Carthage: For the Rome haters. Quick synopsis: The story of ancient Carthage. Fact for Non-History People: Carthage had 37 km of massive defensive walls. Fact for History Nerds: Carthage created an artificial harbor which could hold 220 warships. My Take on Carthage: I am notorious (if anyone cared that is) for…

  • The Spy in the Archive by Gordon Corera

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Spy in the Archive: It ain’t sexy, but it’ll do. Quick synopsis: The story of a KGB agent who pulls off the strangest espionage mission I’ve ever seen. Fact for Non-History People: Russian spying peaked in the 1980s with an estimated 100,000 communist spies in Western nations. Fact for History…