Tag: World history
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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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Fifty-Three Days on Starvation Island by John Bruning
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Fifty-Three Days on Starvation Island: This was no island vacation. Quick synopsis: The story of the U.S. Marine pilots at Guadalcanal in World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: In 1942, a filet mignon was only $1.90 in D.C. restaurants. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Brewster, a plane manufacturer,…
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Patton’s Prayer by Alex Kershaw
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Patton’s Prayer: Because weather shouldn’t ruin your day or keep you from winning World War II. Quick synopsis: The story of General George Patton during the Battle of the Bulge. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Patton had to repeat a year at West Point because he failed math. (Even I…
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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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Vagabond Princess by Ruby Lal
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Vagabond Princess: Her Instagram account would have been awesome. Quick synopsis: The biography of Mughal Princess and writer Gulbadan Begum from the 1500s. Fact for Non-History People: Royal couriers were super-fast back in the day. A good rider with a solid horse could cover around 350 miles on a great…
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The Asteroid Hunter by Dante Lauretta
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Asteroid Hunter: Who knew space could be so anxiety inducing? Quick synopsis: A firsthand account of the OSIRIS-REx space mission by its leader, Dante Lauretta. Fact for Non-History People: Asteroid Bennu might kill us all on September 24, 2182. Fact for History Nerds: About 17 meteorites hit Earth every…
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The Savage Storm by James Holland
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Savage Storm: Everyone was mad at the Italians, even the Italians. Quick synopsis: The story of the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943. Fact for Non-History People: By 1943, the Luftwaffe had already lost almost 6,000 aircraft in the Mediterranean alone. Fact for History Nerds: The German 10th Army lost…
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Judgment at Tokyo by Gary Bass
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Judgment at Tokyo: Less of a trial and more like a clown show. Quick synopsis: The story of the Tokyo Trial to prosecute Japanese leadership after World War II. Fact for Non-History People: On a mission to bomb Chichi Jima, 9 U.S. pilots needed to bail out during the bombing run.…
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The Rest is History by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Rest is History: Historians gone wild. Quick synopsis: Basically, whatever Tom and Dom felt like writing down about history in various forms. Fact for Non-History People: The first formal celebration of Christmas wasn’t until the year 336. AD, obviously. Fact for History Nerds: Stanley Baldwin, a very rich British PM,…