Tag: World War I
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The Dangerous Harbour by Bob Chaulk
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Dangerous Harbour: When you have explosives, be careful. Quick synopsis: A look at the wrecks of Halifax because of the Great Halifax Explosion. Fact for Non-History People: 8 million horses and mules died during World War I. Fact for History Nerds: During World War I, 43% of the world’s merchant…
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American Midnight by Adam Hochschild
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for American Midnight: All was not fine on the home front. Quick synopsis: A look at the American home front around the time of World War I. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: On June 5, 1917, all eligible men were required to register for the draft. Although there were concerns on…
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The Facemaker by Lindsey Fitzharris
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Facemaker: The good doctor. Quick synopsis: The story of Dr. Harold Gillies, who pioneered face reconstruction of World War I casualties. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: In World War I, over 280,000 soldiers from just Britain, Germany, and France suffered some form of facial trauma. Fun Fact for History…
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The Halifax Explosion by Ken Cuthbertson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Halifax Explosion: When Canada decides to go big, they go really big. Quick synopsis: The story of the Halifax Explosion of 1917, one of the worst man-made disasters in history. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: This is still the largest non-nuclear man-made explosion in human history. Fun Fact for…
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The Confidence Men by Margalit Fox
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Confidence Men: Maybe I’ve had fortune tellers wrong this whole time. Quick synopsis: The story of how two British POWs in World War I make their escape… by using telepathy. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: This may be the only example in military history of a conviction on espionage…
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The Unknowns by Patrick K. O’Donnell
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Unknowns: You have to give it to Americans. We may not do it better, but we always do it bigger. Quick synopsis: An overview of American involvement in World War I through the lens of the body bearers of the Unknown Soldier. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Germans were…
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Timely History: The Halifax Explosion
On August 4th of this year, a gigantic explosion ripped through Beirut in Lebanon. Final numbers on the destruction are not fully understood, but it looks like at least 220 people were killed and 7,000 injured. The blast was approximately 2.75 kilotons of ammonium nitrate. Nerd that I am, I immediately thought of the Halifax…
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Never In Finer Company by Edward G. Lengel
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Never In Finer Company: Military egomaniacs get their men in a jam? You don’t say. Quick synopsis: Story of the “Lost Battalion” in World War I. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Jokes about using pigeons to send messages are commonplace as jokes. I think people forget that it actually was…
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The Polar Bear Expedition by James Carl Nelson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Polar Bear Expedition: We invaded Russia? We invaded Russia! Quick synopsis: Story of the Polar Bear Expedition, where the Allied Powers at the end of World War I invade near Archangel, Russia to…. well no one was quite sure what the hell they were doing there. Fun Fact Non-History People…