Tag: World War II
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Madame Fourcade’s Secret War by Lynne Olson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Madame Fourcade’s Secret War: Spying sounds exhausting. Quick synopsis: The story of Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the spy master of a massive network in France throughout World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Spying in France during World War II was very often a family affair. Olson notes multiple instances where…
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Interview with Larry Loftis Author of CODE NAME: LISE
It still amazes me how generous history authors are with their time. I read CODE NAME: LISE (my review is here) a few months ago and absolutely loved it. The book is about Odette Sansom (or Hallowes or Churchill) who was World War II’s most highly decorated spy. Anything more starts to verge on spoilers,…
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Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (Netflix)
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story: Age old story of a beautiful actress who gets bored and invents something. Quick synopsis: The life of Hedy Lamarr, actress, producer, and inventor it turns out. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: She sued because the name of the woman in Blazing Saddles was named…
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Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Lost in Shangri-La: Wait until you get to the unneeded male nudity. Quick synopsis: Story of an airplane crash during World War II in New Guinea. The survivors of the crash are caught in a valley which will require an ingenious exit strategy. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: A drunk…
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Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Ghost Soldiers: You’ll cancel your hibachi reservation after reading this. Quick synopsis: The story of the jailbreak for the survivors of the Bataan Death March. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: What did the U.S. Army do when their soldiers got tired in World War II? Amphetamines! (Club music begins) Fun…
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Code Name: Lise by Larry Loftis
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Code Name: Lise: Want to be a spy? Not after reading this! Quick synopsis: Story of the Odette Sansom, the most decorated spy of WWII. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Sansom was caught and tortured by the Gestapo repeatedly. She didn’t give them a thing. Thank God she was a…
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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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The Winter Fortress by Neal Bascomb
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Winter Fortress: I love it when the good guys blow stuff up! Quick synopsis: The story of a group of Norwegian commandos in World War II trying to take out an important enemy site tied to an atomic bomb. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: It seems like something made…