Tag: World War II
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Taking Paris by Martin Dugard
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Taking Paris: Everybody wants some Paris. Quick synopsis: The story of the Allies losing and regaining Paris in World War II. Spoiler alert, I guess. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Allies almost skipped Paris after D-Day. With the focus on defeating the German Army, it took some cajoling to…
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The Terrible Hours by Peter Maas
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Terrible Hours: As if you needed more reasons not to go on a submarine. Quick synopsis: The story of the rescue of the crewmen on the submarine Squalus in 1939. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Until about the mid-1930s, if your submarine had a problem, you were going to…
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Checkmate in Berlin by Giles Milton
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Checkmate in Berlin: Those crazy Soviets don’t play well with others. Quick synopsis: The story of how post-World War II Berlin became split in half. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: During the height of the Berlin Airlift, a plane was landing with supplies every 30 seconds. Fun Fact for History…
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Target Tokyo by James M. Scott
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline: Wait, we bombed Tokyo right after Pearl Harbor? I’ll be damned. Quick synopsis: We bombed Tokyo right after Pearl Harbor. Yes, really. Jimmy Doolittle and his Doolittle Raiders actually did a hell of a lot. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: When the Doolittle Raiders took off for their bombing run, they…
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The Volunteer by Jack Fairweather
Quick synopsis of The Volunteer: The story of Polish World War II hero, Witold Pilecki. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The dude VOLUNTEERED to be sent to Auschwitz to foment rebellion in the camp. Yes, THAT Auschwitz. Fun Fact for History Nerds: Dude then BROKE OUT OF AUSCHWITZ. My Take on The Volunteer: Well,…
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Scholars of Mayhem by Daniel Guiet/Timothy Smith
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Scholars of Mayhem: PhD in killing Nazis. Quick synopsis: The story of Jean Claude Guiet and his team of saboteurs in World War II France. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Once France was liberated, you could tell which women collaborated with the Germans by their telltale shaved head which was…
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Lucky 666 by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Lucky 666: Sure, why not just build your own plane during World War II. Quick synopsis: The story of the Old 666, a B-17 bomber put together with scraps in Papua New Guinea in World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The main event of the book is the…
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Faster by Neal Bascomb
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Faster: Apparently, Hitler would have loved the Fast and the Furious movies. Quick synopsis: The story of how a French race car driver and American heiress embarrassed the German racing team on the eve of World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Car racing in the 1920s and 30s…
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The Good Assassin by Stephan Talty
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Good Assassin: Of course he’s a good assassin. He’s killing Nazis. Quick synopsis: The story of the hunt and killing of Herbert Cukurs, the Butcher of Latvia. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Ilha da Queimada Grande, an island off the coast of Brazil, has one snake for every 6…