Tag: History

Review: Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy

February 17, 2026

“It is the most fatal virus in the world, a pathogen that kills nearly 100 percent of its hosts in most species, including humans.” Rabid is all about the most fatal virus known to science, Rabies. This discusses the history of the disease, the cultural impact of it, and how it has been handled throughout … More Review: Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy

Review: The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown

February 11, 2026

This book follows the harrowing journey of the Donner party. It chronicles the group’s journey from the very beginning in Illinois all the way till their deaths after their rescue. As someone who has known about the Donner party for years but never really done any research on the tragedy, this was a very eye … More Review: The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown

Review: Out Cold: A Chilling Descent into the Macabre, Controversial, Lifesaving History of Hypothermia by Phil Jaekl

February 5, 2026

Out Cold chronicles the history of using cold in medicine and hyperthermia. This covers experimentations, accidents, and all different kinds of medical marvels. This is a topic that is not really something that I have ever really thought of when it comes to medical history, but it ended up being a really fascinating one.  I … More Review: Out Cold: A Chilling Descent into the Macabre, Controversial, Lifesaving History of Hypothermia by Phil Jaekl

ARC Review: The Culting of America: What Makes a Cult and Why We Learn to Love Them by Daniella Mestyanek Young and Amy Reed

January 24, 2026

“Cults don’t start with mass suicide or pledges to storm the Capitol. They start with small things: a shared belief, an inspiring leader, a feeling of belonging. They start with language—words like awakening, truth, resistance, patriotism. And before long, that language becomes identity, and identity becomes dogma. The most dangerous ideas aren’t shouted—they’re whispered in … More ARC Review: The Culting of America: What Makes a Cult and Why We Learn to Love Them by Daniella Mestyanek Young and Amy Reed

Review: Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar

December 27, 2025

Before picking up this book, I had never heard of this incident and had no idea about all the controversy around what might have happened to these nine hikers. Eichar weaves together his journey to uncover the mystery of this incident with the hikers’ accounts to create a very interesting and captivating look at what … More Review: Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar

Review: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore

December 20, 2025

The Radium Girls discusses the lives, careers, trials, and death of the women who worked in factories painting watches, clocks, and other military dials with radium so they will illuminate. They were repeatedly told that radium wasn’t harmful, and taught to make their paint brushes into a point using their mouths. So when the women … More Review: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore

Review: War is a Racket by General Smedley Butler

December 14, 2025

This book was written in 1935, and is still so relevant today. War is a Racket is a scathing 43 minutes (or 50 pages) book about the lies politicians tell American taxpayers to justify going to war. Butler explains the corruption of war in very easy to follow language and finishes up by presenting three … More Review: War is a Racket by General Smedley Butler

Review: Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

December 13, 2025

“For good or ill, there is now a cult for everyone.” When you hear the word ‘cult’ your brain instantly imagines a specific type of group (an extreme religious one most likely), but that doesn’t cover the broadness of what a cult can be. Cultish takes a look at the language surrounding cults and what … More Review: Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

Review: Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham

December 7, 2025

This book is about the history of the dangers of the space program and how it led to disasters like the Challenger explosion in 1986, the Columbia disaster in 2003, and a few other disasters. While I knew of the Challenger disaster, it was before I was born and I never really looked into what … More Review: Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham

Review: Waco Rising: David Koresh, the FBI, and the Birth of America’s Modern Militias by Kevin Cook

November 14, 2025

The siege of the Davidian compound in Waco, Texas is an event that I have heard mentioned before, but I knew nothing about. From the very beginning, I was hooked on this cult and the events surrounding the siege against them.  As someone who had never heard of The Branch Davidians, or even the Seventh-Day … More Review: Waco Rising: David Koresh, the FBI, and the Birth of America’s Modern Militias by Kevin Cook

Review: All That Is Wicked: A Gilded-Age Story of Murder and the Race to Decode the Criminal Mind by Kate Winkler Dawson

November 9, 2025

As someone who has a psychology degree with a minor in criminal justice, I found this investigation into Edward Rulloff fascinating, especially since I had never heard of him. Edward Rulloff was a psychopath who was tried multiple times for the murder of his wife and child, and speculated about other family members, and eventually … More Review: All That Is Wicked: A Gilded-Age Story of Murder and the Race to Decode the Criminal Mind by Kate Winkler Dawson

Review: Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey

October 24, 2025

“A haunted house is a memory palace made real: a physical space that retains memories that might otherwise be forgotten or that might remain only in fragments. Under the invisible weight of these memories, the habits of those who once haunted these places, we feel the shudder of the ghost.”  Ghostland takes a look at … More Review: Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey