Amazing St. Louis by Charlie Brennan

Amazing St. Louis by Charlie Brennan, 262 pages

250 years of amazing and interesting facts about St. Louis are included in this book. The world's tallest man is from Alton, Illinois.  St. Louis hosted the 1st Summer Olympics.  One peculiar story had to do with a young Larry Connors who was a reporter at the time in Texas when he busted a whorehouse in Texas. Another very interesting fact is that O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named for a war hero who grew up in St. Louis and never lived in Chicago.  My favorite story is that Walt Disney almost built Disney World in St. Louis, if it had not been for the Busch's family love of beer.

The Ariadne Objective: The Underground War to Rescue Crete from the Nazis by Wes Davis

The Ariadne Objective: The Underground War to Rescue Crete from the Nazis by Wes Davis - 352 pages

The Ariadne Objective details the guerrilla and special operations war in Crete during World War II.  The first half of the book introduces the British Special Operations Executive officers who coordinate the resistance and covers the early years of the German occupation and the establishment of the resistance operations, including sabotage and espionage.  The second half of the book details two major undercover operations conducted on Crete: one to extract an Italian  general and the planned abduction of a German general.  Key players (and archaeologists/authors/translators/) included John Pendlebury, Xan Fielding, Tom Dunbabin, Patrick Leigh Fermor, and Stanley William Moss.

What did I like about this title? The introductory material on the British officers established them as common people. I also liked how it balanced mission planning with the actual missions. If this was not enough, many of the SOE officer's outlandish plans were reminiscent of these seen on Hogan's Heroes and actually worked. The descriptions of the officer's off-duty time were almost exactly like those seen in M*A*S*H*. When all of this was combined, it made the Ariadne Objective the best history book I have read in years.

I received an advanced reader's copy of this title through Goodreads. The Ariadne Objective will be released on 11/12/13. If you would like to learn more about this book, check out this link.

Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs: The Unknown History of the Men and Women of WWII's OSS by Patrick O'Donnell

Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs:  The Unknown History of the Men and Women of WWII's OSS by Patrick O'Donnell - 365 pages

O'Donnell details the war behind the scenes of World War II.  Written as an agent-level history instead of an agency history, Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs outlines the operations conducted by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the military intelligence organization formed during the beginning of World War II that was the precursor to the civilian CIA.  Because of the scope of the book, chapters initially on recruitment, training, and the various departments.  The majority of the chapters detail operations in different countries or regions in chronological order.

While I appreciated the broad overview, I also found the book helpful to identifying topics I would like to research further.  Also, long passages of text are excerpts from interviews and reports.

Debunked! Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends, and Evil Plots of the 21st Century by Richard Roeper

Debunked!   Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends and Evil Plots of the 21st Century by Richard Roeper, 244 pages

I always love these types of books!  These books contain such ridiculous theories, you can't help but laugh.  I especially liked the story of seeing the Virgin Mary in a grilled cheese sandwich. The lady who it belonged to got paid $28,000 for the sandwich and another $6000 for the frying pan that it was cooked in!  My absolute favorite story has to be the conspiracy theory behind JFK Jr.'s plane crash.  The theory is that George W. Bush was behind the crash, because JFK Jr. was planning on running for President against the younger Bush.  But the most ridiculous theory has to be that Flight 93 that crashed on 9/11 in Pennsylvania did not really crash and that all the passengers are living a secret life elsewhere!

Life Below Stair, True Lives of Edwardian Servants by Alison Maloney

Life Below Stairs, True Lives of Edwardian Servants by Alison Maloney, 192 pages

This was a fascinating book of a look behind the walls of being a servant in England in the early 1900s.  If you like Downton Abby, you will love this book.  This book has quite a bit of detail and a lot of insight into the life of a servant.  One thing that was really interesting, was a chart of the household structure, who is at the bottom of the servant list and who is at the top.  Another fact I found interesting was how each servant was assigned an amount of beer they were limited too.  This was a very fascinating read!!

The Annals of Unsolved Crime by Edward Jay Epstein

The Annals of Unsolved Crime by Edward Jay Epstein, 347 pages

First thing I had to look up after reading this book was the meaning of the word annals.  Annals means chronicles.  This was a fascinating book covering some of the most famous conspiracies and crimes.  The author outlines what we know and don't know about each case, then he presents theories.  He covers the Jon Benet Ramsey Case and the Amanda Knox Case. Both he presents with very interesting theories on how he thinks it happened.  Some of the bigger cases he writes about are the Oklahoma City bombing, and of course the big ones, the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations.   If you like true crime and conspiracy theories, you will like this book.