Check out my new Etsy shop ⁠⁠Gifts for History Nerds⁠⁠! Enter the promo code "CMTUHISTORY" for 10% off.

Today I speak with Patti McCracken about her new book Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It

(Also available as an ⁠audiobook⁠ narrated by the author)

A groundbreaking reappraisal of medieval femininity, revealing why women have been written out of history and why it matters
The Middle Ages are seen as a bloodthirsty time of Vikings, saints and kings; a patriarchal society that oppressed and excluded women. But when we dig a little deeper into the truth, we can see that the “Dark” Ages were anything but.

Oxford and BBC historian Janina Ramirez has uncovered countless influential women’s names struck out of historical records, with the word FEMINA annotated beside them. As gatekeepers of the past ordered books to be burned, artworks to be destroyed, and new versions of myths, legends and historical documents to be produced, our view of history has been manipulated.

Only now, through a careful examination of the artifacts, writings and possessions they left behind, are the influential and multifaceted lives of women emerging. Femina goes beyond the official records to uncover the true impact of women, such as:

• Jadwiga, the only female king in Europe
• Margery Kempe, who exploited her image and story to ensure her notoriety
• Loftus Princess, whose existence gives us clues about the beginnings of Christianity in England

In Femina, Ramirez invites us to see the medieval world with fresh eyes and discover why these remarkable women were removed from our collective memories. If you would like to help Can't Make This Up (and get early access and bonus episodes), consider becoming a supporter of the podcast on ⁠Patreon⁠!

Like the podcast? Please subscribe and leave a review! Follow @CMTUHistory on ⁠YouTube⁠, ⁠Facebook⁠, ⁠Twitter⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠ & ⁠TikTok

Check out my new Etsy shop Gifts for History Nerds! Enter the promo code "CMTUHISTORY" for 10% off.

Today I speak with Brianna Labuskes about her new book The Librarian of Burned Books.

(Also available as an ⁠audiobook⁠ narrated by Caroline Hewitt, Eleanor Caudill & Karissa Vacker)

Berlin 1933. Following the success of her debut novel, American writer Althea James receives an invitation from Joseph Goebbels himself to participate in a culture exchange program in Germany. For a girl from a small town in Maine, 1933 Berlin seems to be sparklingly cosmopolitan, blossoming in the midst of a great change with the charismatic new chancellor at the helm. Then Althea meets a beautiful woman who promises to show her the real Berlin, and soon she's drawn into a group of resisters who make her question everything she knows about her hosts--and herself.

Paris 1936. She may have escaped Berlin for Paris, but Hannah Brecht discovers the City of Light is no refuge from the anti-Semitism and Nazi sympathizers she thought she left behind. Heartbroken and tormented by the role she played in the betrayal that destroyed her family, Hannah throws herself into her work at the German Library of Burned Books. Through the quiet power of books, she believes she can help counter the tide of fascism she sees rising across Europe and atone for her mistakes. But when a dear friend decides actions will speak louder than words, Hannah must decide what stories she is willing to live--or die--for.

New York 1944. Since her husband Edward was killed fighting the Nazis, Vivian Childs has been waging her own war: preventing a powerful senator's attempts to censor the Armed Service Editions, portable paperbacks that are shipped by the millions to soldiers overseas. Viv knows just how much they mean to the men through the letters she receives--including the last one she got from Edward. She also knows the only way to win this battle is to counter the senator's propaganda with a story of her own--at the heart of which lies the reclusive and mysterious woman tending the American Library of Nazi-Banned Books in Brooklyn.

As Viv unknowingly brings her censorship fight crashing into the secrets of the recent past, the fates of these three women will converge, changing all of them forever.

Inspired by the true story of the Council of Books in Wartime--the WWII organization founded by booksellers, publishers, librarians, and authors to use books as "weapons in the war of ideas"--The Librarian of Burned Books is an unforgettable historical novel, a haunting love story, and a testament to the beauty, power, and goodness of the written word.

If you would like to help Can't Make This Up (and get early access and bonus episodes), consider becoming a supporter of the podcast on ⁠Patreon⁠!

Like the podcast? Please subscribe and leave a review! Follow @CMTUHistory on ⁠YouTube⁠, ⁠Facebook⁠, ⁠Twitter⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠ & ⁠TikTok

Check out my new Etsy shop ⁠Gifts for History Nerds⁠! Enter the promo code "CMTUHISTORY" for 10% off.

Today I speak with Patti McCracken about her new book The Angel Makers: Arsenic, A Midwife, and Modern History's Most Astonishing Murder Ring

(Also available as an audiobook narrated by Gabra Zackman)

The Angel Makers is a true-crime story like no other—a 1920s midwife who may have been the century’s most prolific killer leading a murder ring of women responsible for the deaths of at least 160 men.

The horror occurred in a rustic farming enclave in modern-day Hungary. To look at the unlikely lineup of murderesses—village wives, mothers, and daughters—was to come to the shocking realization that this could have happened anywhere, and to anyone. At the center of it all was a sharp-minded village midwife, a “smiling Buddha” known as Auntie Suzy, who distilled arsenic from flypaper and distributed it to the women of Nagyrév. “Why are you bothering with him?” Auntie Suzy would ask, as she produced an arsenic-filled vial from her apron pocket. In the beginning, a great many used the deadly solution to finally be free of cruel and abusive spouses.

But as the number of dead bodies grew without consequence, the killers grew bolder. With each vial of poison emptied, a new reason surfaced to drain yet another. Some women disposed of sickly relatives. Some used arsenic as “inheritance powder” to secure land and houses. For more than fifteen years, the unlikely murderers aided death unfettered and tended to it as if it were simply another chore—spooning doses of arsenic into soup and wine, stirring it into coffee and brandy. By the time their crimes were discovered, hundreds were feared dead.

Anonymous notes brought the crimes to light in 1929. As a skillful prosecutor hungry for justice ran the investigation, newsmen from around the world—including the New York Times—poured in to cover the dramatic events as they unfolded.

The Angel Makers captures in expertly researched detail the entirety of this harrowing story, from the early murders to the final hanging—the story of one of the most sensational and astonishing murder rings in all of modern history.

If you would like to help Can't Make This Up (and get early access and bonus episodes), consider becoming a supporter of the podcast on Patreon!

Like the podcast? Please subscribe and leave a review! Follow @CMTUHistory on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & TikTok