Broad subjects

The Mary Rose by Margaret Rule – The Excavation and Raising of Henry VIII’s Flagship – is a book I wanted to read for my trip to Portsmouth where I went to see the ship. This is an old book, the second one that I…

I was so disappointed by Normal women by Philippa Gregory. This is the last book I read by her. I was looking forward to this book, despite its considerable size. The idea behind it seemed great, a non-fiction book on normal women. The book failed…

Tea, Coffee & Chocolate by Melanie King – How We Fell in Love with Caffeine – is a book I bought from the Bodleian gift shop. It is a small book, but really great. It covers tea, coffee, and chocolate in their own chapters, although…

The Historic Heart of Oxford University by Geoffrey Tyack is a fascinating book on the most important buildings at the heart of Oxford. The focus of the book is on architecture and there are plans, archival prints, and all sort of illustrations included in the…

Oxford University by Alice Blackford Millea is fascinating. It has 52 stories from the archives of Oxford, which spans over 800 years. Even though the archives were established at the same time with the Bodleian, in 1634, there area documents that precede this period and…

Liverpool by Peter Aughton – A People’s History – was a book I borrowed for an essay and ended up keeping it so I could read it cover to cover. It is a very good book and I think it would appeal to a wider…

The Brunels by Anthony Burton – father and son – is a good book. It covers a bit of their personal lives and more in depth their professional life. I wish there was a bit more about the interactions between them, thus I gave the…

Mortal Monarchs by Suzie Edge – 1000 Years of Royal Deaths – was such a disappointment. I only gave it 1 star! The book is about how the monarchs died, written by a medical historian. Her background as a medical doctor made me very excited.…

The University of Oxford by Laurence Brockliss – A Brief History is a short, less than 150 pages book with lots of pictures. He also wrote a history that has 871 pages, which must be very interesting indeed. This brief history is so well written,…

A Dark History of Gin by Mike Rendell* is a great book, a fantastic addition to the Dark History series by Pen & Sword. I think this one is one of the best in the series if not the best. It covers a wide range…

A History of Women in Medicine and Medical Research by Dale DeBakcsy* – Exploring the Trailblazers of STEM – is a must read book, without any doubt. It is really well researched, the biographies of those fascinating women are described in a few pages, offering…

The History of the London Underground Map by Caroline Roope* is a good book, it covers both the history of the map and some of the history of the building of the tube too. I wanted to read this book because I love the tube’s…

How the Black Death Gave Us the NHS by Jaime Breitnauer* caught my eyes because I thought it will be relevant for my studies next year. It was not, but it was a very interesting book and I’m glad I’ve read it. Despite its name,…

Liverpool: A Landscape History by Martin Greaney is a good book on the history of Liverpool. It’s a short book and because it was an e-book I’ve decided to put the picture of the cover over a Panorama of Liverpool I took a few years…

The first question regarding 100 Letters That Changed the World by Colin Salter might be why I finished it when I gave it only 1 star? Because I was curious what he selected as primary sources. The book is so badly written that I wouldn’t…

The Industrial Revolution by Robert Allen is from Oxford’s A Very Short Introduction series. It is a short book, but with plenty of interesting details that would keep the reader engaged. I am very keen on this series and I will buy a few more…