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…
Mr Briggs’ Hat by Kate Colquhoun – A Sensational Account of Britain’s First Railway Murder – is a comprehensive account of the first murder in a train, which happened in the First-Class carriage, in 1864. It was shocking and fuelled Victorian fears of what new…
The Art of Sword Combat by Joachim Meyer* – A 1568 German Treatise on Swordmanship – is a must-have book for anyone with an interest in medieval history. It is such a wonderful piece of history, well worth reading and engaging with. The book shows…
I was very excited to read Emotions in a Crusading Context, 1095-1291 by Stephen Spencer, as Stephen is teaching one of the modules I had this year. I think he is a very good teacher and I’ve enjoyed the seminars very much, I felt I…
Sex and Sexuality in Tudor England by Carol McGrath* is a short and fascinating book. I enjoyed it a lot and in its short chapters it touches on all sort of topics, from hair removal, which was pretty gruesome both in how it was done…
A Railway History of New Shildon by George Turner Smith* – From George Stephenson to the Present Day – was the perfect book to take with me on my trip to up north. Why? Because on the 27th September 1825 the first public railway steam…
A Brief History of the Crusades by Geoffrey Hindley – Islam and Christianity in the Struggle for World Supremacy – is a good introduction into the complicated topic of crusades. As this book was written almost 20 years ago, I kept that in mind when…
History, Memory and Public Life by Adam Sutcliffe, alongside with two other editors, Anna Katharina Maerker and Simon Sleight. Each chapter is written by another author expert in the topic, so it is a fascinating book because there are short chapters, of less than 30…
So far Sex and Sexuality in Georgian Britain by Mike Rendell* is my favourite book in this series. Not only he touches on aspects such as marriage and divorce, homosexuality, venereal diseases, but also on topics like rape. Only for that chapter the book is…
Expulsion, England’s Jewish Solution by Richard Huscroft is a book I picked for an assignment, but I think this is written in such a lovely way that it can be enjoyed by everybody with an interest in history. I read a few books on medieval…
The Gregs of Styal by Mary B Rose is a short book I read about the owners of Quarry Bank Mill, for an university assignment I’m doing. The book is interesting, but I don’t think many would be interested in it, especially as it was…
The Origins of Judaism, Christianity and Islam by John Pickard* is a fantastic book. The description of the book mentions that this is “a book by a non-believer for other non-believers, and it will be a revelatory read, even to those already of an atheist,…
Sex and Sexuality in Victorian Britain by Violet Fenn* is a short, but really fascinating book. I like that she started by tackling the most controversial views, such as age of consent, which was 12. While now we have very different views, we should always…
The Secret History of the Roman Roads of Britain by M.C. Bishop* – And their Impact on Military History – is a short but such a good book on the infrastructure during the first centuries of the current era and also on their impact on…
A Short History of War by Jeremy Black is a very short history of warfare. I like how the book started, with the origins of conflict and looks at both conflict between humans and humans and other animals. It was an unexpected way to look…
A Dark History of Chocolate by Emma Kay* is the second book in the series A Dark History. The book had a lot of trivia-like snippets, which were interesting. It covers a lot of subjects, from piracy to slavery, including a few things on modern-day…