Ask a Historian was just brilliant. Absolute kudos to Greg Jenner for writing an engaging, informative, and amusing book in one. It’s not too jargon-filled but he doesn’t baby his reader either, simply explaining relevant terms.

The questions he chose are fascinating and I really appreciate that he doesn’t shy away from difficult or controversial topics — the genocide inflicted on the Irish in the seventeenth century, the racism faced by the Windrush generation, the fact that that XX-chromosomed Viking skeleton might be a trans man — while also taking care to address them properly. He’s never flippant about it, and is always very respectful.

The book has a good sense of voice the whole way through, which — for me as a frequent enjoyer of the You’re Dead to Me podcast — really helped the book not feel academic.

The questions ranged from the origin of curry to why Anne Boleyn is so constantly in people’s minds to ancient translators and interpreters to the first recorded instance of BSL.

Cannot recommend highly enough!