Non-Fiction – 3 Mini-Reviews

I had the misfortune to start 2022 feeling very poorly…no, not a hangover, not Covid, but ill nevertheless.

Luckily, I had three absolutely brilliant non-fiction books for company on those long snotty days and feverish nights! Hurrah!

I just thought I’d highlight these three little gems that kept me going…

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‘Watching Neighbours Twice a Day’ by Josh Widdicombe

I actually don’t watch a lot of TV now so only had a vague idea about who Josh Widdicombe is (yes, I know – I caught up on some Taskmaster to remedy this!) However, I do remember the heady days of 1990s TV and – yes, absolutely – watching Australian soap opera ‘Neighbours’ twice a day.

Widdicombe’s book takes us through the (mainly) weird and (sometimes) wonderful world of the TV we grew up with – I say ‘we’ because I’m *roughly* in the same age bracket as him. There are the bits I loved (Gladiators! Erinsborough! That weird chart show with the fast forwarding of the videos you actually wanted to watch!) Plus the bits that were dubious – mainly Jim Davidson, naked Keith Chegwin and the fact I was obsessed with Dieter from Eldorado. Probably best forgotten, but a blast from the past no less.

Alongside this, Widdicombe also tells some stories from his slightly unusual childhood growing up in a tiny village on Dartmoor. It’s all very funny and a long way from my more urban experiences of school. I do now want to visit House of Marbles and Trago Mills though…

I loved this book – it made me laugh out loud and recall some of the odder parts of being a child of the 90s. A very weird mixture of nostalgia and shock at just how Mr Blobby became so culturally important.

My copy of the book sadly not pictured as it was whisked away from me instantly by my best friend and fellow 1990s TV addict.

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‘Ask a Historian’ by Greg Jenner

Greg Jenner worked on ‘Horrible Histories’, so you can be sure from the outset that this won’t be about history as you know it!

Jenner has taken 50 (often very odd) questions from the public and had a go at answering them. Did you want to know what ‘The Flintstones’ got right about the Stone Age? How will our own age be remembered, given that ‘Elizabethan’ is already taken? When was the first Monday? You’re in luck! Jenner answers these and more.

That’s interesting enough on its own – Jenner is a knowledgeable and interesting guide to some of the tricker parts of historical understanding such as what past money is worth in modern terms or the limitations of what we can know about our ancestors. However, he’s also very, very funny. This is definitely one that will make you laugh, even as you try to follow calculations about the volume of horse manure on the streets of Tudor London.

Highly recommended if you like your history obscure, entertaining and a lot of fun. I can also whole-heartedly recommend Jenner’s previous book, ‘Dead Famous’, about the history of celebrity – it is a fascinating read.

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‘The Seven Ages of Death’ by Dr Richard Shepherd

Probably not the cheeriest pick for an invalid, but I found ‘The Seven Ages of Death’ to be absorbing and interesting.

Dr Shepherd is a forensic pathologist who has worked on a vast number of cases over his long career. His last book, ‘Unnatural Causes’ (also recommended), covered some of the more high-profile of these, including the Marchioness disaster and the death of Princess Diana.

This book focuses more on the different pathological conditions that Shepherd sees when carrying out autopsies on a range of people – from the very young to the very old. Some are natural causes, others significantly less so – there are many case studies connected to crimes in the book. Shepherd arranges these in seven parts, using Shakespeare’s seven ages of man to organise the studies, starting with babies and some very sad stories of abuse.

While a lot of the case studies are – as expected – poignant, this isn’t a depressing book. It’s more of an interesting and scientific perspective on the topic of death and there is lots to be learned from Shepherd’s knowledgeable narration.

For those of us obsessed with crime novels – and the forensic work described therein – this is a must-read.