historian Archives - The Quick and the Read

(Audio)book Review: ‘Mavericks’ by Jenny Draper

I’ll be honest – the words ‘TikTok historian’ didn’t draw me to this book as I’m far too old to grapple with too many social media platforms and so was unaware of Jenny Draper before now. I am on a perpetual hunt for engaging, lively history books – and if they’re funny too then that’s a bonus. The blurb of ‘Mavericks’ proved appealing for this reason. Thanks to Watkins Publishing and NetGalley for my review copy.

I liked the format of this audiobook – short chapters focusing on different ‘mavericks’ from history from whom we can learn something important, or certainly intriguing (“firing a gun at someone won’t make them love you” being a favourite). The figures chosen were mostly ones I hadn’t encountered before, although a few more familiar names such as Margery Kempe and the Chartists were mixed in. I enjoyed learning about historical figures who had taken the unconventional path – especially as these figures included a lot of women, non-nobles and those from around the world who don’t always make it into traditional history books. The chapters revealed quirky and telling details about each of the figures, reflecting Draper’s eye for an entertaining story and skills in producing vivid biographical writing.

The audiobook is engagingly narrated by the author herself – I’ll admit that I enjoyed hearing the stories told in the author’s own voice as the pacing sounded natural and the jokes landed well.

I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys history told with humour and wit – think along the lines of ‘The Rest is History’ or Terry Deary for comparison.

Photo by C D-X on Unsplash

(Audio)Book Review: ‘Square Haunting’ by Francesca Wade

Another book that I’m shamefully late in reading – but very glad that I did.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review – I also bought a copy of the audiobook from Audible and so my review reflects my experiences of both.

This book centres on Mecklenburgh Square, an address in Bloomsbury, London that was home to five groundbreaking and fascinating women during the interwar years. It’s an interesting idea, that this little corner of London famous for its thinkers and writers, was the shared address of these brilliant women – even though they didn’t live there at the same time and were often resident at very different points in their lives. For all of them, Mecklenburgh Square proved to be the ‘room of one’s own’ (in Virgina Woolf’s words) that gave the women the freedom to develop their careers independently.

Book Review: ‘The Tale of the Tailor and the Three Dead Kings’ by Dan Jones

Curiosity brought me to this book. In particular, I was curious about whether a story written in the early fifteenth century would stand up to modern day expectations of a ghost story. I also wondered about the ‘translation’ of the book – not only from the original Latin in the 1920s but what Dan Jones would bring to the retelling. Finally, I wanted to know whether it would be entertaining, or more a curio of literature from the past.