As with the previous book, the author only discusses the details of the crimes where they enhance our understanding of the narrative. The writing did become repetitive and a little like a text-book, and the narrowed focus of the time period was not as appealing. It was an important read, however, and I’m glad to have furthered my knowledge. The author has a talent for explaining the law in an accessible way; I’d be interested to read more books from her on legal history.

Published by Mudlark, 2024.

This book is divided into two parts. The first part is the history of spectacles, up until the world wars. The focus is on the industries and processes which allowed the technology to improve, and society’s views on people who wore glasses. You will not be surprised to hear that women wearing glasses was frowned upon, even by doctors. The second part of the book is more of a cultural history, focusing on representations in the movies in particular and the history of designer frames. This part started off very interesting to me, but it became a little tiresome because there was so much discussion of film. I’m not at all fussed about designers either, although as a part-time glasses wearer I often go for designer frames if they suit me better. I felt that although the subject is very worthy of a history book, the focus of it was not quite what I wanted. There is praise from Simon Garfield on the front cover, and indeed it’s the kind of book he would write, with its niche history topic and irreverent, rambling style. There are some photographs of famous spectacles-wearers, including Harold Lloyd, Buddy Holly, Dizzy Gillespie, Michael Caine, Gloria Steinem, Jarvis Cocker, Keith Haring, and John Lennon (the nude photo of him and Yoko). It was a good read, considering I bought it from the discount trolley at Waterstones!

Published by Abacus, 2023.

Published by Chatto & Windus, 2025.

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Although I still find the politics of China confusing, I was generally able to follow the content, which was packed with sad, brutal and amazing stories. There are flashbacks to her own story, as her travels around modern China bring back painful memories. The book is quite long and sometimes repetitive, but the writing always kept me interested.

Published in 2025 by William Collins.

This book explains the circumstances before Elizabeth’s birth, then follows her life up until she became Queen. There is a particular focus on her personal qualities and how the events in her early life may have affected her. This is the fourth book I’ve read by Nicola Tallis and it was certainly better than Lettice Knollys and more accessible than Margaret Beaufort, but not as good as the one about Lady Jane Gray. The writing style was not particularly elegant and there were certain repeated words that annoyed me, such as ‘youngster’, ‘teenager’ (teenagers didn’t exist back then), ‘costly’ and ‘bargaining chip’. Despite this, I would recommend the book if you’re interested in Tudor history.

Published by Michael O’Mara, 2025.

The book is split into sections according to what kind of summer holidays were had, including staying at home during the period, as well as going to places for day trips or long breaks. The content is mainly from contributors, some of them well-known, others not. The author clearly spent a lot of time talking to people about their summer holidays and was able to make generalisations because many people told her of similar experiences. There are photographs from the contributors too. It’s an enjoyable read which is mainly targeted at nostalgic British people who were children during the decades covered, but is also a valuable document of social history of a time when children were left to run wild outdoors, when they played on bombsites, going abroad was rare and glamorous, families loaded up their cars with tins of beans, and journeys took forever. Mothers and fathers get their own dedicated chapters. We also hear about hop picking, huge country estates, holiday camps and children who stayed at boarding school the year round.

I thought that the author’s reflections at the end of the book went a little too far. She assumed that school summer holidays are completely different now, and in some ways they are, but not all children hate the outdoors, own multiple screen devices to which they are addicted, are uninterested in nature, turn their noses up at ordinary food, and demand to be taken on expensive foreign holidays. It sounded like she was writing from personal experience, so perhaps she only knows children who are privileged and spoiled.

Published by Little, Brown in 2020.

The majority of the book is about what led to the disaster, including the history of spaceflight, the design of the shuttle, the lives and careers of the key people, the culture of working at NASA, astronaut selection and political factors. The book demonstrates how it was not a question of if, but when, such a disaster would happen. The chapters devoted to what happened during the disaster are relatively few, because of course it happened so quickly, but the chapters afterward explore the effect on the astronauts’ families and on the nation, the investigation and recovery operations, and concludes that sadly some things did not change as a result, because of what happened later with the Columbia shuttle in 2003.

It’s very detailed and clearly well-researched, telling you everything you might want to know about the context of the disaster, as well as the human stories. In summary, an impressive, brilliantly-written book which pays tribute to the heroes who have lost their lives in humanity’s quest to know more about the universe.

Published by Penguin, 2024.

The book is not really ‘travel writing’ as the quote on the cover says, nor is it exactly a memoir. It’s an exploration of the Chinese’ attitudes towards their past and how China is changing (this was when they were preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics), written by a journalist with a deep understanding of China. I would have preferred to read less about real estate, car ownership and everyone changing their phone numbers, as that became repetitive. I felt that although the author had plenty to say, the concept was rather stretched out and could have been a long article rather than a book. It was a very informative read and definitely thought-provoking.

First published in 2007 as Beijing Confidential. This edition in 2010 by Atlantic Books.

The author has a lot to say on gratuities, because in those days they were given stuff for free, by friendly and grateful landlords, shopkeepers, residents, etc, which were perks of the job. He also explains some practices which today would seem dodgy but back then were acceptable and worked well for that time and place.

In summary this was an informative read which sometimes came across as defensive in tone and was not as fascinating as I expected, but still it was worth reading.

Published by Michael O’Mara, 2013.

HMS Wager was a man-of-war ship ordered to chase Spanish treasure. This was during the ‘War of Jenkins’ Ear’ in the 1740s. The Wager was part of a squadron which became separated. The wonder is that anyone at all survived to make it back to England and tell their side of the story. Grann tells us about the characters, using archival evidence to breathe life into them and get us interested in the human stories. One of them was 16-year-old John Byron, who was to become a Vice-Admiral and the grandfather of the poet Byron.

The book describes some truly awful experiences and is not for the faint-hearted. What I really liked about the writing was that all the maritime terms and historical contexts were explained effectively without getting in the way of the story. You can start off, as I did, knowing barely anything about ships, the Royal Navy and the 18th century, and by the end of the book you’ve acquired a lot of knowledge while enjoying reading this grim yet gripping account.

Published by Simon & Schuster, 2023.