Reading accessible history books on a wide range of topics, we meet on the first Wednesday of the month.

Contact Jenny Dunford by email using the link above.

The books we choose cover all kinds of subjects, periods and approaches. Non-fiction, normally. Copies should be available as paperbacks or available reasonably cheaply from second-hand booksellers. The discussion is generally very wide-ranging and mainly non- (or only lightly) academic.

We read serious but accessible history books on all kinds of subjects, periods and approaches. Non-fiction (normally). Books should be available at low prices from second-hand bookshops or online retailers. Here's our book list for this year....

Feb 4
The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes
Convict transportation to Australia
This is a long book.

Mar 4
The Perfect Heresy by Stephen O’Shea
Life & death of the Cathars and the formation of medieval Europe
Much shorter.

Apr 1
The Great Stink of London by Stephen Halliday
The building of the sewers by Bazalgette. 19th century attitudes to disease.
Lots of pictures!

May 6
The Potato by Larry Zuckerman
From the Andes to fish & chips.
Serious but easy to read.

June 3
Domesday – A Search for the Roots of England by Michael Wood
Classic work on what England was like at the time of the Norman Conquest.
Surprising what the Normans didn’t bring with them!

July 1
Cod by Mark Kurlansky
The Fish That Changed the World
Full of surprising facts about fish, and some recipes … easy reading.

Aug 5
From Stonehenge to Samarkand by Brian Fagan
An Anthology of Travel Writing.
Ancient sites as early travellers saw them.

Sept 3
Soul Made Flesh by Carl Zimmer
The Discovery of the Brain and how it changed the World.
Early modern medicine meets religious belief.

October, November, December still to be decided. Suggestions welcomed.