12 - A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel. Once again a delight to get lost in her vividly recreated historical world. Slow-paced but full of witty one liners and evocative details. As with Wolf Hall the downfall is all the more hard hitting because you know it's coming. ★★★★★

11 - James by Percival Everett. Witty, sharply written, engaging, clever and multi layered, it's easy to see why this book has made such a splash. An absolute page turner that will stay with you once you're done. ★★★★★

10 - Lords of the Bow by Conn Iggulden. An extremely solid book 2 in his Genghis series, just as engaging and readable as the last, although occasionally the battle scenes drag a little bit. Still, happy to continue with this series, a fun way to learn about the Mongols. ★★★★

9 - The Book of Emperors by Ashwitha Jayakumar. Fantastic illustrated book that reminds me of the illustrated edition of the Silk Roads by Frankopan. Perfect place for teens to begin learning about Mughal India - and an excellent resource for planning a scheme of work. ★★★★★

8 - The Forever War by Nick Bryant. An impressive read, tracing current trends - from the demagogic style to American exceptionalism to race, guns and the role of SCOTUS - from 1776 to Trump. Bryant writes with verve and authority, with an evident degree of expertise ★★★★ 1/2

7 - White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. You can see why this captured the zeitgeist and became a TikTok trend. Small but nicely formed short story about isolation, loneliness and unrequited love. Maybe it's finally time to read Crime and Punishment ★★★★ (Bobok ★★★).

6 - North Woods by Daniel Mason. An interesting idea and beautifully written. Not sure I was fully grabbed by it all the way through, but it certainly came together at the end. ★★★★

5 - Checkmate in Berlin by Giles Milton. Not quite up there with the last one but nonetheless similarly enjoyable, breathing life into the well worn tale of the Berlin Blockade and Airlift with vivid character portraits. ★★★★

4 - The Stalin Affair by Giles Milton. I flew through this. Extremely enjoyable and readable account of the relationship between the West and Stalin during WW2, told through the stories of lesser known characters such as Harriman and Clark Kerr. Recommended. ★★★★1/2

3 - The Western Front by Nick Lloyd. I got quite bogged down in this (appropriate for WWI?). Very much a military history of the conflict, there was an awful lot on Joffre, Hindenburg and co but few 1st hand accounts or insights from privates to bring the story to life ★★★1/2

2 - Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden. Enjoyable and readable historical fiction. Light-hearted page turner that I flew through. Looking forward to reading the remaining four books in the series! ★★★★

Book 1 of 2025 - The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides. I loved this book, so well-written (and well-read on the audiobook). A gripping narrative that shows 'traditional' historical subjects can be approached with nuance and complexity. Well worth a read. ★★★★★

We also make sure we teach geographically diverse history within the USSR so as not to focus exclusively on Russia. An obvious example would be the impact of the Great Famine of 1932-3 on Kazakhstan and Ukraine, so we examine extracts from these 2 books. Particularly important given current events!