Greg Jenner: Books that changed my life
12th Oct 2022 Meet the Author
Historian Greg Jenner is the host of the popular BBC podcast, You’re Dead To Me. His latest book for children, You Are History, illustrated by Jenny Taylor, is available from November 3
Asterix In Britain by René Goscinny & Albert Uderzo
I’m a comedy-loving historian with a French mother, so it’s no surprise that the Asterix books were my childhood favourites. I devoured the pun-drenched English translations, but I’d also ask my mother to decode the original French jokes too.
"Despite the cartoonish energy, there’s also something oddly faithful about the depiction of the ancient world"
There’s so much to enjoy in Asterix, not least the rambunctious plotting, vivid illustrations and anachronistic jokes.
Yet, despite the cartoonish energy, there’s also something oddly faithful about the depiction of the ancient world, which maybe explains why so many historians share my Asterix enthusiasm.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
It was Catch-22 that first taught me about finding comedy in tragedy. I differ slightly from my fellow historians because I take a funny approach to exploring the past, and often I’ll reach for a touch of absurdist gallows humour.
"Catch-22 renders war itself into a hellish farce"
But Heller’s satirical masterpiece soars high above my creative abilities. Catch-22 doesn’t just capture the tedium and terror of the Second World War, but renders war itself into a hellish farce of maddening pressure, crushing bureaucracy and the infamous logic trap that forever keeps these airmen five flights from safety.
I first read it aged 14, and I am certain it reconfigured my entire personality!
The Silk Roads: A New History Of The World by Peter Frankopan
The Silk Roads isn’t just a dazzling work of thrilling history—it made me ashamed of my ignorance. How could I call myself a public historian if I was so often, and so myopically, ignoring the rich histories of East Asia and the Middle East?
"How could I call myself a public historian if I was ignoring the rich histories of East Asia and the Middle East?"
When The Silk Roads then became a publishing phenomenon, selling in the millions, I realised I had no excuse; readers clearly craved knowledge about our shared world.
I vowed to explore global history in every project thereafter, and I’m glad to say my funny children’s book You Are History does just that.
Read more: Best of British: Prehistoric Britain
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