About us
Last modified 22 March 2022
We read history books for fun!
With no affiliation to any publishers, booksellers, authors, librarians, bookbinders, or papermakers we can write independent reviews.
Our mission is to find and review history books that might otherwise get overlooked - hence Emperor Justinian's beady eye peering out at the top of the website 🤨.
Want a bit more detail? Our FAQ page can be found at this link.
📧 Or feel free to email us at: popularhistorybooks@gmail.com
...or keep scrolling down for reviewer bios.
Justinian's beady eye
(Image by Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
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Meet the reviewing team
Anthony Webb
Founder and Chief Website Officer of popularhistorybooks.com Anthony received his university education at the hands of (arguably) some of the greatest historians of the noughties, before branching out into a totally unrelated actuarial career. His favourite history books are:
After The Ice: A Global Human History, Steven Mithen
Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic, Tom Holland
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive, Jared Diamond
Andy Salisbury
A founding member of the site, Andrew studied not only history but also economics before deciding that both were less rewarding than serving the public as a corporate lawyer. But history literally runs in his veins: Andrew is a distant great nephew of the famous Victorian statesman Lord Salisbury. His favourite history books are:
The English and Their History, Robert Tombs
History of Western Philosophy, Betrand Russell
The World of Late Antiquity, Peter Brown
Maddox von Ranke
Although his first love was numbers, history was always a close second for Maddox. He could often be seen darting into a maths lecture with a copy of “Secret missions of World War 2” or “SOE Tactics” poking out of the pocket of his duffel coat. This concealed obsession continues through to today as he looks to grapple with new history books on our readers’ behalf. Favourite history books:
Byzantium: The Apogee, John Julius Norwich
Silk Roads, Peter Frankopan
Massacre At Montsegur, Zoe Oldenbourg
Adrian Webb
Lawyer by day, musician by night, family man in the morning, and one-time amateur squash sports-journalist, Adrian was first introduced to contemporary history through a powerful but ultimately debilitating Beatles obsession in the mid-1990s. After completing a history degree he spent two decades in the historical wilderness, before returning to form with this website. Favourite books (and other key links) are:
Churchill: A Biography, Roy Jenkins
Winston Churchill, Henry Pelling
Winston Churchill Quotations, Winston Churchill
Ade Webb music, (🎵 on YouTube)
Amateur squash sports-journalism, (🎾 unofficial archive)
Jenny Blakeley
Jenny has always had a keen interest in the past, having lived there for almost all of her life. Moreover she enthusiastically indulges in several pastimes including knitting, rope craft and dungeons & dragons. She also enjoys the occasional history book.