'Brilliantly funny' SHAPARAK KHORSANDI
'Immensely enjoyable' BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE
'Every page contains delights' LINDSEY FITZHARRIS

Why is Italy called Italy? How old is curry? How fast was the medieval Chinese post system? How do we know how people sounded in the past? Who invented maths?

Responding to fifty genuine questions from the public, Greg Jenner takes you on an entertaining tour through history from the Stone Age to the Swinging Sixties, revealing the best and most surprising stories, facts and historical characters from the past. From ancient joke books, African empires and the invention of meringues, to mummies, mirrors and menstrual pads - Ask A Historian is a deliciously amusing and informative smorgasbord of historical curiosities.

"A rewarding romp through the highways and byways of the past . . . an immensely enjoyable book, written in a lively, engaging style accessible to a broad audience of all ages. One of Jenner's real achievements is the creation of a genre of public history that fuses scholarly research with humour, and it is intended to entertain as much as it is to educate. For this he is to be congratulated" - BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE

"A lively selection, spanning a diverse array of subjects and periods . . . a great way into some of history's biggest themes and concepts" - HISTORY REVEALED, Book of the Month

"In juggling both the role of ancient Greek scholar and medieval court jester in Ask a Historian, Jenner has delivered an ideal stocking filler that is as enlightening as it is entertaining" - REACTION

"Huge fun" - THE HERALD