I mentioned The Rest Is History previously (being responsible to my ever-growing TBR list, where A Natural History of Ghosts and An Instance of the Fingerpost have made it to reviews here). Considering all the hours I’ve spent listening to the podcast, and now finally getting to the book, I figured it’s time for a review.

The Podcast

It started when someone pointed me at a series they done on Roman emperors. You know, a subject dear to my heart, which is a good way to evaluate the depth and quality of content (I’m not an historian, but I know just enough to see if they’re skimming or going deep).

And that they were. The episodes covering the last of the Julio-Claudians were thoughtful, insightful, and funny. So I did what every history lover does – I scrolled all the way back to episode 1 and started to listen.

Note, there are about 600 episodes by now… There were about 500 when I started. But when you listen while driving, gardening, walking the dog, etc., time flies. And it was certainly entertaining.

The two presenters are historians, one a classicist and one modern. They cover a wide breadth of subjects across history, although invariably being both British there’s a slant to Western subjects. It was also interesting to see the project evolve over time, from what sounded like a side project during covid, to the professional production with supporting clubs and extras it became.

Still, you can catch all the main episodes wherever you listen, and it’s nice. They started with stand-alone episodes, and quickly evolves to mini-series of a few consecutive ones dedicated to a topic. History is a vast place, so there’s no shortage of materials – from the dawn of writing in Mesopotamia to the latest French presidents, from Egyptian kings to Lord Byron.

The Book(s)

There are two books, based on the episodes. They lack some of the banter (or Tom Holland doing voices), but it’s easier to absorb subjects (for me at least) when you can see the names of people and fall down rabbit holes of extra reading. The plethora of footnotes do preserve the levity.

Just line the podcast, east chapter is a different topic, based on a previous episodes. This means that it’s not a source to really study a topic or a period, but rather historically-themed entertainment for the ADHD amateur scholar. A great way to just absorb how history feels, and knowing where to look for more when the fancy catches you.

The first book was published in 2023, and covers the best episodes of the first few years. The cover above it the US one, and the UK has the more familiar red logo. There’s a second book, with the apt title The Rest is History Returns: An A–Z of Historical Curiosities, which seems only available in the UK. From what I can tell, it’s of a similar format.

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Highly recommended, whether you like podcasts or books, and want an educational romp across a wide range of places and periods. It’s a great to open one’s mind about the sheer breadth of things out there to know.