Eighteen

A Guardian Most Anticipated Book of 2024 Social media sensation Alice Loxton brings a scintillating new history of Britain, told through eighteen figures in British history at the age of eighteen. At eighteen, your life is full of possibility. You have everything to look forward to - unless you've got the plague... In this unconventional and witty history, award-winning writer and broadcaster Alice Loxton delves into Britain's past, exploring the country though eighteen notable figures at this formative age. From a young Empress Matilda already changing the fate of nations to Richard Burton, the rugby-obsessed teenager who grew up in a Welsh mining town, each journey unveils a different era of Britain. Irreverent and full of fascinating tidbits (did you know Chaucer began as a scantily clad pageboy?), Loxton's compilation shows that how a society treats its young reveals much about its values and outlook. Seamlessly blending big history with engaging stories of royalty, peasants, writers and entertainers, Eighteen builds a rich mosaic of Britain's past, inviting a journey of discovery. Looking at the role of class, race, and raw ambition, Loxton asks what lessons we can take for modern Britain, and why the answers might not be what you think.