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The Rest is History Returns: An A–Z of Historical Curiosities
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'The world's most successful history podcast . . . Holland and Sandbrook have pretty much reinvented popular history for the modern age' The Times
From the podcast legends who brought you The Rest is History comes The Rest is History Returns!
This time Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook bring you an alphabetical miscellany, taking on some of history's best and most bizarre moments. Charge forth against the traitors of the American Revolution, journey through Baghdad to discover the origins of the Arabian Nights and head to Sicily to witness the first face-off between Carthage and Rome.
Along the way you'll find the answers to questions
- Who was Jesus's wife?
- What would it have been like to live-tweet through the eruption of Vesuvius?
- Why did the Romans inspire so much American science fiction?
- Which Mitford sister tried to seduce her girlish crush, Adolf Hitler?
- Who are history's top 10 monkeys?
- Was Henry V's great-grandfather, Edward III, the biggest 'lad' in British history?
But that's not all – this book also includes puzzles and a pub quiz. So dust off your tricorne hat, grab your lasso and get ready for a rollicking rollercoaster through the past . . .
'The world's most successful history podcast . . . Holland and Sandbrook have pretty much reinvented popular history for the modern age' The Times
From the podcast legends who brought you The Rest is History comes The Rest is History Returns!
This time Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook bring you an alphabetical miscellany, taking on some of history's best and most bizarre moments. Charge forth against the traitors of the American Revolution, journey through Baghdad to discover the origins of the Arabian Nights and head to Sicily to witness the first face-off between Carthage and Rome.
Along the way you'll find the answers to questions
- Who was Jesus's wife?
- What would it have been like to live-tweet through the eruption of Vesuvius?
- Why did the Romans inspire so much American science fiction?
- Which Mitford sister tried to seduce her girlish crush, Adolf Hitler?
- Who are history's top 10 monkeys?
- Was Henry V's great-grandfather, Edward III, the biggest 'lad' in British history?
But that's not all – this book also includes puzzles and a pub quiz. So dust off your tricorne hat, grab your lasso and get ready for a rollicking rollercoaster through the past . . .
443 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 19, 2024
79 people are currently reading
350 people want to read
About the author
Dominic Sandbrook
50 books541 followersAn English historian, commentator and broadcaster and author of two highly acclaimed books on modern Britain: Never Had It So Good and White Heat. Their follow-up is State of Emergency.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
December 25, 2024
Decent read, similar wit and pithy humour as the podcast. But a lot of repeat content and skipped some chapters altogether.
August 1, 2025
"Sequels often end badly, whether the Second Crusade of 1147–1149; the brief second terms of Presidents Lincoln and McKinley, terminated in 1865 and 1901 respectively; or Jaws: The Revenge, released to near universal opprobrium in 1987. But we've had so much fun working on The Rest is History Returns that we're hoping to buck this trend."
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are back with another book full of silly, strange, forgotten and bizarre stories from history. There's chapters on the top 10 monkeys of history, what FBI's files on J. Robert Oppenheimer might've looked like, the life of St. Catherine of Siena who claimed she married Jesus Christ, who the Sun King's mysterious prisoner known as the Man in the Iron Mask might've been among many others.
The Rest is History -books are the kinds of history books I would recommend to both people who love history and for people who do not love history at all. These books are full of short chapters told in imaginative ways (these books do not fit the stereotypical image of a dull, long-winded history book) and they deal with all kinds of different topics, so they offer a lil something for everyone. Because of its easy-to-read nature and its humorous but not careless tone (the information offered is solid, even if it is told in a funny, silly way), it could be enjoyed by anyone, even if you don't have much prior knowledge about any of the historical eras, events or figures explored.
With books that deal with many topics and themes, there are always gonna be chapters you don't like. The same goes with short story collections. Not everything can be your exact cup of tea. That was the case with this book – some chapters didn't interest me at all and in those moments reading the book could be a bit taxing, even though the chapters were very long. I ended up hopping around, reading what I most gravitated to first, which was perhaps not a great idea as I was left, in the end, with the chapters I had no interest in. It might sound like sacrilege to admit that you don't read the book in "a chronological order", in the order it is presented, but I'd say this, in a book like this, is perfectly okay.
I will keep an eye out for future publications by this historian duo, because I do enjoy their work and I always appreciate people writing accessible history books that make history fun and exciting for a wider audience than just the nerds of the field. Also, I just find the banter that Holland and Sandbrook weave into the book – they make sly remarks about each other's ages, habits and so on, and those are always fun to spot.
Here are some interesting facts I learned while reading this book:
- During WWII, many brits were appalled by the racial segragation of the US army stationed in England. As protest, some made pub signs declaring the venue as a space for englishmen and black soldiers. This, in turn, made the US army angry, and they retaliated with unrest and by shooting dozens of black soldiers in the leg, resulting in them having to be sent home and be forced into hard labour.
- The word "aztec" was coined in the 18th century.
- St. Catherine of Siena, who went on to perform miracles, correspond with popes and so on, claimed she married Jesus Christ in her bedroom and was given, by her groom, a ring made of his foreskin.
- Geoffrey Chaucer, a man of non-aristocratic background, became a pal of kings and nobles. He was a page in Edward III's court and when he was captured by the French, the king personally paid his ransom. His grandkids married royals. He really climbed in the hierarchy.
- During the times of the Renaissance Popes, the Colosseum was used as a chapel, a cemetery, a castle and a workhouse for "repentant" sex workers.
- One of the biggest "insults" of the British against its American colonies which led to the Revolution was the Dunmore Proclamation of 1775 which promised freedom to slaves who escaped and joined the British army. Wonder why this is not nearly as highlighted in USA's traditional retelling of their origin story as, say, the Boston Tea Party or the Stamp Act.
- The major conspiracies surrounding the Freemasons began during the French Revolution, when Catholics used them as a scapegoat for all the worst elements of the era. The Freemasons had, at this point, already been excommunicated by the Pope.
- In the 1770s some worried that eating too much chocolate would "inflame" girls. Women were also warned to stay away from men who hung around Chocolate Rooms, as only rowdy, randy men drank chocolate.
- The story of the female pope, Joan, who was found out when she gave birth in front of tons of people, is most likely fake.
- There are many wild theories about the identity of the Man in the Iron Mask: some claim he was the Sun King's twin brother, some say it was his biological father who was actually a peasant and some have gone as far as to declare that he was Oliver Cromwell's bastard son.
- The French used to call syphilis the English Disease while the English called it the French Disease.
- In Cape Town, in the 1880s, a baboon named Jack was taught to control the railways. He worked for nine years, never made a mistake and was paid for his labour.
- It is said that Freddie Mercury got so annoyed at Michael Jackson asking his pet chimp, Bubbles (who slept in a cot in the singer's room and wore a nappy) for advice during a recording session, that he stormed out.
- It is said that Eva Braun was so jealous of Unity Mitford's – a british socialite who became obsessed with Hitler and a devout follower of fascism (she even ended up trying to kill herself twice, causing herself permanent brain damage, when the war began as some kind of show of support for Hitler) – that she faked a suicide attempt to get Hitler to "return" to her.
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are back with another book full of silly, strange, forgotten and bizarre stories from history. There's chapters on the top 10 monkeys of history, what FBI's files on J. Robert Oppenheimer might've looked like, the life of St. Catherine of Siena who claimed she married Jesus Christ, who the Sun King's mysterious prisoner known as the Man in the Iron Mask might've been among many others.
The Rest is History -books are the kinds of history books I would recommend to both people who love history and for people who do not love history at all. These books are full of short chapters told in imaginative ways (these books do not fit the stereotypical image of a dull, long-winded history book) and they deal with all kinds of different topics, so they offer a lil something for everyone. Because of its easy-to-read nature and its humorous but not careless tone (the information offered is solid, even if it is told in a funny, silly way), it could be enjoyed by anyone, even if you don't have much prior knowledge about any of the historical eras, events or figures explored.
With books that deal with many topics and themes, there are always gonna be chapters you don't like. The same goes with short story collections. Not everything can be your exact cup of tea. That was the case with this book – some chapters didn't interest me at all and in those moments reading the book could be a bit taxing, even though the chapters were very long. I ended up hopping around, reading what I most gravitated to first, which was perhaps not a great idea as I was left, in the end, with the chapters I had no interest in. It might sound like sacrilege to admit that you don't read the book in "a chronological order", in the order it is presented, but I'd say this, in a book like this, is perfectly okay.
I will keep an eye out for future publications by this historian duo, because I do enjoy their work and I always appreciate people writing accessible history books that make history fun and exciting for a wider audience than just the nerds of the field. Also, I just find the banter that Holland and Sandbrook weave into the book – they make sly remarks about each other's ages, habits and so on, and those are always fun to spot.
Here are some interesting facts I learned while reading this book:
- During WWII, many brits were appalled by the racial segragation of the US army stationed in England. As protest, some made pub signs declaring the venue as a space for englishmen and black soldiers. This, in turn, made the US army angry, and they retaliated with unrest and by shooting dozens of black soldiers in the leg, resulting in them having to be sent home and be forced into hard labour.
- The word "aztec" was coined in the 18th century.
- St. Catherine of Siena, who went on to perform miracles, correspond with popes and so on, claimed she married Jesus Christ in her bedroom and was given, by her groom, a ring made of his foreskin.
- Geoffrey Chaucer, a man of non-aristocratic background, became a pal of kings and nobles. He was a page in Edward III's court and when he was captured by the French, the king personally paid his ransom. His grandkids married royals. He really climbed in the hierarchy.
- During the times of the Renaissance Popes, the Colosseum was used as a chapel, a cemetery, a castle and a workhouse for "repentant" sex workers.
- One of the biggest "insults" of the British against its American colonies which led to the Revolution was the Dunmore Proclamation of 1775 which promised freedom to slaves who escaped and joined the British army. Wonder why this is not nearly as highlighted in USA's traditional retelling of their origin story as, say, the Boston Tea Party or the Stamp Act.
- The major conspiracies surrounding the Freemasons began during the French Revolution, when Catholics used them as a scapegoat for all the worst elements of the era. The Freemasons had, at this point, already been excommunicated by the Pope.
- In the 1770s some worried that eating too much chocolate would "inflame" girls. Women were also warned to stay away from men who hung around Chocolate Rooms, as only rowdy, randy men drank chocolate.
- The story of the female pope, Joan, who was found out when she gave birth in front of tons of people, is most likely fake.
- There are many wild theories about the identity of the Man in the Iron Mask: some claim he was the Sun King's twin brother, some say it was his biological father who was actually a peasant and some have gone as far as to declare that he was Oliver Cromwell's bastard son.
- The French used to call syphilis the English Disease while the English called it the French Disease.
- In Cape Town, in the 1880s, a baboon named Jack was taught to control the railways. He worked for nine years, never made a mistake and was paid for his labour.
- It is said that Freddie Mercury got so annoyed at Michael Jackson asking his pet chimp, Bubbles (who slept in a cot in the singer's room and wore a nappy) for advice during a recording session, that he stormed out.
- It is said that Eva Braun was so jealous of Unity Mitford's – a british socialite who became obsessed with Hitler and a devout follower of fascism (she even ended up trying to kill herself twice, causing herself permanent brain damage, when the war began as some kind of show of support for Hitler) – that she faked a suicide attempt to get Hitler to "return" to her.
September 22, 2024
Inferior version of the podcast.
August 7, 2025
So I had no idea this is from a podcast, so I was going into this book “blind”.
I liked the way it covered historical events - instead of just stating the facts, it was creative. For instance, how the eruption of Vesuvius would unfold live on social media.
Quite interesting to think about history from that angle.
The humour was a bit meh (very older British white man), but it was a pleasant read nonetheless.
I liked the way it covered historical events - instead of just stating the facts, it was creative. For instance, how the eruption of Vesuvius would unfold live on social media.
Quite interesting to think about history from that angle.
The humour was a bit meh (very older British white man), but it was a pleasant read nonetheless.
July 10, 2025
3.25 stars
December 25, 2024
I loved this years book just as much as lasts! Each chapter was a gem, and I found myself particularly liking the Peasants' Revolt and the section on the nepolipn. It's great to find books that offer history in such a digestable form
November 5, 2025
Dominic Sandbrook & Tom Holland's The rest is history is the best history podcast around anywhere, and since launching onto the scene some years back has made both ancient and modern history accessible, engaging, lighthearted and fun to its listeners and legions of fans.
The second book derived from the podcast is as varied and whacky as the pod, and focuses on imagining real historical events and characters from unseen or surmised angles. Thus they imagine interviews with Chaucer, confessions of Cortes, conversations of a time traveler with a young Napoleon, the destruction of Pompeii through the eyes of social media, the notes of the Marquis de Sade's psychiatrist, imagined FBI files on Oppenheimer and the legal arguments in the trial of Oscar Wilde. Successive chapters cover topics as diverse as Freemasonry, JFK conspiracy theories, Richard III and the annus horribilis of 1974 in Britain.
Unfortunately though there is far too much of the irrelevant, banal, dull and unfunny here to offset the interesting nuggets, for example a history of chocolate in 5 recipes which tells us nothing about nothing. We move from the absurd to the ridiculous to the uber-ridiculous as we read about the top 10 monkeys in history, Love Island featuring historical figures and downright boring musings on the Roman origins of the date of Christmas. To paraphrase the author paraphrasing Karl Marx, history repeats itself first as tragedy, second as farce, third as podcast, then as book of podcast and finally as sequel to book of podcast - Add to that book of podcast disappointingly stuffed with far too much dull and uninteresting material. A missed opportunity, given the authors' limitless treasure trove of historical knowledge and topics they could have selected instead.
The second book derived from the podcast is as varied and whacky as the pod, and focuses on imagining real historical events and characters from unseen or surmised angles. Thus they imagine interviews with Chaucer, confessions of Cortes, conversations of a time traveler with a young Napoleon, the destruction of Pompeii through the eyes of social media, the notes of the Marquis de Sade's psychiatrist, imagined FBI files on Oppenheimer and the legal arguments in the trial of Oscar Wilde. Successive chapters cover topics as diverse as Freemasonry, JFK conspiracy theories, Richard III and the annus horribilis of 1974 in Britain.
Unfortunately though there is far too much of the irrelevant, banal, dull and unfunny here to offset the interesting nuggets, for example a history of chocolate in 5 recipes which tells us nothing about nothing. We move from the absurd to the ridiculous to the uber-ridiculous as we read about the top 10 monkeys in history, Love Island featuring historical figures and downright boring musings on the Roman origins of the date of Christmas. To paraphrase the author paraphrasing Karl Marx, history repeats itself first as tragedy, second as farce, third as podcast, then as book of podcast and finally as sequel to book of podcast - Add to that book of podcast disappointingly stuffed with far too much dull and uninteresting material. A missed opportunity, given the authors' limitless treasure trove of historical knowledge and topics they could have selected instead.
December 19, 2024
I am a bit of a history geek and I love finding out weird, odd and unusual facts - the bits of history they don't really teach in school and university.
I was lucky enough to get a copy of this book from the publishers, Bloomsbury Publishing and it's a heavy beastie. It's chock full of facts and they're conveyed in fun and interesting ways - not just dry and boring information.
The chapters are little puns of things you already may know like The Arabian Heights, Roman Rumble in the Sicilian Jungle and Great British Quaker Off.
There are brilliant little quizzes you can choose to take. I think one of my favourite sections was about the eruption of Vesuvius and subsequent destruction of Pompeii but told as if they had "Instagram" back then and an influencer was making a kind of vlog about it!
I thought this was a really fun and irreverent way to get some history into the hands and brains of those who don't think they like history but there is enough new information or new ways of thinking to intrigue the history hounds like myself. It would make a great stocking stuffer actually!
I was lucky enough to get a copy of this book from the publishers, Bloomsbury Publishing and it's a heavy beastie. It's chock full of facts and they're conveyed in fun and interesting ways - not just dry and boring information.
The chapters are little puns of things you already may know like The Arabian Heights, Roman Rumble in the Sicilian Jungle and Great British Quaker Off.
There are brilliant little quizzes you can choose to take. I think one of my favourite sections was about the eruption of Vesuvius and subsequent destruction of Pompeii but told as if they had "Instagram" back then and an influencer was making a kind of vlog about it!
I thought this was a really fun and irreverent way to get some history into the hands and brains of those who don't think they like history but there is enough new information or new ways of thinking to intrigue the history hounds like myself. It would make a great stocking stuffer actually!
August 28, 2025
This book is entered under several titles / authors and I can't find a way to notify Goodreads to resolve it, so maybe read those reviews too.
This book is the usual for these books of historical oddities. It is clearly derived from the podcast and takes the approach of recasting historical events in different ways. For example, the First Punic War as a boxing match commentary, the destruction of Pompeii in social media posts, a 21st century interviewer meets Napoleon etc. Sometimes it works and you learn something new and interesting, sometimes it doesn't work and sometimes there's not much new to be learned. So not bad but nothing more than average for the genre.
This book is the usual for these books of historical oddities. It is clearly derived from the podcast and takes the approach of recasting historical events in different ways. For example, the First Punic War as a boxing match commentary, the destruction of Pompeii in social media posts, a 21st century interviewer meets Napoleon etc. Sometimes it works and you learn something new and interesting, sometimes it doesn't work and sometimes there's not much new to be learned. So not bad but nothing more than average for the genre.
December 12, 2024
Another fun compilation of stories from my favorite podcast. I enjoy how Tom and Dominic bring their unique voices to the pieces that they take the lead on. This book has some great material, especially the special chapters on ranking both history's greatest monkeys and JFK conspiracy theories by their likelihood and fun factor. I also greatly appreciated the puzzle section at the end and the Historical Love Island quiz, interactive books! Thoroughly enjoyed this second volume, can't wait for the third as the podcast has never been stronger.
April 21, 2025
Audible listen. Maybe this would have been more interesting if I was invested in the podcast in any way, but as a standalone listen I found this dull as dishwater. Even when the subject matter should have been captivating, the narration never grabbed me - even to the point I was skipping whole sections. There's a few interesting tidbits but generally the delivery isn't great, jokes are lost in the tedium and, ultimately, I expected more. A disappointing listen.
October 30, 2025
I have not listened to the podcasts but the authors are clearly witty and clever. The book has many interesting topics and provides fun facts. However, I think that more introductory material was needed as the chapters which had history that I was foreign to was difficult to understand.
October 1, 2024
3.75
Fun
Informative
Fascinating
Fun
Informative
Fascinating
October 12, 2024
Better than the 1st. Maybe as I had not listened to all the Podcasts.
December 11, 2024
Love the podcast, hate the book. Given up just over halfway.
January 12, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
January 12, 2025
Good fun to read, especially as they play with genre and when you get asides that remind you why you listen to the podcast
February 10, 2025
An informative giggle.
March 8, 2025
full of fascinating facts
A book full of fascinating facts and funny stories, some of which had me laughing out loud. Well written and kept me interested from beginning to end.
A book full of fascinating facts and funny stories, some of which had me laughing out loud. Well written and kept me interested from beginning to end.
June 11, 2025
a good diverting listen
June 13, 2025
Fun book about small bits of history
June 25, 2025
While I love the podcast, this book bored me senseless. I had to skip entire chapters, and if I didn't have the audiobook I'd have given up reading it altogether
Currently reading
August 21, 2025Paperback.
September 29, 2025
Enjoyable chatty podcast style book, but can be quite difficult to follow due to the varied and short chapters. Equally, I can still why this would engage people more!
October 12, 2025
perfectly adequate for fans of the podcast but nothing more. the podcast itself is far superior
November 9, 2025
Another great compilation of hilarious historical stories told as quips.
October 21, 2024
Quite an engaging and informative book. I found the jumping eras and topics so quickly a little jarring, and definitely prefer Holland’s other historical books, but overall a solid read.
May 28, 2025
imo hard to read. i like the idea of it and it's pretty interesting in terms of factual accuracies but it's written in a very hard to understand/grasp way. i kept getting side tracked or confused.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews