Dan Snow’s Life In Books

I read from a very early age, and I think I enjoyed non-fiction as much as fiction. I especially liked those that were a blend of the two.

“King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table” was a favourite. To this day nobody is sure of whether this was purely legend or history, but there are elements of both, and you could not find a more appealing book as it has adventure combined with a teaching of loyalty and honour between human beings.

“Robin Hood” was also a favourite, and was another of those boys’ adventure stories that had moral fibre. Of course, it was not entirely accurate, because King John was not a total villain, and King Richard I was not that much of a hero.

Fact or fiction? Probably a bit of both.

“History Of Britain” has been the title of more than one book on the subject because it is difficult to think of a more factual title. I used to enjoy reading these books.

It made me realise that I, like everyone else in this country, was reading about my heritage. It made history become personal. David Lloyd George also fascinated me, for different reasons. He was my great-greatgrandfather and he certainly made his mark on British history.

You don’t have to agree with everything someone does to be able to admire them. I would love to have been able to just sit and chat with him.

“History Of America” was a book I found almost as exciting as “History Of Britain”. In terms of centuries, America is still a fairly new land, but it already has an amazing history of wars, changes of leadership, widely different presidents and politics, culture, industry and commerce and even cooking. A hugely interesting land and people.