The past year has been a standout for popular history books, especially those that come at the subject sideways. From their titles and authors we know we’re about to get something a bit different. There was Unruly, a romp through England’s monarchs by writer-comedian David Mitchell, and A History of Britain in Ten Enemies from Terry Deary.
Alice Loxton’s Eighteen: A History of Britain in Eighteen Young Lives is in a similar vein. It was an instant bestseller in the UK, and although the target reader is the younger history fan, this not-so-young history nerd found it highly enjoyable and full of surprises.
Loxton, like many of today’s popular historians, uses YouTube, TV documentaries and social media (where she has three million followers) to bring history to a new generation. Only 28, her style is chatty, fun and engaging, and she produces lively, bite-sized history reels on TikTok and Instagram.
In writing Eighteen, Loxton wanted to get an idea of the “ambitions, dreams, fears and regrets” of the British 18-year-old over the past 1000 or so years. The result is a collection of mini-biographies of youths who were significant in history in ways that might not seem immediately obvious. She examines their “early moments of anxiety, of vulnerability, of naivety. The rougher, grittier, messier moments of people’s lives.”
Loxton begins by putting the age of 18 into its historical context. Today, this is viewed as the turning point at which we officially become adult. For much of history, however, an 18-year-old would have been considered an adult for quite some time. In medieval times, average life expectancy was about 30 years and boys were expected to work from age 7; in the 18th century, boys joined the Royal Navy at 12. As for women, Chaucer considered those in their 30s to be “winter forage”.
Loxton also asks, was that spark that went on to make these people so successful evident in the teenage version? Was there anything in their early years, in their backstory, that hinted at greatness to come? Though some names on the list come as no surprise (Queen Elizabeth I, Geoffrey Chaucer, Horatio Nelson and 19th-century engineer Isambard Brunel), some may have you scratching your head when it comes to their historical significance: actor Richard Burton, Fionnghal Nic Dhòmhnaill (who rowed Bonnie Prince Charlie “over the sea to Skye”) and author and gardener Vita Sackville-West. Loxton shares her rationale: “I am confident this is an excellent bunch. On one hand, these are people who have made a real difference, a lasting impact on the world. But they are also my personal favourites, people I’d choose to go on holiday with or have on a pub quiz team.” I like her way of thinking.
Others on Loxton’s list include 7th century monk and scholar St Bede, Empress Matilda, an African salvage diver in Tudor times, a “court dwarf” to English queen Henrietta Maria, a fossil collector, writer CS Lewis and designer Vivienne Westwood. Loxton has clearly worked hard to bring us a diverse list – there are equal numbers of men and women from a range of social backgrounds, and it includes young people who overcame physical disabilities to achieve remarkable success.
Between each chapter, the reader is treated to updates on a fantasy dinner party attended by all the 18-year-olds. Loxton imagines how, for example, the Empress Matilda, already married, made an epic journey across Europe and spent two years in charge of Italy. She finds Princess Elizabeth intensely intellectual and “not the liveliest party companion”. But eventually, Matilda is impressed and decides she’s “a woman I could do business with”.
Things turn raucous as the chapters proceed, and finally, Vivienne Westwood swigs the dregs of a bottle of red wine and orders them all to play spin the bottle. Who will get to kiss who?
At the back of the book are two welcome extras. The first is a list of places you can visit associated with these people, such as St Paul’s Church, Jarrow Hall, where Bede spent most of his life; Southwark Cathedral, London (with a note to look out for the cathedral cat, Hodge) and Knole House, the childhood home of Sackville-West.
Finally, Loxton asks a number of people, including a pop star, a stone mason, a mudlarker and a potter, what advice they’d give their 18-year-old selves. This from baritone and composer Roderick Williams: “Don’t worry, no matter how confident your peers may seem, they are all as bewildered by life as you are. Just remain open, curious and generous and you’ll be okay.”
