Includes index

"This entertaining companion to the massively popular history podcast tackles everything from Alexander the Great to Agatha Christie, the Wars of the Roses to Watergate-with a unique blend of wit, wisdom, and good old-fashioned banter. The Rest Is History podcast brilliantly distills major moments in human history, covering everything from the Trojan War to a historical ranking of the greatest dogs. Now, this official tie-in book brings the chart-topping podcast's charms to the page, offering readers a fresh, wide-ranging tour of humanity's essential, and essentially weird, moments, including: - Did the Trojan War actually happen? - What was the most disastrous party in history? - Was Richard Nixon more like Caligula or Claudius? - How did a hair appointment almost blow Churchill's cover? - Why did the Nazis believe they were descended from Atlantis? Featuring an introduction from podcast hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, this book cleverly demonstrates that the past--from modern to ancient and every time in between--is both closer to us than we might realize and bafflingly strange, all at once. So run your Egyptian milk bath, strap up your best Spartan sandals, and prepare for a journey down the highways and byways of the human past."--Publisher

"Originally published in the United Kingdom in 2023 by Bloomsbury Publishing."

Top 10 most disastrous parties in history -- Can you solve the greatest murder mystery in English history? -- How pigeons won the war and lost the peace -- How to make an Eighteenth-century British rosbif -- Sparta -- Four wars and a funeral: the making of Winston Churchill -- Does the Loch Ness Monster exist? -- Prime Ministers' World Cup -- Other Watergate tapes -- Tall tales and round tables: the long afterlife of King Arthur -- Greatest escape -- Top 10 eunuchs in history -- What have the Persians ever done for us? -- Tudor succession season two -- Vikings go east -- Historical love island: the interview -- Top ten 'what ifs...' -- Cowboys, Indians and idiots: the wild west -- Eight reasons Nelson won the Battle of Trafalgar -- Rest is fashion -- Top ten theories about Atlantis -- Mystery of the Somerton man -- Robin Hood: men in rewrites -- Jeremy Thorpe: a very British scandal -- Oxford and orcs: the making of J. R. R. Tolkien -- Rise and (almost) fall of the Ashanti -- Top 10 dogs in history -- White rose -- Riddle me kiss: the power and the poetry of a Korean courtesan -- Crowning glories and disasters -- Battles, bottoms, bowlers, billionaires, Baldwin and baloney: the remarkable history of the Canadian beaver -- Top 10 mistresses in history -- World Cup of kings and queens: the awards season -- What was so great about Alfred the Great? -- Rasputin's autopsy -- Seven enduring wonders of the City of Babylon -- Why conspiracy theories go viral -- The (movie) making of Ronald Reagan -- What to expect when you're expecting... in Seventeenth-century Britain -- How do you become the greatest female pharaoh of all time? -- Top twelve Australian Prime Ministers -- Is the Emperor Nero the worst person in history? -- Ghosts of Christmases past -- Rest is history's walking tour -- How does a Seventeenth-century Cameroonian slave end up as a Russian general? -- Why was Julius Caesar murdered? -- Last Latin American Emperor top trumps -- Falklands War: the home front -- First activist abolitionist -- Real Da Vinci code -- World Cup... of Gods -- Olympics: ancient and modern -- What sort of St Patrick's day reveller are you? -- Top five French presidents of the Fifth Republic -- Our man in San José -- When did the Roman Empire actually end?