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Sir David Bell, vice-chancellor, University of Reading, is reading Ann Treneman¡¯s All In This Together: My Five Years as a Political Stalker (Robson Press, 2015). ¡°Being a parliamentary sketchwriter is unbelievably hard. You have to be knowledgeable, topical, witty and informative ¨C all in 600 words. In that respect, Ann Treneman of The Times was the doyenne of the trade, as seen in this account. Put aside serious history for a moment. If you want to know what the coalition government was really like, read this.¡±

Peter Paul Catterall, reader in history, University of Westminster, is reading W. Somerset Maugham¡¯s Cakes and Ale (Vintage Classics, 2000). ¡°Replete with mordant wit and acute observations of the appalling conventions of late Victorian Britain through which social gradations were subtly policed as if ¡®by Laws of Nature¡¯, in its bitchiness about the literary world of the period this novel also reminds me all too accurately of academia in the era of the research excellence framework.¡±

Megan Crawford, professor of education and director of Plymouth University¡¯s Institute of Education, is reading Will Ellsworth-Jones¡¯ We Will Not Fight: The Untold Story of World War One¡¯s Conscientious Objectors (Aurum Press, 2008). ¡°I have recently set myself a task to explore parts of our history that I know little about. I had a family friend who was a conscientious objector in the Second World War, but I had never really thought about how this status happened. On a recent visit to Imperial War Museum North in Salford I acquired this book, which reveals the story of Bert Brocklesby and others like him, who voiced unpopular beliefs in wartime. Definitely recommended!¡±

R. C. Richardson, emeritus professor of history, University of Winchester, is rereading George Sturt¡¯s The Wheelwright¡¯s Shop (Cambridge University Press, 2000). ¡°This 1923 book is the most famous of the retrospectives on the English countryside produced by this Surrey author. Much is of a technical nature and the glossary of terms at the end has to be frequently consulted. But it is the elegiac observations on the passing of a traditional way of life, traditional values, and of old-style employer/workman relations that stand out most clearly.¡±

Sharon Wheeler, visiting lecturer in media studies, Birmingham City University, is reading Richard Tomlinson¡¯s Amazing Grace: The Man Who Was W. G. (Little, Brown, 2015). ¡°Tomlinson deserves the applause of the crowd for his biography of W. G. Grace, the big chap with the beard who was probably the first celebrity sports star. He¡¯s delved into newly digitised archives and come up with a tremendous book that sheds light on Victorian England and a man who counted a US Civil War general and the Prince of Wales¡¯ mistress among his fans.¡±