What an interesting read! Take 18 figures from history and look at their lives at the age of 18. The chosen 18 are written about in chronological order, so we start in the Middle Ages and work our way right through to the 20th Century. They are from different walks of life (royalty, engineers, entertainment to name a few) and I have to admit I haven't heard of some of them! I did find this refreshing though and different from the historical figures we usually see written about.

The sections for each figure are well written and interesting with lots of historical information. They aren't necessarily known for a specific achievement at the age of 18, but it does cover what they were doing at that age. In between these sections, we have a little fictional treat where all the characters meet up together! It was a light and easy read, entertaining in parts and definitely educational throughout (I certainly learnt some things!) It would make a lovely gift for someone celebrating their 18th birthday, and maybe give some ideas as to what can be achieved in life!

Alice Loxton’s 18 is an interesting concept for a non-fiction history book - looking at the lives of 18 historical figures at age 18. I knew Loxton from her popular social media posts and her previous work Uproar! which looked at Georgian satire in print.

I struggled slightly to understand who the audience was for this book. It seemed written for people to give 18 year olds on their birthday maybe, as there were quotes from a few current figures at the end like potter off the telly Keith Bremer Jones and Prof Sarah Gilbert who created the Covid vaccine.

I’m also not sure the concept of visiting these figures at 18 year olds worked for me, as it didn’t seem like 18 was a particularly pivotal year for most of them. It was necessary in almost every case to describe their later life, but usually in a truncated manner which sometimes meant context, complexities and nuance were not explored.

I totally understand popular history is often written with a more fun and engaging tone - as it should be - but I felt uncomfortable at points with Loxton’s use of imagination, like when she wondered whether Chaucer would be embarrassed about wanting to write poetry (no, of course not, it was highly respected).

The various dinner party scenes that sat between the chapters - where all the historical figures sat together and partied into the evening - similarly made me cringe a little. I just didn’t think it added much and I’m not sure how relatable a dinner party is to 18 year olds either.

There was a definite bias to figures from the 1800s and later - half of the overall people discussed - which I thought was a shame, but I am much less interested in modern history so that’s probably on me!

I thought some of the lesser-known figures Loxton chose were really interesting, especially Sarah Biffin and Jeffrey Hudson - and I really appreciated the disabled representation in the book.

Overall this would be an interesting introduction to some famous historical figures for young adults or those new to reading history.

Thank you to the publisher and the author for an advanced reader copy of this book, which is out now!

I will post on instagram tomorow

I really enjoy Alice Loxton's Instagram videos at historical locations bringing to life the stories and people of the past so I immediately wanted to read her book. It is a brilliant intriguing collection of stories of such a collection of 18 individuals and what their lives were like at 18, this covers the potential of some and the huge achievements already at this age of others. It is particularly poignant for anyone turning 18 and the author dedicates this book to them, to all those entering adulthood. I really enjoyed the "dinner party" narrative written as a fictional gathering of the characters in-between their factual stories, it really brings the characters to reality and what kind of high jinks would occur at this gathering of 18 year olds of such calibre.

Eighteen is a glorious celebration of those young people who straddle the divide between childhood and adulthood, so full of promise, ambition and joie de vivre.

Eighteen historical British notables have been chosen to meet at a fantasy dinner party. Some of them are already powerful and famous at eighteen years old, others have yet to discover their talents. Each person gets a chapter and we find out more about them and who they will become as an adult.

Such a good idea for a book - would make an excellent birthday present for the eighteen year old in your life!

What sort of person were you when you were eighteen years old? What had you accomplished by that point in your life and what were your hopes and dreams for the future? Or, if you haven’t reached that age yet, what would you like to achieve before your eighteenth birthday? In her new book, Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives, Alice Loxton explores the stories of eighteen historical figures, some famous and some more obscure, with a focus on the first eighteen years of their lives and how their childhoods shaped the adults they would later become.

The book is arranged in chronological order, so the first historical figure to be covered is the Anglo-Saxon monk and scholar, the Venerable Bede, and the last is the fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. Each section is quite short – it’s not a long book and there are lots of lives to get through – but I think Alice Loxton achieves what she sets out to do, which is to shine a light on the early lives of her subjects and the ways in which they are influenced by not only their own family background and upbringing, but also the world around them. She looks only briefly at the achievements that make them famous after the age of eighteen, but that information is available elsewhere and this book is trying to do something different.

Loxton chooses her subjects from all walks of life and a range of different backgrounds, including royalty, artists, engineers, actors and writers. They are almost equally split between men and women and England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all represented. I was less interested in the people I’d read about before, such as Elizabeth I and the Empress Matilda, but there were others I was completely unfamiliar with and I found these chapters fascinating. I’m ashamed to say I knew nothing at all about the life of Jacques Francis, a diver originally from West Africa who attempted to recover the wreck of the Mary Rose during the Tudor period, or Sarah Biffin, an English artist born in the late 18th century without arms or legs.

Alice Loxton’s writing style is very readable and I flew through this book in much less time than it normally takes me to read non-fiction. Although it’s not marketed as being for any particular age group, it’s clearly aimed at readers closer to the age of her subjects, so she doesn’t bombard us with too much information and provides sources and notes at the back of the book rather than interrupting the text. She tries to find analogies that will make sense to young, modern readers, such as comparing a royal progress with a rock band going on tour, and imagines what the lives of some of her other historical figures would look like as a film adaptation or a slideshow. The main biographical chapters are also interspersed with other chapters describing a very special 18th birthday party, but I’ll leave you to find out more about that for yourself if you read the book!

Eighteen would be a fun, accessible way for teenagers to explore British history, but for those of us who are older it’s still an entertaining read and provides a good starting point for further investigation into some of these fascinating historical figures. I’m now interested in reading Alice Loxton’s previous book, Uproar!, about printmakers in Georgian London.

As a 24-year-old who grew up voraciously consuming every Horrible Histories book/piece of media I could find, my experience of reading Eighteen was one part glorious nostalgia and one part a dire crisis of growing up and studying in the humanities; meaning I must criticise something that would have brought me unparalleled joy fifteen years ago.

I would like to begin by praising Alice Loxton, not just for writing this book (which with eighteen multifaceted, chronologically disparate figures to focus on is quite the feat) but also for providing young people and incipient historians with such a passionate, insightful role model. It is so immeasurably important that the arts and humanities, as academic disciplines and future careers, are encouraged and presented in exciting, enthusiastic, and fulfilling aspects. Without history, literature, and culture being scholastically pursued we will lack future generations of critical readers and thinkers; those who energetically seek variables and intricacies over implacable fact. Loxton represents (I hope not just for myself) the enthralling potential of new humanist students and graduates and that gives me (as an art history student) sincere hope and zeal for the sector.

Eighteen, as I briefly mentioned in the previous paragraph, gives itself an immense historical and ideological undertaking right from the offset. Loxton initially elucidates the format of the book as delineating eighteen stories, lives, and characters from throughout British history, spanning from Bede in the early Middle Ages, all the way to Vivienne Westwood in the twentieth century. Her manifesto, if you will, is to show how reaching the age of eighteen, superficially proclaimed an adult, is neither a point of great societal access or accomplishment nor is it the death knell of childhood, joy, and ambition. The idea is to illustrate these eighteen historical characters from birth to their eighteenth birthday, then a sneak peek at what they would go on to achieve in the years to come; hopefully suggesting to young readers that old age doesn't begin at twenty. It was this momentary glance into the future for each individual that I particularly welcomed as a mature student going into the second year of my undergraduate degree, who at the age of eighteen (celebrated at Nando's with a Princess Leia birthday cake) was stuck in an abusive household and incredibly mentally unwell. I already believed I was a consummate failure, that my youth had been eaten up, my academic prospects destroyed, my health obliterated; I wholeheartedly saw my twenties as a chasm of age and further incapacity.

I fear that this overwhelming sense of incompetence and defeat is a common experience for many teenagers/young adults of the past decade; when we're all expected to 'achieve', we rarely know what it means to be genuinely 'enthusiastic' or 'content'. Loxton generally does a brilliant job of encouraging, yet never patronising, any young readers who may be feeling similarly; through all her examples, she indicates a significant, perennial element of incipient adulthood, the subtle frisson of change that excites and scares in turn. She advocates for a celebration of young people in states of floundering identity, getting on with daily tasks and habits, as well as those who, like many of us, she emphasises, have come into their own; changing the world, other lives, and pursuing their greatest passions. It is a supremely heart-warming sentiment that prevails throughout the book, however, it is also one with an awful lot of historical ground to cover and there are several points where this strain on the contents has less positive results.

By aiming to cover so many years and events through the lens of isolated individual experiences, I feel, makes the unavoidable survey aspect of the book occasionally feel quite disjointed, and perhaps overzealous in its style. There were several points where I slightly cringed at the strange literary-historical approach to description; the switches from clear-cut facts to poetical attempts at rendering Vita Sackville-West’s beloved Knole or Mary Anning’s life by the seashore, for example, were personally a little jarring and affected in tone. I also didn’t enjoy the final ‘historical’ entry in the book, Rae DeDarre (anagrammatic of Dear Reader), which Loxton appeared to have included as a means of effectively drawing one out of the old characters and achievements and into the new, wherein she rapidly pulls society and culture up to the present and indicates the enormous changes, materially and ideologically, the world has recently gone through. It would seem this chapter was intended to show a contemporary young audience just how much more inclusive and varied their lifestyles are, and will continue to become. Despite this suggestion of greater, modern potential for acceptance and success, I believe it also reinforced a sense of intellectual and emotional distance from the past; the very opposite of which had been at the historically discursive forefront of the preceding text. In my opinion, the conclusion to the book needn’t have been so involved - I think it would have succeeded in being engaging and inspiring without a final comical insert and accompanying allusions to 2020s trends. After all, there have been over two decades of 21st century accomplishments, I do believe the eighteenth entry could have been about any number of contemporary individuals; from sportspeople, to authors, to scientists.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience of reading Eighteen. As I mentioned in my opening paragraph, Horrible Histories books played a huge role in my life as a budding history fanatic, and the alternately serious, humorous, insightful, and vibrant, narrative tone of Loxton was enough to send me right back to the comfort of my childhood bookshelves. I can imagine this publication will have that same effect (albeit without the fifteen year hiatus) upon young people between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, who have outgrown children’s history books but are not quite ready for adult subject matters, nor page counts. From that perspective in particular, Eighteen is unambiguously a success, and I hope that Loxton, along with other historians, continue to see the importance of writing history for this demographic.

This book is an enjoyable yet informative look at the history of varying 18 year olds. Some of them I knew but there were a few I hadn't heard of and it was so interesting to learn about what led them to be who they were. Loxton covers a range of people from all walks of life. She makes them all feel human and brings their stories to life. I enjoyed that she showed the challenges and hardships that they all faced no matter what class they had been born into. It was so interesting to see the concept of age change over the years. Her writing style is engaging and I think this would be a great book for young people interested in history.

I loved the concept of this book from the start and it certainly lived up to my hopes for it. It’s brilliantly simple and allows the author to cover a wide range of topics and eras.

Alice Loxton looks at the early lives of 18 different famous figures from British history, seeing how their lives and the country looked when they were 18. Some are royalty or from wealth and privilege, others have major challenges and losses to overcome and I certainly hadn’t heard of all of them, but they’re all brought beautifully to life. Even as a reader well past 18 (!), there was plenty to learn and enjoy.

The book would be a lovely gift for those around this age or younger teens – I really enjoyed how human the author made them all seem, how she brought history to life and really showed that the fame they gained was not simple or without effort or suffering on their part. The range of subjects is also well done, covering everything from science and the natural world to fashion and acting. There’s no romanticising the past but the author also recognises the challenges faced by young people now and what lessons they can take from the lives of those covered, ending with a beautiful note of encouragement to younger readers.

I’m not familiar with Alice Loxton from her videos but her writing is very engaging and natural and I look forward to her future works!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

In Eighteen, Alice Loxton takes 18 figures from history and conjures up their lives at 18-years old. She imagines these 18 teens sitting down for dinner at an 18th birthday party, interspersing brief snippets of their conversation with each of their mini biographies.

Yes, the concept is a little kitsch, but it's fascinating to see how the idea of youth has changed over the centuries, and to look at this from a historical angle. Some are fully-formed historical figures at 18 - for others, we see how their childhood shaped the person they are yet to become. Loxton explores the nature and nurture behind the history books, and thus opens up a window of context onto the everyday lives of her subjects and the Britain they lived in. I found the earlier chapters especially interesting - the run of twentieth-century entries towards the end got a little repetitive.

Eighteen is a lighthearted look at British history through the eyes of teenagers.

A bold attempt at exploring what it means to be 18 by examing key historical figures at this pivotal age, this book is undeniably impressive (although not always entirely successful). The author admits that sources about older historical figures, especially women, is particularly limited which makes it difficult to hone in precisely on what those notables were hoping/dreaming/achieving at that specific age. Therefore the early sections of the book read more as mini-biographies of Loxton's favourite historical figures. However, as she moves onto more recent figures this book really develops and becomes more impactful.

Unlike early chapters where a limited number of sources force her to focus on more famous figures (such as the future Queen Elizabeth I) who are already quite well-known, Loxton is able to focus on some truly fascinating and lesser known figures such as Rosalind Franklin. Loxton is really able to explore their motivations and experiences on the cusp of adulthood and therefore I expect these chapters will be much more appealing to teens and young adult readers.

For all the challenges that the book faces, ultimately I feel that Loxton has succeeded in her goal at making history more fun and inspiring for young people. At the end she does a wonderful job of showing young readers that just as the historical figures overcame challenges, so too will the next generation find the answers to the challenges that face the world today. I would definitely buy this book for an older teenager with an interest in history.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC

This was such an interesting read, for me it provided me with a lot of new information and presented it in a different way.

4.5 stars,
This is an excellent concept, firstly.
Historical icons at 18 blended with stories.
18 talks about a diverse range of historical, important figures when they were 18 and how the societies’ age perceptions changed over time. Loxton cover decades and decades. Her writing is to-the-point and engaging. I loved learning more about Chaucer.

I’ve long since left my 18th year behind and to be honest, as a 30yo, I barely remember my 18th year! but it’s buried there somewhere..! I’m still glad it was the springboard that led me to today and reading about the many historical figures featured in this book and where they were at at 18 made for great reading!

I loved this book and thoroughly enjoyed it the whole way through. The author had an absolutely beautiful way of bringing her writing to vivid life. To make you think, feel, be involved and understand the particular figure that was the centre of their dedicated chapter.

It’s such a great and novel aspect of transversing history, through the story of eighteen 18 year olds who are all astonishing in their own way. I looked forward to every new chapter and every new character of history to get to know their story.

It was a really great read and a definite for the bookshelf.

This is a fun, well researched and informative book. Some of the people I never heard of, and others I had only a basic knowledge of.

I loved learning about the early lives of this eclectic group of eigthteenyear-olds and all the influences which made them who they were.

I highly recommend this book, especially to lovers of history who enjoy Ms Loxton's numerous "history Alice" videos. Her delightful voice and enthusiasm come through in the written word as well.

I liked the format of this one, looking into the lives of famous historical figures (and some not as well known) at the age of eighteen and how their childhoods shaped who they became. Well researched and some lovely writing too.