I'm Alice Roberts, author of Beard an alternative history of the first millennium in Britain.

In this book I shed fresh light on how people lived by examining the stories of the dead,

from Roman cremations and graveside feasts to richly furnished Anglo-Saxon graves and

to the first Christian burial grounds in Wales.

The story is available now in paperback, ebook and audio.

It is a truth university acknowledged that two men in possession of a podcast must be in

want of a weekly subject. And especially dogmatic to paraphrase Dickens when it's the worst of times,

it's the worst of times, it's the age of foolishness, it's the age of foolishness.

Only Tom Holland could possibly believe that he could improve on Charles Dickens.

So let's get on with the podcast. Hello and welcome to the rest is history. Today we want to talk

about historical fiction. And the reason we want to talk about historical fiction is that a few

weeks ago Tom and I had a I think what the critics would call a minus spat about the merits

of the great Patrick O'Brien. And Tom's final comment if I can just read it out to

damn him for all eternity is everyone tells me they're great he wrote on Twitter.

But honestly after 30 pages of rope I had lost the will to live and this caused well justified

uproar so we decided it needed the full podcast treatment. Emma Darwin said you too Tom having

grown up on CS Forestry Shore I'd love Aubrey Maturin as much as so many main email friends told me

I would but the gorgeous period detail never adds up to anything just sits there you're quite

wrong Emma I have to say no very very wise Emma you are right. Well Chris Kendall said this is

like giving up on proof stuff to three pages because it's just about cake. Chris Kendall is obviously

a very fine touch. Anyway Tom Patrick O'Brien you're not a fan it's too much rope for you you're

going to give it another go. I don't think so there's so much I want to read and they just kind of

...