Hi, it's Nicola Cochlin. Young people have been making history for years, but we don't often hear about them. My brand new series on BBC Sounds sets out to put this right. In history's youngest heroes, I'll be revealing the fascinating stories of 12 young people who've played a major role in history and who've helped shape our world. Like Audrey Hepburn, Nelson Mandela,

Louis Braille and Lady Jane Grey, history's youngest heroes with me, Nicola Cochlin. Listen on BBC Sounds.

Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. My name's

Linda Davies, and I commissioned podcasts for BBC Sounds.

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality, featuring the most

knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. What you may not know is that the BBC makes

podcasts about all kinds of things, like pop stars, poltergeists, cricket, and conspiracy theories.

And that's just a few examples.

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected,

find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.

Thanks for downloading a good read.

You can find more information on all the BBC downloads at BBC.co.uk slash radio four.

Hello, welcome with me today on a good read, are the poet Daljitnagra and the journalist Susan Jeffries.

Susan, in fact, is rather more than a journalist. She has written for a range of publications,

including The Observer, the Literary Review,

the Daily Mail for which she currently writes a weekly radio preview,

and she was features editor of the listener and is a sonny gold-winning broadcaster.

But on top of that, she's a short storywriter and an opera librettist.

Books have been central to her life since her school days when she had a Saturday job in a public library.

The first of many librarian jobs, including one in Zambia that involved delivering books by canoe.

And Susan, you say you can't remember the name of the first book you ever read,

but you can remember it was a cloth book?

...