John Aubrey, My Own Life

One of the most acclaimed books in the UK last year (Mary Beard called it a "game-changer") turns out to be as good as advertised. John Aubrey, one of the first modern biographers, was nearly lost to history himself, but Scurr has reclaimed his life, piecing together a biography as if it were his diary. And what a diary! Aubrey is a charming, fully human companion, funny, observant, anxious, and frank, equally sure of the truth of witchcraft and the new modern science. He knew everyone in Britain's tumultuous 17th century—Newton, Hobbes, Hooke, Milton, William Penn, Christopher Wren—and tirelessly gathered evidence of Britain's past while avoiding his creditors and the political dangers of his revolutionary time. He would have loved this book. —Tom

P.S. Our friend James Crossley at Island Books wrote a longer appreciation of John Aubrey for their newsletter, which gives even more of the flavor of the book and of Aubrey's life.