I love finding out about different people from history, so this was very interesting to explore their past and learn about what they added to the world / how it changed the world we know today.

Mavericks by Jenny Draper is an astoundingly interesting collection of stories about those she deemed eccentric livers of life. from those who have done the outrageous to those who acted outrageously, and even those who had outrage forced on them. for example, Thomas blood stole the Royal Jules, and got caught before he could even get away and even injured the man he befriended who was guarding them, and instead of being hung and quartered, he was put on the king‘s payroll and lived a very lavish lifestyle for his trouble. there was the story of a castle full of Scottish women who beat the Kings army with nothing but a dust cloth a group of men calling their self the Rebecca‘s to fight paying tolls on private roads and one and so many other stories, there’s even one about a feral boy who’s beginning and ending of life was a mystery. There’s so many great stories in this book and I really enjoyed all of them. It is a book. I definitely recommend. It is well written with funny clips about the story from the author which I enjoyed. It’s not a dry educational text but more like a conversational storytelling tone which fit really good with the story and or stories. #NetGalley,#WatkinsPublishing, #TheBlindReviewer, #Mavericks, #JennyDraper,

I wasn't aware of Jenny Draper's tiktoks before but I am definitely interested in them now. Mavericks was a perfect mix of history and humour. The stories seem well researched but Draper doesn't overwhelm us with information. The focus is telling a good story and for the most part, each chapter's protagonist leads an engaging story. Some stories I found more interesting than others, which is why my rating is a 3.5 star. Throughly enjoyable read but not all mavericks are made equally.

This is a rather charming collection of short biographical entries about people who have made something of themselves irrespective of their circumstances. By daring, pluck, or luck, these mavericks have managed to think outside the box, color outside the lines, etc.
Most of the people featured in this book are lesser or not-at-all known now, though they have all made a splash back in their respective day.
A lot of the people featured in this book have been marginalized in their time by their race, gender, etc. and nevertheless exceled against all odds. In that, the book is rather motivational, though it is, thankfully, not presented as such.
The presentation here is on a somewhat plain, easily accessible side, with occasional cheeky asides, often about someone's admittedly hilarious name. The overall tone is upbeat; the overall vibe is kind of cute, albeit in a good way.
The main takeaway is that I learned a lot about fascinating characters. The book serves as a nice reminder that no matter how stupid and/or oppressive rules and laws may be, they can be defied and/or broken and even on their own, they don't last forever.
Good read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

Reader beware: the Netgalley ARC, it is tediously formatted. A shame the publisher felt the need to do that to their early readers.

I reviewed Mavericks by Jenny Draper for book recommendation and selling site LoveReading.co.uk

Please see the link for the full review.

I’ve chosen this title as both a LoveReading star book and Liz Pick of the Month.

Thank you to Watkins Publishing for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Mavericks: Life Stories and Lessons of History’s Most Extrordinary Misfits is a humorous pop history collection by Jenny Draper. Covering twenty four different brief biographies of (primarily British) oddballs.

Admittedly, I was not familiar with Jenny Draper from her social media and was compelled to read the book based on title alone. Histories of under acknowledged figures, especially offbeat ones, are generally pretty fun! I think the author’s experience as a social media content creator was pretty evident in the way the information was structured. While pretty witty and filled with zippy asides, the biographies had much more in common with YouTube and TikTok than other history compilation books. At times I thought that the writing was excessively casual and as if it was lacking a little legitimacy. My assessment would be that this is much more of a humor book about history than a history book with a humorous style.

What I found somewhat difficult about this book is that while it did make me laugh, and it did seem very interesting, there was something somewhat haphazard about it. There was no conclusion or afterward that drew any major point or theme. The subheadings of the chapter were all lessons to learn from the person, but there was very little else unifying that idea of ‘lessons.’ Even the brief introductions didn’t really flesh out this idea. It almost seemed as if in one point of development the idea of a life lessons style book was proposed but abandoned, and this was a remnant left behind. The choice of historical figure was also baffling. Their inclusion seemed somewhat random and like there were too many choices that really didn’t have enough details for a full inclusion. The establishment criteria for inclusion was muddy and it really seemed like it was just twenty four interesting mostly-British people.

I think that this isn’t a bad concept. I just feel like the way it exists in its current state seems unfinished, or at least under edited, and it would work much better as a social media series than a book. 2/5.

These people were chosen randomly but they were all fascinating. I didn't know of them before but I feel like I should have known at least some of them, because what they did was important. Drawn from different parts of history, I learned about what their lives were like and what they did.
It would be a lot of fun to learn more about all of them now. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

Fantastic! Some known and some unknown to me.

Wonderful selection of stories from British-connected history. The lives of individuals who've been unusual, outstanding in a field, memorable, or done something remarkable that makes them very worthy of being part of this collection.

I read the audio version, with the author narrating enthusiastically. It was fab to listen along with Draper as she speaks of 24 stories, many of which will not be well known, as well as the historical context of when they lived and what was going on at the time.

The men who carried David Livingstone thousands of miles out of Africa to allow him to be buried in England. The married slave couple who escaped their captors with the wife disguising herself as a white man. The female secret agent left alone in Paris as the sole radio operator sending messages back to England.

I have now ordered a library copy of the first known autobiography, The Book of Margery Kempe, on the back of this retelling of her story.

For students young and old of history and tales of historical significance. Well-written, accessible and inspiring.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample audio reading copy.

I love a good non-fiction book, especially about the unsung heroes, those names that get lost amongst history, and so I was really excited about this one. It's given me some good Google black holes to go down.

A book this length shouldn't have taken me much time to read at all, but it was so interesting that I had to keep pausing and looking things up and going back and re-reading things.

I won't go into too much detail about every single person in the book, but here are my quick thoughts:

- Thomas Blood: a wrongun, a thief, but I couldn't help but be impressed by him
- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu - I absolutely loved her, for her achievements and for her splendid name
- Ellen & William Craft - inspirational! They wrote a book and I have definitely got that on my wishlist now
- Noor Inayat Khan - a WW2 heroine; it's stories like hers that we should be teaching in schools
- Mary Frith - I feel she has not been written about more. She was a bit of a laugh (although not always law-abiding), and I will try to seek out some more literature about her
- Lady Hestor Stanhope - such an amazing woman, if potentially a little but odd by the end, but I still loved her
- William Buckland - a palaeontologist before the word 'dinosaur' even existed. I found him fascinating
- Eleanor Rykener - an individual ahead of their time; someone who would fit in nowadays but would have been somewhat of a novelty in their age
- James Chuma & Abdullah David Susi - part of a historical story that I knew nothing about
- Black Agnes - a woman involved in one of the biggest fights in royal history and yet no-one (or at least I didn't) knows of her
- Margaret Kempe - I have read about her before (in Victoria MacKenzie's For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain) and I am endlessly fascinated by her
- The Chevalière d'Éon - she once owned 6,000 books, which puts my 1,400 to shame
- Ira Aldridge - oh I would have loved to have seen him act. He was a unique man to his time, and I think he would have been mesmerising to see
- The Rebecca Rioters - a group of people (not always female) who are part of a rioting time in history that I knew nothing about whatsoever
- Julius Soubise - I didn't take to Julius or his story at all I'm afraid
- Ethel Macdonald - what a fascinating, brave lady, and more modern than some of the other entries
- The Chartists - these were fascinating and definitely worth future research
- Gerrard Winstanley - another individual and time in history I knew nothing about
- Mary Anning - I have always been in awe of Mary and would have loved to have met her. I will never find her less than an inspiration
- Caroline Herschel - I find astronomy fascinating and I loved learning about Caroline and will definitely be digging a little deeper into her life. I didn't realise how much her and her brother were integral to the way we see space now
- Peter the Wild Boy - an interesting lad, thrust into the most inhospitable environment of the time: the royal court
- Sabrina Sidney - such a sad story and very bizarre start to life
- Radclyffe "John" Hall - I hadn't heard of Radclyffe and so this was an interesting read. Radclyffe would have felt right at home had they been around 100 years later or so
- Paul Robeson - someone I feel I should have heard of but hadn't; simply inspirational

If you're still reading this then hi! I know that was a lot of information but I wanted to talk about them all. If you're a history nerd, or if you just like learning about people, then this is a great book to read. There are so many people in it I hadn't heard of and feel like I should have. You will definitely feel more enriched by reading it.

I'm not sure that this book worked as a collection; there was not really a strong overarching theme, nor did the organization of the stories seem to make any sense. You could get a similar experience reading a collection of wikipedia articles.

My thanks to NetGalley and Watkins Publishing for an advance copy of this book that looks at the lives groups and people who decided that the norm was not for them, who knew what they wanted, and needed and lived their lives, or did their deeds without the fear or what peers, government of even history thought of them.

I live in a country that worships the idea of John Wayne, a hero standing against things to fight for what is right. I also live in a country that has community guidelines about the color and time your garbage cans can be on the curb, the color of your front door, and grass length. And it seems isn't too afraid of the idea of fascism. People talk about living one's best life, but are quick to judge, quick to anger and slow to understand when some people live lives they disagree with. Laws are passed, cops are called, and religious leaders call for crusades and jihads against those that make them grab their pearls. Nails that stick out should be hammered into place. And that is why the arc of history is so slow to change, because people don't like change. And yet there are those, oddballs, weirdos, whatever one calls them, that look at the world and go, yeah not for me. Not for anyone. Some might protest in little ways. Some might form a movement. And some live their lives, and change the world just be being true to who they are. And we as a people are all the better for it. Mavericks: Life stories and lessons of history's most extraordinary misfits by TikTok historian, and history guide Jenny Draper is a look at those who said nope that's not for me, did the assignment better than anyone, or found a life more interesting than society, government, and or religion wanted them to have.

The book is a series of essays, 24 in number, that jump a bit in time, but look at people that might be considered weird, but considered weird by a society that fears the different. What becomes apparant in reading is that many of these oddball mavericks looked at systems that were corrupt, wrong, limiting, and hierarchical and nature and said this doesn't work for me. These culture mores meant a smaller life, and in some cases no life at all. The diversity of the people here is apparent and shows how little the world wants to change in many ways. Woman spies, fighting fascism, risking fates worse from death, and in some cases death. A slave couple who escaped their situation with a light-skinned black woman dressing as a white man moving north. Paul Robeson who was told even by his father that he wasn't good enough, but became a lawyer, singer, songwriter, actor, activist, even as his skin color was held against him. Groups who stood up for political rights, be it the privatization of roads, dressing in woman's clothes and ripping down tollbooths, or standing up to be counted as citizens in England. Some were good people doing good things, some were complicated. All were interesting.

A very good book about a diverse group of people, who might have not had the best of intention, but still left their mark in the wall of complacency. People do not like to change, and people don't like to give up power. The last 20 years have shown that in this country. These people either for love, who they were, taxes, against fascism, slavery, or even their own family, stood for things that were bigger than they were. And were willing to face the music if things went bad. I really enjoyed this book. Draper is very good at capturing the time these people lived in and makes it clear how much these people were risking being different. Their lives at the least. Draper has collected an eclectic cast, and does a good job bringing them to life. The book is both funny, and informative, with a lot of actions to think about, and share.

A good book for people just finding themselves, and to show people that people have always tried to control others. Who they can love, who they can be, the roads they drive on, the votes they cast, even what they can dream. These people didn't settle. Nor should we. Inspiring tales for a dark time, and something we need more of.

Mavericks is an entertaining and accessible history book, filled with fun mini biographies of eccentrics and rulebreakers through the years. If you're a fan of history podcasts and TikTok, Draper's bubbly prose will feel familiar (although even I wanted her to lay off the exclamation marks a little). Chances are you won't learn anything new, as Mavericks picks out some familiar faces - and in many ways, it feels as if Alice Loxton's Eighteen has pipped this book to the post. But it still makes for an enjoyable, light-hearted read - one for the history nerds.

I have followed this author's content on both tik tok, and youtube for a while and was so excited to find out they had written a book, and it did not disappoint!

This book was fun as well as being informative and each chapter fills out the wider context of the time to allow us to better understand the "maverick" at the focus of the chapter.

I found it very easy to read and understand, there is such a diverse group of individuals covered and I think there will be someone in there that everyone will relate to. Some particular favourites of mine are Black Agnes, Ethel MacDonald, Ira Aldridge and Paul Robeson.

***Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this upcoming book***
Written with great detail and a healthy dose of humor, this book scratched my history itch and consistently made me smile. This book centers on various people throughout history that have made big impacts on the world but that most people (myself included) have never heard of. I highly recommend this for history buffs and the humor laced throughout would also make this a good read for people who typically wouldn’t be interested in ancient history. Give it a read!

Mavericks is an incredibly clever little book packed with interesting information.
The concept is just awesome - a book about extraordinary people at the margins of history.
We learn about twenty-four historical diverse figures, who were each extraordinary in their own way.
I do not follow Draper on social media, mainly because I am not active on most social media platforms, and I was not familiar with her work. I solely picked this book based on the blurb.
If you are someone who is more interesting in the hows and whys, and the deviances, the unexpected, the harder-to-imagine rather than simple trivia and facts (I mean, I do not care much for the surface level fun facts; they do not bring much value other than knowing X or Y happened/existed etc.), this is an informative and engaging read for you.

The author’s use of many credible resources and her research exceeded my expectations. I am glad that I requested to read this book.

Written with a very fun sense of humor, this book is the kind of history book that's not purely for history buffs. The author shines a light on lesser known figures of history, some known a little bit by academics & others pretty much drowning in obscurity. There's a good balance between showing the hard reality of life for disadvantaged people & balancing it out with a more positive outlook on the progress/advancements these misfits managed to make.
I can't really pick a favorite chapter, not when I learned about such oddballs as:
- an illiterate woman who experienced vivid visions, and somehow managed to get her words recorded in a book (that seemingly survived in a single copy)
- a noblewoman who successfully defended her castle from invaders (with a sense of style)
- or learning about the Rebecca Rioters (who really, really hated tollbooths and did something about it)

This was a pretty good book/collection of stories. I followed this TikTok star protruding this book, so I knew her style and I enjoy it. It is interesting and keeps me entertained while at the same time teaches listeners a lot



Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

I really enjoyed learning about new historical people and this had that charm that I enjoyed about nonfiction books. Jenny Draper was able to weave interesting stories and have interesting real people in history. It had that humor that I wanted and was glad I got to read this.

4 stars

I'm not familiar with Jenny Draper or her TikTok, but I'm a sucker for reading about the rulebreakers, scoundrels, and eccentrics of history. Mavericks accomplishes the goal of being highly educational and immensely amusing with several stories that you will have to read to believe. Draper also does a wonderful job of representation with several stories about queer people as well as people of color. It's an easy, breezy read that history fans can devour in a day. Who could ask for anything more?

Thank you to NetGalley and Watkins Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!