I’m a historian, writer and broadcaster currently based at Bath Spa University where I’m Reader in Public History. Previously, I was Associate Professor in Medieval History and Literature at Durham University. Before then, I was a Leverhulme Fellow at the University of Oxford, and before then (now we’re really heading back into the mists of time) I studied Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge.

Many moons ago (2013 to be exact), I was chosen as a BBC / AHRC New Generation Thinker, in a competition to develop a new generation of academics capable of bringing the best of university research and scholarly ideas to a broad audience through the media and public engagement. These days, most of my broadcasting work involves presenting radio programmes, podcasts and occasionally TV. As a result, I spend quite a lot of time freezing cold, wet, windswept, and covered in mud (at least I hope it’s mud).

When I can be persuaded indoors, I try to get as much writing done as possible. I’m the author of Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age, which was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize, longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, chosen as a Times History Book of the Year, and chosen as a New York Times Editor’s Choice. I’m also the author of Beyond the Northlands: Viking Voyages and the Old Norse Sagas (Oxford University Press). I’ve written for everyone from TLS, The Guardian and The Telegraph to BBC History Magazine and BBC Countryfile Magazine, and I review books widely for various publications. I’m a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. I live in London.