At Books2Door, we believe that reading is a fundamental skill that every child should have to help improve their vocabulary, grammar, and critical thinking skills. Far from it, without many different people living their lives with different customs is what made us who we are today. It seems that the Celtic root of the name simply means ‘water’ – just as uisge still means ‘water’ in Gaelic (as in uisge beatha, ‘water of life’ – whisky).

The final 70 or so pages are a reiteration of the central ideas of genealogy and migration, which are better utilised during the examples of grave sites.

Trading Address (Warehouse) Unit E, Vulcan Business Complex, Vulcan Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE5 3EB. Professor Alice Roberts is an academic, author and broadcaster, specialising in human anatomy, physiology, evolution, archaeology and history. Roberts suggests a Hellenistic philosophical tradition using Epicureans to deduce a classical knowledge transference into North Sea paganism, Britonic paganism allowed by Romans (not so much the Druids themselves), and later Roman Xtianity. Historians argue about this distinction – perhaps because it seems relevant to whether some sort of ‘British’ identity was maintained while ‘British’ kings invited Roman troops into the land of their fathers. The first three case studies are properly enthralling, covering pipe burials, evidence of infanticide, and decapitated burials, but after this I found it very hard to maintain my concentration.

Roberts discusses increased infant mortality in non-modern, first world locations and different burial practices for infants. But since the 1950s, archaeologists have added to the corpus of writing from Roman Britain, finding ephemeral pieces of text that have, quite astonishingly, survived the test of time – in the form of ink on thin wooden sheets, and scratched impressions of writing on the wooden casings of wax tablets. Bestselling historian and broadcaster Professor Alice Roberts (The Incredible Human Journey and Digging for Britain) offers a new alternative history of the first millennium in Britain.Their lives were different to ours in so many ways, but there are also moments of striking similarity, when you can suddenly grasp a thread of familiarity and empathy that stretches back through time, and is part of a wider story about what it means, what it feels like, to be human. I love reading Alice Roberts' books - she's so full of joy and enthusiasm and compassion, it really rings archaeology to life. The 11-metre gap between the inner and outer walls was filled with earth – presumably to create a raised platform for timber seating around the central arena, which was floored in cobbles covered with a deep layer of sand. Vespasian – following military successes in Britain, and then in Judaea – had become emperor in 69 CE, with his eldest son, Titus, succeeding him in 79. As long as the professor was talking about the actual processes and science involved, the book was a great read.

Tuuli is a prehistoric girl, travelling with her tribe through the seasons – making camp, hunting for food and protecting themselves against the many hazards that the climate throws at them. The Atrebates of southern England – whose territory broadly coincided with modern-day Hampshire and Sussex – had been friendly with the Roman Empire for some time. Although this may all sound very “dry” and academic, Roberts is able to make me empathise with the possible fates of the individuals of whom all that remains are these bones, and tentatively suggest the non-aristocratic lives they may represent.

The scale and the detail of the Thousand Ancient Genomes project, which is collaborating with archaeologists across the UK, could transform our understanding of prehistoric Britain, especially as regards mobility and migrations.