WE AT the Idler are big fans of historian Antonia Fraser. Her book on the Reform Bill was brilliant. Now she has published a subtle and witty volume of memoirs called My History, on growing up among the dons in Oxford. She’ll be discussing this new book with Idler editor Tom Hodgkinson at the Idler Academy on Thursday 5 February at 6.30pm.

 
Are you happy?
I am content which is different. I doubt if many people who have lost their loved one would describe themselves as happy.

 
What are you reading?
Ruth Scurr, John Aubrey: My Own Life which is coming out in March. It’s original, ambitious and brilliant; telling Aubrey’s story more or less in his own words.

 
What was your worst job?
Picking up potatoes in a field near Salisbury during the war when I was about thirteen; we were told we were helping the country win the war. I’ve hated potatoes ever since.
 

How many hours do you work each day?
In an ideal day I would work from 8 a.m until 2 pm  and then have a wonderful lunch with a favourite friend, preferably a fellow historian. After that, a reflective swim and later a ponder on the wonder of what I had written during the original six hours. I can’t remember ever having had such a day! But I keep hoping…
 
Town mouse or country mouse?
I don’t feel the need to choose between town and country except in so far as town life is easier as you get older (I no longer drive). But country – I lived in the Highlands of Scotland in the holidays for twenty years — is better for thinking.

 
Does love bring happiness or unhappiness?
The real misery is lack of love so the answer must be: happiness.

 
Mp3 or vinyl? Real book or ebook?
Real at home, e book when travelling.

 
What are your three greatest pleasures?
Contemplating my cats, telling tall tales to my grandchildren, and swimming slowly in the sea.

 
Do you believe in the nap?
The nap believes in me it seems; I don’t get a choice (inherited from my father who slept peacefully through many occasions when it might have been more tactful to have kept his eyes open).

 
What advice do you have for young people?
Keep a diary. And keep it regularly, whether daily, once a week, once a month… the discipline is what matters.

My History by Antonia Fraser is published by Weidenfeld and Nicholson