“I’m a historian primarily of the 19th century, drawn to the slightly weird, marginal and salacious aspects of the past. I love human stories that illuminate hitherto unknown or marginalised aspects of the past. I’m an expert on the Victorian freak show…make of that what you will… and the Victorian age more generally. But I am a total history buff whose interests and work goes beyond the 19th century. I love travel, I’ve lived and worked in India, and I currently reside in London.”