I have admired Weeks for a while, being as he was one of the first queer historians I read, and was an absolute lifesaver while writing university essays (he’s great for a good quote about queer history or about queer identities). In this book, he turns the lens on himself, and takes us through the fascinating times and locations that created him, from being a young sensitive and nerdy child in the Welsh valleys, to being heavily involved in the early days of queer activism in London. These parts of the book are some of the most powerful- Weeks captures the energy, spirit and characters of both, and really creates a vision of a time that was hung in the balance, and was so pivotal to his life and those of many others. He then moves on to his life as a historian, watching, documenting and writing about the UK (and wider world) as it goes through some significant turning points, especially for LGBTQ+ people (the first pride parades, the AIDS crisis, Thatcher, Section 28, equality legislation). It occasionally veers a little into digressions about university life, but Weeks is at his best when he describes the unimaginable transformations in queer life and acceptance he has witnessed throughout his life, and his role as a historian and archivist means he observes them with brilliant insight and tenderness. The moments where he connects the wider national picture with his personal life- in which he watches partners fall ill and pass away, and explores different relationship types- are really quite special. You realize just how much of the last few decades he has seen go by, and just how far we have all come. I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.