I love history, I really do but I just can't sit down and dip my head into a factually heavy history book after studying all day (Currently doing politics, philosophy and economics degree). I didn't want to take a history degree as I feel history is much more of a hobby to me than anything else.
I'm interested in most European history and prehistory. I just need to find some books that will keep me gripped and that I can dip in and out of quite easily.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Laugh if you want, but I couldn't recommend the Cartoon History of the Universe series highly enough. Don't let the medium throw you off, it is a pretty reasonable summary of history from the Big Bang to now, spanning a number of volumes. It absolutely fits your two main criteria, namely keeping you gripped and easy to pick up and put down at a given point.
The biggest caution I would give you is that, while he provides a bibliography at the end, and did a ton of research for the book, it of course is pop history level writing, and additionally, with the older volumes - this having started, I believe in the 1980s - some of the info isn't bad so much as just out of date, but that is an issue you'll find with any book not published recently.
War is a layman's chronological history of one aspect of human history, from its beginnings to the present. Based on (or was the basis of) a PBS series.