What got me hooked on really wanting to pursue history was Stephen R. Platt's Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, and what affirmed that I'd made the right choice was Imperial Twilight. For one, Platt's prose is impeccable. For another, he's extremely good at coherently weaving together disparate narrative threads – especially important for Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, where there are multiple initially separate theatres of action that are increasingly integrally linked. How he does this is through focussing on individuals whose stories can consistently be traced, and which can serve as illustrations of the wider trends at work – sometimes it's the 'Great Men' like Zeng Guofan and Hong Rengan, sometimes it's the little guy like Rev. Thomas Morrison or the explorer Thomas Manning. Most importantly, he's able to write engaging narrative without compromising on equally engaging analysis. Not least because, since you've already got stuck into the narrative, the analysis is based on things you should remember, and sticks all the more for it.

As for what they're about, both are about, to some extent, the West's engagement with China during the 19th century. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom unites a series of parallel biographical narratives in the years 1859 to 1864, during which the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom at first rebounded and then was swiftly crushed, mostly due to an eastward offensive by provincial armies loyal to the Qing Dynasty, but not without substantial and, Platt argues, decisive military support from Britain and France, who supported the Qing thrust westward from the coast, as well as supporting the loyalist campaign in the interior. Imperial Twilight turns back the clock to the 1810s-30s, when British merchants were confined to a single warehouse and office complex in the city of Canton if they wished to trade. Why and how, Platt asks, did Britain and China go from a relatively stable trade arrangement, established since the 1750s, to war? It's a narrative that shifts deftly back and forth between Canton, Britain and the Chinese hinterlands, and even if you disagree with the conclusions, the journey is very well worth it.

saying all Pop history is bad is a bit of a sweeping judgement, I know of plenty professional historians who publish articles in popular magazines. Are these articles going to be ground breaking in historical research?- no. But do they give a good narrative of events based off academic research?- yes. When looking at niche fields sometimes the work of amateur historians is all that exists and can still be valid contributions to the historical record, if well written.

In any case:

For British History, particularly naval history in the 18th and 19th century I would recommened (in order of broad to down the rabbit hole)

• Black, J. Naval Power - a very broad work concerning naval history. Black covers almost everything however not in much detail.
• Kennedy, P.M. The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery - from around 1600 to the present (then 1970's!). This work is quite broad however it narrows down in places such as with strategic debates around Mackinder world island, geographic pivot theory/
• Roger, N.A.M. The Wooden World - 18th Century RN, a good general narrative and starting point for wider research.
• any of the The History of the Royal Navy series, by various authors published by I.B.Tauris (you'll know it when you see it) - there are quite a few volumes, however Redford, D. and Grove P. A History Since 1900 is a good read, it certainly gave me a new appreciation of Jackie Fisher. These are a sort of semi-official history.
• Lloyd, C. The Navy and the Slave Trade - in spite of its age (1949) still very much a "go to" in terms of the military aspects of slavery suppression. This is not about William Wilberforce et al. instead it is about the practical aspects of stopping the slave trade with some mild jingoism thrown in.
• Huzzey, R. Freedom Burning - anti-slavery in Britain, cultural with some military elements. This is quite representative of the modern school and a good contrast to Christopher Lloyd's above mentioned work.

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17th Century English history - these are both quite focussed but interesting and good reading.

• Kenyon, J. The Popish Plot - I read this cover to cover in about 2 days. If you aren't familiar it is about the supposed plot against Charles II's life. It is full of colourful characters. The Popish Plot is a must if you are interested in the Stuart era.
• Hill, C. The World of the Muggletonians - a history of one of the more oddball sects to arise from the English revolution. The Muggletonians even in their heyday were very small, however unlike other Sects they kept meticulous records which Christopher Hill was able to access and bring to a wider audience.

Hi there anyone interested in recommending things to OP! While you might have a title to share, this is still a thread on /r/AskHistorians, and we still want the replies here to be to an /r/AskHistorians standard - presumably OP would have asked at /r/history or /r/askreddit if they wanted non-specialist opinion. So give us some indication why the thing you're recommending is valuable, trustworthy, or applicable! Posts that provide no context for why you're recommending a particular podcast/book/novel/documentary/etc, and which aren't backed up by a historian-level knowledge on the accuracy and stance of the piece, will be removed.