John O’Farrell might be known for his humorous journalism and witty books that take a sideways look at history and news, but what’s the book he would most like to have written himself?

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome

“I grew up near this lock and I know every pub named in this book. It’s a funny and warm book of an Edwardian England that is long gone by. It’s so wittily told. It’s funny, warm and true, and the jokes are still funny, which is very rare in an old book.”