How relevant is the reading I mention in my personal statement to my interview?

For History in both Oxford and Cambridge there is typically two interviews for applicants. The first will be based around your personal statement so it is very important that you are familiar with any reading you have mentioned in it. The second is usually focused on a source which you are given half an hour prior to the interview to read. As such, in the second interview your personal statement is not particularly relevant, although the reading you do may come in useful in drawing parellels between themes that you pick up in the source. In order to prepare for your first interview it is vital that you are very familiar with any reading mentioned in your personal statement. It is useful to show your enthusiasm for your subject by including books that are not included in your school curriculum. For instance, in my personal statement I wrote about the French Revolution (which I had done at A-Level) as well as the Spanish Civil War which I had read about in my own time. Do not worry about knowing all the exact dates and events in the period you are talking about - what your interviewer wants to see is that you can talk about the main themes of the period and discuss them in an intelligent way. Think of the interview as more of a formal conversation between you and your interviewer who is essentially trying to see if they want to Tutor you should you be successful. For instance, in my interview I was not questioned about any specific events in the Spanish Civil War but my interviewer did want me to discuss themes such as facism and its wider economic and political implications. So when picking what to include in your personal statement make sure you are prepared to talk about it in depth and that you are genuinely interested in it so that you can convincingly defend your point of view about the period you are discussing.