diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 575c5ae..5e7afe3 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/) and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 
+## [Unreleased]
+### Fixed
+- Fixes [#257](https://github.com/eamodio/vscode-gitlens/issues/257) - Some branches fail to show history
+
 ## [7.5.6] - 2018-01-22
 ### Changed
 - Changes `chorded` keymap on Windows to use `Ctrl+Shift+G` rather than `Ctrl+Alt+G` to avoid [issues](https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20040329-00/?p=40003)
diff --git a/src/git/git.ts b/src/git/git.ts
index d2f5a4f..45b2c59 100644
--- a/src/git/git.ts
+++ b/src/git/git.ts
@@ -23,9 +23,39 @@ export * from './remotes/provider';
 let git: IGit;
 
 const defaultBlameParams = ['blame', '--root', '--incremental'];
+
 // Using %x00 codes because some shells seem to try to expand things if not
-const defaultLogParams = ['log', '--name-status', '--full-history', '-M', '--format=%x3c%x2ff%x3e%n%x3cr%x3e %H%n%x3ca%x3e %an%n%x3ce%x3e %ae%n%x3cd%x3e %at%n%x3cp%x3e %P%n%x3cs%x3e%n%B%x3c%x2fs%x3e%n%x3cf%x3e'];
-const defaultStashParams = ['stash', 'list', '--name-status', '--full-history', '-M', '--format=%x3c%x2ff%x3e%n%x3cr%x3e %H%n%x3cd%x3e %at%n%x3cl%x3e %gd%n%x3cs%x3e%n%B%x3c%x2fs%x3e%n%x3cf%x3e'];
+const lb = '%x3c'; // `%x${'<'.charCodeAt(0).toString(16)}`;
+const rb = '%x3e'; // `%x${'>'.charCodeAt(0).toString(16)}`;
+const sl = '%x2f'; // `%x${'/'.charCodeAt(0).toString(16)}`;
+
+const logFormat = [
+    `${lb}${sl}f${rb}`,
+    `${lb}r${rb} %H`,   // ref
+    `${lb}a${rb} %an`,  // author
+    `${lb}e${rb} %ae`,  // email
+    `${lb}d${rb} %at`,  // date
+    `${lb}p${rb} %P`,   // parents
+    `${lb}s${rb}`,
+    `%B`,               // summary
+    `${lb}${sl}s${rb}`,
+    `${lb}f${rb}`
+].join('%n');
+
+const defaultLogParams = ['log', '--name-status', '--full-history', '-M', `--format=${logFormat}`];
+
+const stashFormat = [
+    `${lb}${sl}f${rb}`,
+    `${lb}r${rb} %H`,   // ref
+    `${lb}d${rb} %at`,  // date
+    `${lb}l${rb} %gd`,  // reflog-selector
+    `${lb}s${rb}`,
+    `%B`,               // summary
+    `${lb}${sl}s${rb}`,
+    `${lb}f${rb}`
+].join('%n');
+
+const defaultStashParams = ['stash', 'list', '--name-status', '--full-history', '-M', `--format=${stashFormat}`];
 
 const GitWarnings = [
     /Not a git repository/,
diff --git a/src/git/parsers/logParser.ts b/src/git/parsers/logParser.ts
index 2329074..43bd941 100644
--- a/src/git/parsers/logParser.ts
+++ b/src/git/parsers/logParser.ts
@@ -106,6 +106,11 @@ export class GitLogParser {
                             entry.summary += `\n${line}`;
                         }
                     }
+
+                    if (entry.summary !== undefined) {
+                        // Remove the trailing newline
+                        entry.summary = entry.summary.slice(0, -1);
+                    }
                     break;
 
                 case 102: // 'f': // files
@@ -223,7 +228,7 @@ export class GitLogParser {
                 entry.author!,
                 entry.email,
                 new Date(entry.date! as any * 1000),
-                entry.summary!,
+                entry.summary === undefined ? '' : entry.summary,
                 relativeFileName,
                 entry.fileStatuses || [],
                 entry.status,
diff --git a/src/git/parsers/stashParser.ts b/src/git/parsers/stashParser.ts
index ff1fb2d..57c23db 100644
--- a/src/git/parsers/stashParser.ts
+++ b/src/git/parsers/stashParser.ts
@@ -72,6 +72,11 @@ export class GitStashParser {
                             entry.summary += `\n${line}`;
                         }
                     }
+
+                    if (entry.summary !== undefined) {
+                        // Remove the trailing newline
+                        entry.summary = entry.summary.slice(0, -1);
+                    }
                     break;
 
                 case 102: // 'f': // files
@@ -127,7 +132,7 @@ export class GitStashParser {
                 repoPath,
                 entry.ref!,
                 new Date(entry.date! as any * 1000),
-                entry.summary!,
+                entry.summary === undefined ? '' : entry.summary,
                 entry.fileNames!,
                 entry.fileStatuses || []
             );