History Books

All empires are obsessed with the prospect of their own decline, says British journalist and novelist James Meek. He recommends books on the death of empires, from Austria-Hungary to Kublai Khan.

Robert Service, Professor of Russian Studies at Oxford, when forced to choose between Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin, says Stalin was definitely the worst of the lot. He takes a look at the dynamics of totalitarian Russia, gleaning insights from Thucydides to Orwell.

Eugene Rogan is Director of the Middle East Centre at Oxford University. His research focuses on the social and economic history of the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire and the Arab states in the 20th century.

Expert in Spanish Colonial History describes Christopher Columbus as a character from science fiction. Huge political irony that the first exploration of North America was led by a black man

In telling the story of the Celts, it's challenging to separate history from legend, says writer and historian Simon Young. And yet, we do have evidence of cities burned to the ground and decapitated statues, as well as books written at the time. He takes us to the land of Boudicca, King Arthur and Merlin, and explains why Irish monks took to the sea to find deserted islands.

Byzantine scholar Judith Herrin, professor emerita at King's College London, selects five books to help us understand the place of Byzantium in world civilisation.

The author and political blogger chooses five books on the Israel-Palestine conflict and compares the Palestinians to the Jews in diaspora: as the land disappears under their feet, their identity grows stronger.

Steve Darlow, author of nine books on military aviation, discusses his favourite books on pilots during the Second World War - a time when 800 Allied airmen were lynched

The award-winning writer selects five books on India and says that the Mahabharata, eight times the length of the Bible, is one of the great works of literature of mankind - and every bit as good as it’s made out to be

'Wherever you go today in the Congo, you will find monstrous warlords. But you will find far more volunteer nurses and Red Cross workers and teachers who haven’t been paid for 20 years but are still doing their job, not allowing things to fall apart.'