Interviewer
Benedict King
Interviews by Benedict King
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1
Negotiating Mughal Law: A Family of Landlords across Three Indian Empires
by Nandini Chatterjee -
2
The Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504–1719
by Munis Faruqui -
3
Millennial Sovereign: Sacred Kingship & Sainthood in Islam
by A. Azfar Moin -
4
Culture of Encounters: Sanskrit at the Mughal Court
by Audrey Truschke -
5
Writing Self, Writing Empire: Chandar Bhan Brahman and the Cultural World of the Indo-Persian State Secretary
by Rajeev Kinra
The best books on The Mughal Empire, recommended by Richard M. Eaton
The best books on The Mughal Empire, recommended by Richard M. Eaton
The Mughals ruled the Indian subcontinent for three centuries, a multicultural empire that brought together an extraordinary mix of Mongol, Islamic, Persian and Indian practices, religious beliefs and philosophies. Here, historian Richard M. Eaton, a professor at the University of Arizona, chooses some of the best scholarly works on the Mughals that shed new light on how the empire functioned.
The best books on Angela Merkel, recommended by Tom Nuttall
For 16 years, as chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel was the most powerful woman in the world. Here Tom Nuttall, the Economist’s Berlin bureau chief, talks us through books to help us understand her time in office, and explains how her East German upbringing influenced her style of governance.
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1
Network Nations: A Transnational History of British and American Broadcasting
by Michele Hilmes -
2
Paving the Empire Road: BBC television and Black Britons
by Darrell M. Newton -
3
Behind the Wireless: A History of Early Women at the BBC
by Kate Murphy -
4
BBC World Service: Overseas Broadcasting, 1932-2018
by Emma Robertson & Gordon Johnston -
5
London Calling: Britain, the BBC World Service and the Cold War
by Alban Webb
The best books on The BBC, recommended by Simon J. Potter
The best books on The BBC, recommended by Simon J. Potter
The British Broadcasting Corporation celebrates its centenary this year. The beloved institution has always had a paradoxical identity: part monopoly and government organ, part commercial enterprise and government critic; part bringer of change, part defender of the status quo. Here Simon Potter, Professor of Modern History at the University of Bristol, talks us through the history and the transformations the BBC has undergone since it was first founded in 1922.
The best books on Boudica, recommended by Richard Hingley
Boudica was an Iron Age queen who led her people into rebellion against Roman rule in the province of Britannia. She was defeated, but only after she had burned several towns, including London, to the ground. Here Richard Hingley, Professor of Archaeology at Durham University, explains how to sift the truth from the myth, and why Boudica has remained an enduring source of fascination down the centuries.
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1
Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands
by Mary Seacole -
2
Victorian Lady Travellers
by Dorothy Middleton -
3
Florence Nightingale: The Woman and Her Legend
by Mark Bostridge -
4
Mrs Duberly's War: Journal and Letters from the Crimea, 1854-6
by Fanny Duberly, edited by Christine Kelly -
5
An American Diary
by Barbara Bodichon
The best books on Mary Seacole, recommended by Jane Robinson
The best books on Mary Seacole, recommended by Jane Robinson
Mary Seacole looked after and provided support to British troops during the Crimean War (1853-1856), setting up a hotel for sick and recovering soldiers close to the fighting near Balaclava. In her day, she was as celebrated as Florence Nightingale, but it was not until the rediscovery and publication of her diary in the 1980s that she came to be widely known as a Victorian heroine in modern times. In 2016, a memorial statue of her was unveiled in London, the first in the UK in honour of a named Black woman. Here her biographer, Jane Robinson, tells us more about the remarkable life of Mary Seacole and the world she lived in.
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1
Islam and the Foundations of Political Power
by Ali Abdel Razek -
2
The Muqaddimah
by Ibn Khaldun -
3
The Venture of Islam, Volume 3: The Gunpowder Empires and Modern Times
by Marshall Hodgson -
4
Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia
by Robert W. Hefner -
5
Muslims and the State in Britain, France, and Germany
by J. Christopher Soper & Joel S. Fetzer
The best books on Islam and the State, recommended by Ahmet T. Kuru
The best books on Islam and the State, recommended by Ahmet T. Kuru
It’s widely assumed that in the ideal Muslim society there is no separation between religion and the state, but even in some of the earliest caliphates, the secular and the religious were rarely as closely aligned as religious conservatives would have us believe. Here Ahmet T. Kuru, Professor of Political Science at San Diego State University, recommends books that help trace the historical relationship between Islam and the state—and points to strands of secularism that may hold the key to a happier relationship between Islam and liberal democracy.
Historical Fiction Set in the Ancient World, recommended by Harry Sidebottom
The ancient world offers an excellent canvas for historical fiction but too many books fall victim to anachronistic thinking, says Oxford ancient historian Harry Sidebottom, author of two series of historical novels set in Ancient Rome. Here he recommends some of his own favourites, all written during the golden age of classical historical fiction half a century ago.
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1
Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence
by Kate Crawford -
2
The Planet Remade
by Oliver Morton -
3
Learning by Doing: The Real Connection between Innovation, Wages, and Wealth
by James Bessen -
4
The Ministry for the Future: A Novel
by Kim Stanley Robinson -
5
How Solar Energy Became Cheap: A Model for Low-Carbon Innovation
by Gregory F. Nemet
The Best Books on Tech, recommended by Azeem Azhar
The Best Books on Tech, recommended by Azeem Azhar
Technology is already running our lives and unless regulations are updated to keep up, it could upend our way of life completely, warns Azeem Azhar, entrepreneur, investor, and creator of the Exponential View newsletter. Here, he recommends his five top tech books to help us navigate the near future, from a technical tome to a science fiction novel.
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1
God’s War
by Christopher Tyerman -
2
The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization and Cultural Change, 950-1350
by Robert Bartlett -
3
The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives
by Carole Hillenbrand -
4
Chronicles of the Crusades
by Geoffroy de Villehardouin and Jean de Joinville, edited by Caroline Smith -
5
Seven Myths of the Crusades
edited by Alfred J. Andrea and Andrew Holt
The best books on The Crusades, recommended by Guy Perry
The best books on The Crusades, recommended by Guy Perry
Once seen as a great romantic adventure, the Crusades tend to be viewed now as an early venture in Western imperialism. But, as the Oxford historian Guy Perry explains, there is nothing so simple about them. He chooses five books that get to the complex truth of the Crusades as historical phenomena.
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1
Home in the World: A Memoir
by Amartya Sen -
2
Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy
by Adam Tooze -
3
Good Data: An Optimist's Guide to Our Digital Future
by Sam Gilbert -
4
Vaxxers: The Inside Story of the Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine and the Race Against the Virus
by Catherine Green & Sarah Gilbert -
5
Radical Potter
by Tristram Hunt
The Best Economics Books of 2021, recommended by Diane Coyle
The Best Economics Books of 2021, recommended by Diane Coyle
From the education of a Nobel Prize-winning economist to debates about privacy and the drawbacks of global supply chains, Professor Diane Coyle of Cambridge University’s Bennett Institute for Public Policy chooses the best economics books of 2021. These are highly readable books that also shed important light on the Covid pandemic and the world we live in.