5 essential narrative histories

Not so long ago narrative history was on the way out. Academic historians, ever more specialised, looked set for a solipsistic future writing only for colleagues ploughing the same narrow field. Yet the commercial and critical success of the likes of Antony Beevor, Simon Sebag Montefiore and Amanda Foreman (none of whom is a member of the academy), has demonstrated the continuing desire among the public for serious but accessible history. Here are five outstanding examples of the narrative historian’s art:

1) John Darwin, After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires 1400-2000 (Penguin, 2008)

Asia is given equal footing with Europe in this timely, anti-whiggish account, which begins in 1399 as Tamerlane, the scourge of the Eurasian steppe, conquers Baghdad: 90,000 heads of his victims adorn the city’s towers. But it is not all violence. On the same trail of conquest Tamerlane is greeted on the outskirts of Damascus by the Arab philosopher Ibn Khaldun and they engage in erudition and mutual admiration.