The World

An exhilarating and novel exploration of human history unfolds from a refreshingly global angle, crafted by a laureate and bestselling historian. Recognized as THE TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR and honored among The Economist's Best Books of the Year, this narrative comes from a master storyteller and internationally acclaimed author. It charts the journey of humanity from its earliest days to the modern era, all told through the central theme of family—a universal bond shared by all humans.The narrative sets off with a family tracing its steps along a beach 950,000 years ago. From this starting point, Montefiore invites us into an epic voyage through history, examining the influential families that have sculpted our world, including the Caesars, Medicis, Incas, Ottomans, and Mughals, as well as the Bonapartes, Habsburgs, Zulus, Rothschilds, Rockefellers, and Krupps, and extending to the Churchills, Kennedys, Castros, Nehrus, Pahlavis, Kenyattas, Saudis, Kims, and Assads.This narrative is enriched by a diverse array of complex figures who are central to the unfolding story. Many among them are renowned leaders such as Alexander the Great, Attila, Ivan the Terrible, Genghis Khan, and others like Hitler, Thatcher, Obama, Putin, and Zelensky. Alongside these figures stand creative titans from various fields—Socrates, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Newton, Mozart, Balzac, Freud, Bowie, and Tim Berners-Lee. There are also lesser-known figures such as Hongwu, the beggar-turned-founder of the Ming dynasty, Kamehameha, the conqueror of Hawaii, Zenobia, an Arab empress who challenged Rome, King Henry of Haiti, Lady Murasaki, a pioneering novelist, and Sayyida al-Hurra, the Moroccan pirate queen.In this sweeping historical journey, we encounter not just conquerors and empresses but also prophets, charlatans, actors, gangsters, artists, scientists, medical practitioners, magnates, lovers, spouses, and children. This expansive world history intimately spans centuries, continents, and cultures, intertwining the monumental themes of war, migration, diseases, religion, medicine, and technology with the individuals at the heart of humanity’s grand narrative. Rich with the allure of fiction, "The World" captures the essence of humankind's story, filled with moments of happiness, sorrow, romance, creativity, and brutality, through a groundbreaking single narrative that redefines the possibilities of historical storytelling.