William Dalrymple

Author

William Dalrymple is a Scottish historian and travel writer whose books about India, Afghanistan, and the history of the British Empire have established him as one of the finest narrative historians writing in the English language. His work combines deep scholarly research with vivid storytelling, bringing historical events and figures... to life with novelistic detail and dramatic power. Born in 1965, Dalrymple was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and has lived much of his adult life in India. He is co-founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, which has become the largest literary festival in the world. City of Djinns (1993) was his first book about Delhi, an account of a year spent in the city that won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award. In Xanadu, The Age of Kali, and From the Holy Mountain explored travel and history across Asia and the Middle East. White Mughals (2002), The Last Mughal (2006), and Return of a King (2012) formed a loose trilogy exploring the encounters between the British and the Mughal Empire in India, each based on years of archival research in multiple languages. The Anarchy (2019) was his most ambitious and acclaimed work — the story of how the East India Company, a private commercial enterprise, conquered and subjugated the Indian subcontinent. The book was a global bestseller and won the Wolfson History Prize. The Golden Road (2024) explored the spread of Indian culture and ideas across Asia over two millennia. Dalrymple writes history with the pace and vivacity of a thriller, and his deep engagement with Indian culture, language, and archives gives his work an authority and emotional depth that is rare in writing about empire. The audiobook editions of Dalrymple's books are outstanding, with narrators matching the sweep and storytelling power of his prose. His books and audiobooks are essential for anyone interested in history, empire, India, and the art of narrative non-fiction at its very best. Read more Show less