volume “The world. A family history ”signed by the British historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, was published in Romanian by the Three Publishing House. The writing brings to the attention of the readers in Romania its remarkable works.
Author Simon Sebag Montefiore. Photo: Archive
During over 1,300 pages, the author reconstructs the history of the world through the prism of families who have influenced the course of humanity over the millennia. Famous dynasties are presented, known from history textbooks, but also lesser -known families, who have had a major impact on the different regions of the world. Montefiore explores not only the great empires, but also the history of the younger nations in Europe, the African kingdoms and the Asian states.
The work offers a global perspective on history, but, given how wide the subject is, the author was forced to make selections. Montefiore has chosen to include families from the history of Romania.
What was determined to explore the history of Romania? Why do he think the dynasties continue to play a significant role at present? What were the reasons behind writing this volume? Simon Sebag Montefiore answers these questions in an interview with the Historia publication.
Asked about the work behind this volume and how long it took the world to write. A family history, Montefiore replied: “It took me three years to write it, but it is, in reality, the result of decades, a life of books and documents read, of travel. ”
He was still lucky that he could travel everywhere, in most places in the world. “For example, in Romania they come from the 90s, once a few years ago, so I saw major changes here, I saw major changes in many countries. I started going to the Soviet Union in 1983 and I had the opportunity to return and see the fall of the Soviet Union. I was in China, America, Brazil. In many of these places I met with leaders, I met presidents, I was lucky to meet very interesting people and to see interesting things ”, says the author.
Important personalities chosen by Montefiore
So Simon Sebag Montefiore has encountered many important people. “For example, as a reporter, I met Shevarnadze, while I was documenting and writing about the fall of the Soviet Union. I met Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street, I interviewed (I was a teen high at that time). Another person I was lucky to meet was Shimon Perez, almost a friend. There were Kissinger and others ”, he says.
The British historian has visited Romania several times. He talked about the first visit to our country.
“I came here for the first time because I was doing the documentation for the book Ecaterina the Great and Potemkin. Prince Potemkin intended to become the king of Romania, he wanted to turn it into a kingdom called Dacia. But he died, died in Moldova, no one knew where, his body was first taken to Iasi. So I wanted to go to Iasi for this reason, but also about what happened to the Jews and the Pogrom in Iasi. I wanted to go to Transylvania, I wrote about Transylvania ”, Complete Montefiore. There is also a lot of history of Romania in this book, The world. A family history.
The author provided details about the Romanians who are found in his volume The world. A family history.
“We have the Dracul family, this is of course, but we also have the Hohenzollern, Carol I and Carol II, Antonescu and then the ascension of communism. I mean, first of all, about this book that I have really proposed to be a global history, not just about England, France, Russia, America, but, equally, about other countries ”, he says. Simon Sebag Montefiore said that the history of Romanian was most interested in.
Asked about the selection criteria of the characters in his volume, he replied that “Some characters were mandatory. You see, writing a history of the world can be a kind of nightmare, because you always fear you forget someone … “
Moreover, he told a funny event about a moment when he had forgotten to mention such a character:
“Once I woke up at three in the morning and my wife asked me what was happening. I replied that I did not include Jesus in this history of the world. Of course, Christianity was reflected in the book, but somehow, the historical character Jesus had managed to slip outside it. The essence of the book was to write everything. When I got to write about the fourth century, about Constantine the Great, I realized that I had not written about Jesus. (…) ”
Read the continuation of the interview on Historia!
