Rather than making sourdough through the Covid lockdown, Montefiore managed to write over 1200 pages of world history. This weighty book is broken down into 23 ‘Acts’, underscored by the world’s population at each stage, then further separated into sections focusing on important people and their families. There’s a profusion of sex and violence. Most of it is strategic, as family members climb over each other in pursuit of the ultimate power; some is just a cruel expression of power. There are no boundaries … for either men or women.

Theodora went from headlining a sex show to marrying a Roman emperor. Catherine had her husband strangled so that she and her lover, Potemkin could rule Russia. The book takes the reader from the earliest known historiography; from the Dark Ages to the Enlightenment; from autocracy to democracy, and – seemingly – back again. The book is current: Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is mentioned, although that history is still being written.

It’s best to dip in and out of this book – the sheer volume of names can be overwhelming, particularly as heads of royal houses keep reusing popular names (especially their own). Montefiore has a knack for piquing reader interest, though. One section, dealing with the Roman and Mayan empires, is titled, ‘Star Wars, Pierced Penises, Sex Slaves and Steam Baths’… who wouldn’t want to read on? Montefiore also ends each section with a teaser for the next, so it is difficult not to keep reading. There’s also great insight in the footnotes which accompany the text.

If there’s one criticism, it’s that this book, expansive as it is, has its focus on written history. Oral histories have a long tradition and – crucially – historical validity. To not include them is to elide significant cultural stories. This is especially true of Australian Indigenous history – notably absent in this volume. Consequently, the history of Australia told here lacks a certain depth.

It may be possible, however, to excuse the writer on two fronts. Firstly, it may not have been viable to access oral histories and their verification due to the isolation of the pandemic. Secondly, adding them without adding to the book’s already significant heft would have meant that other stories would need to be excluded. That would have been a very thorny editorial decision. (The other option, of course, would be to just add another one or 200 hundred pages … the already-burdened reader might not have noticed.)

This is great writing – contemporary and humorous rather than dry and dusty – but it is a heavy book, in subject matter as well as weight.

Reviewed by Bob Moore

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