William Dalrymple
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William Dalrymple is a historian and writer. His interests include Asia, India, the Middle East, the Crusades, Mughal rule as well as the world of Islam and early eastern Christianity. He has written many critically acclaimed and popular books on the above subjects, often as the result of his colourful travels through the regions.
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Life
Dalrymple was born in Scotland in 1967(?). He is married to the artist Olivia Fraser and has three children.
He is a fellow of many prestigious literary and geographical societies, in recognition of his work. His contribution to British popular understanding of culture and history have included numerous television series and a radio show.
Books
His first book, In Xanadu, was the result of his journey across the Asian continent, from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to Xanadu in Outer Mongolia. This was an attempt to retrace Marco Polo's footsteps along the Silk Road, along the Karakorum highway, opened in the late 1980s. The journey was taken on a multitude of types of transport and lasted for over six months. Throughout the journey, Dalrymple investigated the world of the Silk Rode as Polo would have seen it. The book won numerous awards.
This was followed by City of Djinns in 1994. The book was mainly the result of a one year stay in Delhi. Dalrymple attempts to uncover the various layers of both old and new Delhi. He examines the traumatic events of the Partition of India, the 1984 riots after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the ancient Hindu origin of the city, Mughal and British Colonial rule, as well as the Sikh community. The book follows his established style of historical digressions, tied in with contemporary events and a multitude of anecdotes.
His third book From the Holy Mountain (1997) saw him attempt to trace the ties of Eastern Orthodox congregations scattered in the Middle East to their ancient origins. The next book, The Age of Kali (1998), saw him return to the subject of India. The book is a collection of essays collected through almost a decade of travel around the sub-continent. It deals with many controversial subjects such as Sati, the caste wars in India and political corruption and terrorism.
His fifth major book White Mughals (2002) is a novel based on the historical research pertaining to an affair during the time of British colonialism. The affair saw a British dignitary convert to Islam and marry a woman of royal Mughal descent. The work, a fictionalisation based on a true story and complete with the analysis of sources, has won acclaim as both a work of literary and historical merit.
Achievements
- In Xanadu - 1990 Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award; Scottish Arts Council Spring Book Award; shortlisted for John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize
- City of Djinns - 1994 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award and the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year Award
- From the Holy Mountain - Scottish Arts Council Autumn Book Award for 1997; shortlisted for the 1998 Thomas Cook Award, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Duff Cooper Prize.
Beliefs and Opinions
Dalrymple is an active opponent of what he sees as the rise of Islamophobia in the west. He has written articles and spoken in favour of a less extreme, historical approach to the contemporary issues involving Islam. Dalrymple is also a critic of the state of Israel in its dealings with the Palestinians.
External Links
- William Dalrymple's Home Page: http://www.williamdalrymple.uk.com