Titans of History

The Giants Who Made Our World

By: Simon Sebag Montefiore

Narrated by: Steve West

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Romanovs—and one of our pre-eminent historians and a prizewinning writer—comes an inspiring, horrifying, and accessible collection of short, entertaining, and vivid life stories about the giant characters who have changed the course of world history.

These titans of history—encompassing queens, empresses, and actresses, kings, sultans, and conquerors, as well as prophets, artists, courtesans, psychopaths, and explorers—lived lives of astonishing drama, courage and adventure, debauchery and slaughter, virtue and crime. The subjects range widely throughout time and geography from Buddha and Genghis Khan to Nero and Churchill; from Catherine the Great and Anne Frank to Toussaint l’Ouverture and Martin Luther King; from Mozart to Mao; from Jesus Christ and Shakespeare to Einstein and Elvis. Through these lives, Montefiore recounts the most momentous world events—from ancient times to the Crusades, the Holocaust, and the Gulf Wars.

These are the historical figures that everyone should know and the stories we should never forget.

Critic reviews

“Entertaining and informative. Full of offbeat, fascinating detail.” —Sunday Telegraph

“These sparkling biographical essays include all the usual suspects. . . . It’s a tour of the good, the bad and the ugly.” —Mail on Sunday (U.K.)

“Compulsive reading.” —The Times (London)

“We do not shudder at the depths to which men and women throughout history have sunk, but experience a piquant relish . . . a book that reminds us how thin the veneer of civilisation is.” —The Times

“A survey of great historical figures favours villainy over goodness. . . . A compilation of short biographical profiles . . . catering to our appalled fascination with evil. Monsters outnumber heroes. Stalin, the subject of Montefiore’s superb two-volume biography, is the prototype for many of the maniacal autocrats whose rages and rampages are described here. A strutting parade of psychopathic dictators, warlords, malevolent dwarves. . . . Montefiore finds room for a few gods, one or two secular saints, American founding fathers, Lincoln and Churchill, and a smattering artists and scientists, but their achievements hardly manage to maintain the pretence of civilisation. What excites Montefiore is villainy . . . and he does this with wicked verve.” —The Observer

“Comprehensive, chilling and highly compelling. A first-class chronologically arranged catalogue that engages as it teaches.” —Daily Express

Disagree with some of the author's picks

I enjoyed hearing about the more well-known personages rather than the truly obscure ones.

Too much art compared to science

would like to have had more scientists, inventors, and economic titans and a smaller focus on the arts

Sequencing

Highlights for historical events and figures was interesting …narrator was comfortable to listen to and voice and tone was engaging.

I would love to read the "Good Titans of History"

I would love to read the "Good Titans of History" ... Next time please choose only titans that were "pure, clean and holy" ...

Party line history

The main plus of this book is the number of "titans" covered (though the selection is very questionable). The main minus is, first, the shallowness of each biography and second the completely orthodox viewpoint of each life. Some examples: the Roman emperors Caligula and Nero would, first, not really be titans in anyone's book, and secondly their evils are almost certainly greatly exaggerated (as pointed out by that revisionist Gibbon). The Borgias have been unjustly maligned (perhaps because they were Spaniards in Italy, and have always maintained a close relationship with Spanish interests), most of the aspersion cast against them are just that, and Alexander VI seemed generally a quite good and tolerant Pope, much better than his successors [who got to write the history]. Mohammed is described in the book as a saint (which he was extremely far from, according to the Hadith - he was clearly a brutal warlord). Genghis Khan (who brought a lot of good along with the not-so-good into the world) is, again, pastiched as a villain, while the vast majority of Muslim figures are praised to high heaven. Genghis' conquests would not have been possible without Subutai, who is not mentioned at all.

Moving on, of the US founding fathers, amazingly, Ben Franklin (certainly a giant in a number of domains) is not accorded a biography. Lincoln is given the usual hagiographic treatment. Stalin and Beria (certainly not saints) are tarred with Khruschev's brush (Beria was actually a far more positive figure, and even Stalin was not a cartoon villain). Mussolini, until his disastrous alliance with Hitler was far more benign than such pillars of democracy as Woodrow Wilson and FDR.

JFK is credited with handling the Cuban missile crisis (which his administration caused, thus almost plunging the planet into a nuclear war), while the far more influential (in both good and bad ways) president Nixon is not accorded a bigorgaphy. Mohammed Ali is, though.

Anyway, this is the standard center left tripe - no wonder Sebag Montefiore is a friend of both Prince Charles and David Cameron (two useful idiots).

Verdict: avoid.

Fun romp through history

I have read everything by this author and have never been disappointed. Wonderful capsules of history of all the famous people. Lot of neat information and I’m sure a wealth of information you didn’t know. If you’re a history buff you will like this book.

Short, but well researched.

These short little articles on various politicians, writers, and others are good starting points for research. The author, noted for his works on the USSR has researched these people rather well. Narration needs more work however.

fantastic short stories on historical figures

loved this audiobook. Montefiore is a top scholar and knows how to communicate. FANTASTIC!!!!! RECOMEND

short stories on most well known historical figures makes this large tome very easily digestible this was in my opinion a very well done audiobook.

Surprising Delight

This book is incredible. I wasn’t sure what to think when I read some of the initial reviews. However, I love Simon Sebag Monrefiore, so even if it is a mediocre outing, it will still be good. Well this is delightful. It’s broken up into short chapters of various historical titans throughout history. Some of the picks are very interesting, but that’s what makes it so fun. It’s not at all what you expect. And there isn’t a theme in the picks, which adds further intrigue. Steve West provides exceptional narration and pacing.

The poor pronunciation of the narrator made it difficult to enjoy the brilliant author’s stories

Why cannot the audio company ensure a narrator with sufficient education to be able to pronounce words correctly? He mangles common French phrases