John Julius Norwich Audio & Video

John Julius Norwich - called a "true master of narrative history" by Simon Sebag Montefiore - returns with the book he has spent his distinguished career wanting to write, A History of France, a portrait of the past two centuries of the country he loves best.

Sicily, said Goethe, is the key to everything. It is the largest island in the Mediterranean, the stepping-stone between Europe and Africa, the link between the Latin West and the Greek East.

John Julius Norwich has crafted a big, bold tapestry of the early 16th century, when Europe and the Middle East were overshadowed by a quartet of legendary rulers, all born within a 10-year period: Francis I of France, the personification of the Renaissance, who became a highly influential patron of the arts and education.

This lively and dramatic book brings roaring to life the grand sweep of 5,000 years of history in the cradle of civilization.

William Shakespeare may have been the greatest playwright in the English language, but how does he measure up as a historian?

Pope Pius XII (1939-58) has been described as "the most dangerous cleric in modern history". He was silent -- his critics argue -- and did nothing during the Holocaust to help the Jews.

With the papacy embattled in recent years, it is essential to have the perspective of one of the world's most accomplished historians....