John Julius Norwich and his passion for writing
English historian and travel writer talks about his inspiration and books
John Julius Norwich, an English historian and travel writer, answers questions from Gulf News.
Q: What inspired you to write?
“The monuments of Norman Sicily.”
Q: Which is the one book that changed your life?
“Robert Byron, The Byzantine Achievement.”
Q: What’s the one phrase from a book you read, that stands out in your memory?
“Don’t look at buildings ... watch them.” — John Ruskin
Q: Is there any author who has greatly inspired you?
“Patrick Leigh Fermor.”
Q: Which 10 books would you recommend that everyone read?
“Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
War and Peace by Tolstoy
Middlemarch by George Eliot
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor
Between the Woods and the Water by Patrick Leigh Fermor
The Plays of Shakespeare; Napoleon by Andrew Roberts
The Oxford Book of English Verse; The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Barchester Novels by Anthony Trollope.”
— The author will be a part of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2016, which will be held in Dubai from March 1 - 12.
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