Alex is writing a series of book about the rise of the Moghul empire that flourished in the Indian subcontinent from the 16th to the 19th centuries. This first books charts the rise of the first emperor Babur who was born the heir to a minor kingdom but claimed descent from both Timur and and Ghengis Khan and who longed to live up to the legacy of his ancestors.
One of the problems of historical fiction, particularly about a period that is not particularly well known is that there is a danger that readers will mistake fiction for fact. Thank fully Rutherford includes a historical footnote which fills the reader in and it appears that his inventions are mostly limited to those areas that are not covered by known history. Babur himself was actually an enthusiastic diarist so there is a lot of source material for this first novel.
An enjoyable read that opened my eyes to a period of history I previously knew nothing about.
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
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