Reliving history

Conn Iggulden writes one of the greatest rags-to-riches stories in history

Historical fiction writer Conn Iggulden is far from a dusty, desk bound scholar who lives vicariously through the legendary protagonists that drive his plots. Iggulden recounts tales of wearing Roman armour himself so that he could write with authority, and travelling to Mongolia so that he could better understand the landscapes that his heroes conquered.

Even in the impromptu recounting of some of his adventures, the storyteller within grabs hold. Iggulden is fervently passionate about history, in part due to the strong historical connections his family brings with them.

“My mother was a history teacher and always told me stories – usually romanticised stories,  I now realise,” he admits with a laugh. “Plus my father’s ancient, so he was there for some of history. He  really was – he was there for WW2. And my grandfather was born in around 1850, which is far back for two generations by anyone’s standards – he had my father when he was 75 – so in just  a short way, we go back a bit. My grandfather saw Buffalo Bill’s circus when it came to England, so I’ve always had a love of the stories of history.”

There are many burdens for the historical fiction writer – that fact that real life is also filled with “dull” bits and the fact that history often has gaps that need filling are two of the most obvious. But it’s a burden Iggulden willingly bears.

“I have access to some of the greatest stories and some of the most extraordinary characters of history who may or may not exist today. There probably isn’t a similar character to Julius Caesar – they were really unusual beings, and it’s a privilege to be able to write them.”

Iggulden’s latest book, Conqueror, stands out from all of the rest and sees the author end Kublai Khan’s life story in the middle, or “in glory” as he calls it in his author’s note at the back of the book.

“I wrote the end of Genghis Khan and of Julius Caesar, and so when it came to Kublai Khan, I was faced with a life in two parts. To tell that story was great, and to finish on a high. I might know that the second half of his life was filled with tragedy, but he doesn’t know that at this point, and I wanted, for once, to not have the Titanic sink at the end. I wanted it to still be floating and heading away into the future.”

This article first appeared in CitiVibe in The Citizen on Thursday 12 October 2011. Photo courtesy Ben Gold.

Conn Iggulden’s Conqueror (ISBN: 9780007271160) is available now.