Storytelling is as old as time and, whether it’s an award-winning epic novel or a page-turning blockbuster, a great book can stay with you throughout your life
Be it biography, history, nature writing or any other form of true story, non-fiction writing is often loaded with just as much suspense and character as the most exciting novel
Tim Harper is Reader in Southeast Asian and Imperial History at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Sunil Amrith is Reader in Modern Asian History at Birkbeck, University of London.