History Uncensored: William Dalrymple – “I’d Love To Teach The History of Palestine To Donald Trump”

Podcast: History Uncensored
Host: Wake Up Productions (Bianca Nobilo)
Guest: William Dalrymple
Date: February 16, 2026
Theme: Peeling back history’s tangled layers to reveal the surprises, myths, and forgotten truths shaping our present, with a focus on the historian’s craft, empire, India, and the urgent need for honest histories—in particular, that of Palestine.

Episode Overview

Historian and acclaimed author William Dalrymple joins Bianca Nobilo to discuss the formative influences behind his fascination with history, the surprising reality of British colonialism, and the importance—and peril—of writing an objective history of Palestine. The conversation delves into how historical narratives become distorted, why empires leave persistent amnesia, and the rich, often overlooked legacies of India. Dalrymple’s characteristic wit, self-deprecation, and commitment to clarity guide an exploration that is both erudite and deeply personal.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins: The Personal is Historical

• Childhood Fascination
  • Dalrymple’s lifelong fascination was visible in early school notebooks:

    “I want to be an author and archaeologist” (03:54)

  • Stories of digging at Neolithic and Viking sites as a youth; family holidays defined by curiosity for ‘ancient stuff.’
• Family Influences and Biases
  • Both Dalrymple and Nobilo reflect on the impact of multicultural family backgrounds on their comfort with complexity and contradiction in history.
• Surprise Crushes: From Skepticism to Love of India
  • Dalrymple initially resisted India due to a brother’s radical transformation but was won over by an unplanned trip:

    “India weaved its magic and cast its spell pretty quickly... It was the absolute sort of, you know, Damascus moment.” (11:19)

2. Becoming a Travel Writer & Historian

• Early writing consisted of letters home, chronicling his travels in India (11:42).
• First major project retraced Marco Polo’s journey, culminating in his debut book “In Xanadu” (13:21).
• Dalrymple now views this early work with a blend of affection and embarrassment, acknowledging its naive prejudices:

  “It’s slightly like, it’s very odd feeling…like coming across a particularly sort of boisterous nephew that you disapprove of and want to sort of slap but, but also sort of very fond of.” (14:35)

3. The Historian’s Process: Research & Writing Spaces

• Story of the “other woman” in his marriage—a beloved but feisty cockatoo named Albinia (16:25–18:08).
• Describes a five-year rhythm: first year overlaps current book tour, second year dives into focused archival work (18:08).
• Current project: a history of the Palestinians (19:11), spurred by a deep need to clarify deliberate distortions and fill a gaping hole in English-language scholarship, even at the risk of his career.

4. Palestine: The Urgent Need for Truthful Histories

• Debunks claims Palestinians are recent arrivals, tracing the name and peoples of Palestine back to Ancient Egypt, Assyria, Herodotus:

  “The name Palestine is…far older than almost any place name in Europe…as old as literacy itself.” (19:53)

• On the historian's moral obligation:

  “To establish these truths…there’s a crying need at this particular moment, in the middle of the genocide moment in Gaza…” (22:18)

• Revelations: Palestine’s population remained majority Christian until after the Crusades (23:50).

5. Empire, Amnesia, and British Education

• The British Empire's history as told in the UK is willfully incomplete:

  “I would just begin teaching it at all... Most of British imperial history is not taught at all.” (33:15)

• The East India Company as the world’s first corporate superpower—describing its reach, influence, and role in precipitating the American Revolution (26:27–31:30).
• Emphasizes the sanitized, patriotic myths and the active resistance among the British right to more complicated truths about empire (34:43).

6. India’s Forgotten Soft Power: The Golden Road

• Dalrymple illuminates India’s massive contributions to civilization—trade, mathematics, ideas, faiths—overlooked compared to China (40:15).
• The “Indosphere” spread Buddhism and Hinduism eastward, not through empire but via “the sophistication of their ideas...not a sword is unsheathed, not an arrow is fired” (41:39).
• Traces the migration of ideas—how zero, algorithms, and mathematics traversed from India via the Arab world to Renaissance Italy, fueling Western advances (44:14–46:55).

  “Just five leaps gets you from the idea beginning in 4th century India to Renaissance Italy. It’s very neat.” (47:47)

7. Religious Cross-Pollination & Women in Power

• Early Christian traditions in India—St. Thomas legend and plausibility, but debunks the story of Jesus in Kashmir as “bollocks” (48:39–49:00).
• Highlights the formidable Chinese Empress Wu Zetian, who made Buddhism China’s state faith, as a history-shaping woman—fascinating but terrifying dinner guest (50:22–53:17).

8. Lightning Round: Reflections on Timeliness, Influence, and Legacies

• Most important lesson for a world leader:

  “The history of Palestine...to Donald Trump.” (55:27)

• Most consequential events: Brexit for Britain; the Internet globally (55:35)
• Most inspiring person: Mahatma Gandhi and non-violence (55:04)
• Most underrated empire: The Ottomans, perpetually dismissed as “permanently in decline” (56:12)
• Biggest historical conspiracy with a grain of truth: “I think it’s very likely that aliens exist...Area 51.” (57:11)
• Essential reading: The Fall of Constantinople, 1453 by Sir Steven Runciman (58:22)
• Optimistic or pessimistic?

  "It's all out there. The human history is rich in its variety." (58:33)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the urge to write the history of Palestine:

  “It may well be a career ending exercise, but I think it's one that is really important...I’m having the most wonderful time at the moment. I’m deep in Umayyad history...” (22:18)

• On the distortion of empire:

  “...there is now even active resistance on the right...the idea that you can be an unpatriotic historian by writing about this has now been sort of touted at Tory conferences...” (34:43)

• On critical history’s role:

  “That's the point of education…to teach you to think critically and not accept the nonsense you were brought up with anywhere in the world.” (39:13)

• On the legacy of numbers and ideas:

  “We’ve totally forgotten...these are numbers devised by Indians in the 3rd and 4th century AD...Once you've got zero, you can have binary, you can have algorithm, you can have algebra...” (44:14–46:55)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:08 – Dalrymple’s origins and family background
• 06:52 – First journey to India and formative travel
• 13:21 – Retracing Marco Polo’s journey
• 18:08 – The writing process and research routines
• 19:11 – New project: The history of the Palestinians
• 22:18 – On the moral act of history and truth-telling
• 26:27 – The Anarchy: How a corporation conquered India
• 31:30 – East India Company and the American Revolution
• 33:15 – How empire is (not) taught in Britain
• 40:15 – India’s forgotten civilizational strengths: trade, math, religion
• 44:14 – Zero, algebra, and the spread of ideas
• 48:39 – Christianity and interfaith connections in India
• 50:22 – On Wu Zetian, the only female Chinese emperor
• 53:42 – Lightning round: Time periods, lessons, empires, legacies
• 55:27 – Most important lesson for world leaders
• 57:11 – Conspiracy theories: aliens and Area 51
• 58:22 – Essential history book
• 58:33 – History: optimism vs. pessimism
• 59:08 – On the uncertain endurance of historical legacy

Conclusion

This episode is a rich, fast-flowing conversation about peeling away the myths, prejudices, and silences surrounding imperial history, with both humor and scholarly depth. Dalrymple emerges as a historian motivated by both the joys of discovery and the ethical drive to tell truth even when it’s uncomfortable—a conviction that feels urgent against the backdrop of current conflicts and persistent denials. The dialogue is accessible, witty, and deeply grounded in lived experience, offering both the curious lay listener and the seasoned history buff plenty of rabbit holes to tumble down.

Most Memorable Line:
“If I could teach one historical lesson to a world leader—I’d choose the history of Palestine to Donald Trump.” – William Dalrymple (55:27)