Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore in conversation with author Manu S. Pillai on his new book, The World: A Family History

In his new book, The World: A Family History, British historian Simon Sebag Montefiore traces convergences and divergences in world history through individuals and families. The idea itself is simple: It’s the span of world history, with the intimacy and juice of biography. Queen Victoria orchestrated political alliances through royal marriages, but these relationships did not prevent World War I — because people follow the interests of their state more than their family. That’s one of the things about human life: the sheer chaos of many simultaneous, often spontaneous, things happening everywhere around the world.