Simon Montefiore

London

Author and Contributor at Freelance

Historian. Jerusalem: a History of the MiddleEast.The World:a Family HIstory. StalinRedTsar. YgStalin. TheRomanovs. CatherinetheGreat. Novels:the Moscow Trilogy

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Articles

Every school should teach the true story of the first and last king of Haiti

Mar 7, 2025 | thetimes.com | Simon Montefiore
„Całą rodzinę spotkał ten sam los co jej głowę”. Co się stało z ciałami cara Mikołaja II, jego żony i dzieci?

Feb 8, 2025 | ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl | Simon Montefiore

Po dziesięciu minutach krwawej łaźni Jurowski sprawdził, czy wszystkie ofiary nie żyją, po czym rozkazał „ludziom, żeby zaczęli wynosić ciała”. Kiedy wrzucali je do ciężarówki, buldog Tatiany Ortino zbiegł po schodach, ale jeden z żołnierzy przebił go bagnetem. Jurowski wszedł chwiejnie do biura i położył się na kanapie, nakrywając głowę zimną chustką.
Do trzech razy sztuka? Pierwszy car z dynastii Romanowów nie miał szczęścia do kobiet...

Jan 29, 2025 | ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl | Simon Montefiore

Tuż przed Bożym Narodzeniem 1615 roku na Kreml przybyły panny, z których Michał wybrał Marię Chłopową, pochodzącą ze średniej szlachty. Zmieniwszy imię na Anastazja i otrzymawszy wyższy w hierarchii tytuł carycy, wraz ze swoją babką i ciotką zamieszkała na najwyższym piętrze Pałacu Teremnego, a jej wuj Gawrił Chłopow dołączył do carskiej świty. Nowi przybysze stanowili zagrożenie dla najpotężniejszych dworzan.
After 25 years, Putin faces the trap of succession

Jan 8, 2025 | platformraam.nl | Simon Montefiore

On New Year's Eve 1999, the Russian President Boris Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin as his successor. 'Take care of Russia', Yeltsin said to the obscure young bureaucrat. A quarter of a century later, on New Year's Eve 2024, the British historian Simon Sebag Montefiore reflects on Putin’s 25 years as dictator of Russia. RAAM publishes an article version of his essay, originally published on X.
The Deep Roots of Irish Antisemitism

Dec 17, 2024 | thefp.com | Simon Montefiore

On Monday, the Israeli government announced that it was making the “tough decision” to close its embassy in Ireland. Explaining the move, Israel’s ambassador to the country, Dana Erlich said Ireland has taken “a more extreme stance than any other country” against Israel.
A Cold Shoulder for the Assads in Moscow

Dec 13, 2024 | airmail.news | Simon Montefiore

The rise and fall of the House of Assad is the story of Syria and the Arab world over the past century. At its most fundamental it is about a family and power. At its height, the Assads resembled a royal family, courted by American and British leaders, praised for their wisdom, authenticity, anti-Western radicalism and glamour by Western academics, activists and progressives — and even Vogue magazine.
Why are so many dictators like Bashar al-Assad qualified as doctors?

Dec 9, 2024 | standard.co.uk | Simon Montefiore

Syrian nationals who fled to the UK since the civil war began in 2011 have said they are planning to return home, while jubilant demonstrators gathered in Piccadilly Circus, central London last weekend to celebrate the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, chanting and waving Syrian flags. The Assad regime was notorious for its extreme cruelty and routine use of torture and state killing, as well as its savage attempts to suppress campaigners for democracy and freedom.
From a palace to a dacha: the Assads in Moscow

Dec 9, 2024 | thetimes.com | Simon Montefiore

The rise and fall of the House of Assad is the story of Syria and the Arab world over the past century. At its most fundamental it is about a family and power. At its height, the Assads resembled a royal family, courted by American and British leaders, praised for their wisdom, authenticity, anti-western radicalism and glamour by western academics, activists and progressives — and even Vogue magazine.
Simon Sebag Montefiore: After Assad

Dec 8, 2024 | thefp.com | Simon Montefiore

In Qardaha, in the Alawite lands of Latakia on the Mediterranean, stands the sumptuous and pristine marble mausoleum worthy of an Arab monarch. It is here the founder of the brutal Assad dynasty, Hafez al-Assad, is buried in magnificence. Assad was not the original family name. Hafez’s father was a powerful character known as Ali Sulayman al-Wahhish—the al-Wahhish meaning the wild beast—for his strength. He had eleven children; Hafez was his ninth child.
Augustus the Strong — artistic maestro and unscrupulous political failure

Oct 28, 2024 | ft.com | Simon Montefiore

“God forgive me,” said Augustus the Strong, elector of Saxony and king of Poland, as he lay dying, “my entire life was one sin.” Augustus...