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One of them is Sympathy For The Devil. The Stranglers are in the Top Five too, as are the Strawbs. The best-selling historian and documentary-maker has spent the last three years working on his monumental, all-encompassing new book, \\u2018The World: A Family History\\u2019, much of it hammered out to the sound of very loud music. And he\\u2019s made a playlist to accompany it that connects with this vast human drama \\u2013 Billie Holiday, Billy Bragg, Ava Max and Elvis Costello all in the mix.

He talks here about songwriters who are obsessed with history (Mick Jagger, Leonard Cohen, Dylan, Elton John), global events immortalised in song (\\u201che got an ice pick that made his ears burn\\u201d) and about hangmen and papists, murderous 15th Century Moroccan pirate-queens, the \\u201cunderrated\\u201d Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and the mystery of \\u201cthe great Elmyra\\u201d. It\\u2019s well worth a listen. And do send suggestions for any other great pop songs about history he could include.

Simon\\u2019s playlist for \\u2018The World\\u2019 \\u2026

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0bXOS1k3hGKmfQCmbg21W4?si=CbdtROxeQie0rZyg_KA-SQ&nd=1

Order \\u2018The World\\u2019 here \\u2026

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Simon-Sebag-Montefiore/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ASimon+Sebag+Montefiore

http://www.simonsebagmontefiore.com/

@simonmontefiore

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