Simon and Rachel speak to Robert Harris, the bestselling historical novelist. Robert worked as a journalist, and wrote several non-fiction books, before his first novel, "Fatherland", which imagines a world in which Germany won the Second World War, was published in 1992. He has subsequently written 15 other novels: including the Cicero Trilogy - "Imperium", "Lustrum" and "Dictator" - "Enigma", "An Officer and a Spy" - which won four prizes including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction - and "Munich". His work has been translated into 40 languages and nine of his books have been adapted for cinema and television. We spoke to Robert about moving from journalism to writing historical fiction, shifting from modern to ancient settings, and about his new novel, "Precipice". “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is published by Ithaka Press. You can order it via Amazon, Bookshop.org, Hatchards or Waterstones. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
No persons identified in this episode.
This episode hasn't been transcribed yet
Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.
Popular episodes get transcribed faster
Other recent transcribed episodes
Transcribed and ready to explore now
#2425 - Ethan Hawke
11 Dec 2025
The Joe Rogan Experience
SpaceX Said to Pursue 2026 IPO
10 Dec 2025
Bloomberg Tech
Don’t Call It a Comeback
10 Dec 2025
Motley Fool Money
Japan Claims AGI, Pentagon Adopts Gemini, and MIT Designs New Medicines
10 Dec 2025
The Daily AI Show
Eric Larsen on the emergence and potential of AI in healthcare
10 Dec 2025
McKinsey on Healthcare
What it will take for AI to scale (energy, compute, talent)
10 Dec 2025
Azeem Azhar's Exponential View