Giles Milton is a British writer and historian best known for narrative histories of exploration, conflict and encounters between cultures. Born in Buckinghamshire in 1966, he studied English at the University of Bristol before establishing himself as an internationally bestselling author. His books frequently recover extraordinary individuals from diaries, letters and archival records, using their experiences to illuminate wider episodes in global history.
His best-known works include Nathaniel’s Nutmeg, about the seventeenth-century struggle for control of the spice trade; Samurai William, which recounts the experiences of English navigator William Adams in Japan; and White Gold, an account of European captives in North Africa. Milton has also written about the Second World War and the early Cold War in books such as Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, D-Day: The Soldiers’ Story and Checkmate in Berlin. His work is distinguished by extensive archival research, strong narrative pacing and a focus on individuals caught within major historical events.
