Jerry Brotton is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London. He is a bestselling and award-winning writer of ten books that to date have been translated into over twenty languages. He is the author of TRADING TERRITORIES: Mapping the Early Modern World (Reaktion, 1997, revised edition, 2019), GLOBAL INTERESTS: Renaissance Art between East and West (with Lisa Jardine, Reaktion, 2000). His acclaimed book THE RENAISSANCE BAZAAR (Oxford, 2002) sold over 10,000 copies worldwide, and THE RENAISSANCE: A Very Short Introduction (2006) has sold over 20,000 copies and been translated into seven languages. GREAT MAPS (Dorling Kindersley, 2015) has been translated into nine languages. THE SALE OF THE LATE KING'S GOODS: Charles I and his Art Collection (Pan Macmillan, 2006, revised edition, 2018), was short-listed for the Samuel Johnson and Hessell Tiltman prizes and led to his short-listing as the THES’s Young Academic Author of the Year.
He is a regular broadcaster, critic and feature writer, contributing regularly to the New York Times, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and many other international publications. He wrote and presented BBC Radio 3’s 'Courting the East' (2007), BBC4’s three-part television series, 'Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession' (2010), BBC Northern Ireland’s television documentary 'Mapping Ulster' (2013), Radio 3’s Venice Ghetto (2015), and The Music of the Spheres (2019), BBC World Service’s 'A Tempest in Rio' (2016) and 'Voices from the Amazon' (2018), Radio 4’s 'Shakespeare: Lord of Misrule' (2017), and 'In Search of El Dorado' (2018). He co-curated and wrote the catalogue of ‘Penelope’s Labour: Weaving Words and Images‘, an exhibition held at the Venice Biennale of 2011. With Nick Millea he wrote TALKING MAPS and 50 MAPS (Bodleian Publishing, 2019) and co-curated the Bodleian Library’s related exhibition, ‘Talking Maps’ (summer 2019-spring 2020).
His bestselling A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 12 MAPS (2012) was published to critical acclaim as a ‘brilliant exercise in global history’ (The Independent). It was shortlisted for the PEN Hessell Tiltman Prize as well as wining best non-fiction book in Austria (2013) and was a New York Times bestseller and to date has been translated into twelve languages. THIS ORIENT ISLE: Elizabethan England and the Islamic World (2016) was winner of the Historical Writer’s Association Crown (2017), a Radio 4 Book of the Week, a Waterstone’s non-fiction Book of the Year and shortlisted for the PEN Hessell Tiltman Prize (2017). It was the subject of a BBC Radio 4 ‘Long View’ (2016) and is being translated into Arabic and Turkish.
He is a regular broadcaster, critic and feature writer, contributing regularly to the New York Times, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and many other international publications. He wrote and presented BBC Radio 3’s 'Courting the East' (2007), BBC4’s three-part television series, 'Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession' (2010), BBC Northern Ireland’s television documentary 'Mapping Ulster' (2013), Radio 3’s Venice Ghetto (2015), and The Music of the Spheres (2019), BBC World Service’s 'A Tempest in Rio' (2016) and 'Voices from the Amazon' (2018), Radio 4’s 'Shakespeare: Lord of Misrule' (2017), and 'In Search of El Dorado' (2018). He co-curated and wrote the catalogue of ‘Penelope’s Labour: Weaving Words and Images‘, an exhibition held at the Venice Biennale of 2011. With Nick Millea he wrote TALKING MAPS and 50 MAPS (Bodleian Publishing, 2019) and co-curated the Bodleian Library’s related exhibition, ‘Talking Maps’ (summer 2019-spring 2020).
His bestselling A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 12 MAPS (2012) was published to critical acclaim as a ‘brilliant exercise in global history’ (The Independent). It was shortlisted for the PEN Hessell Tiltman Prize as well as wining best non-fiction book in Austria (2013) and was a New York Times bestseller and to date has been translated into twelve languages. THIS ORIENT ISLE: Elizabethan England and the Islamic World (2016) was winner of the Historical Writer’s Association Crown (2017), a Radio 4 Book of the Week, a Waterstone’s non-fiction Book of the Year and shortlisted for the PEN Hessell Tiltman Prize (2017). It was the subject of a BBC Radio 4 ‘Long View’ (2016) and is being translated into Arabic and Turkish.
