Through the marvelous works you are publishing (books and blog on the web side) I’m learning very much about certain parts of the history that were completely unknow to me untill a couple of years ago. I actually had a good school education, in Italy, so I always thought, that my knowledge of the main events in the world history were more or less complete, or, at least, superficially exaustive. Than, some years ago, I began to read your books (The Glass Palace, The Hungry Tide), and I discovered, that what I learnt at school was only a very small part of the real history. I went on reading (In a antique Land, The Calcutta Chromosome), and my interest in your works grew more and more. The last two books – Sea of Poppies and River of Smoke – opened up a new, important, fascinating world for me, where asian and european history came together in a way that no school teacher in west europe ever dared to teach.
The section “Shared Sorrows” you are publishing now on your blog, added some more, really important, material to my sense and understanding of history. I guess that happened also with many other european readers. Thank you again: I will certainly go on reading your books and your blog.
All the best for you and your family
Laura Paoloni
Rome, Italy
(Please excuse my poor English)