Historian William Dalrymple had a rarefied childhood on the windswept coast of Scotland. As an adult he fell in love with India, and later discovered his family's own deep ties to the country.

Born into the Scottish aristocracy, William followed his three older brothers and left for boarding school at just 8 years old. While still an university William set off to follow Marco Polo's journey across the width of Asia and he wrote a best-selling book about that adventure.

But after then moving to India, William started to see the many gaps and biases in his understanding of history and ever since he's been working to find the stories and people his education had left out.

William also began uncovering his own family’s connections to India which stretched back generations and eventually a discovery relating to his own father's experience in India as a young man. It seemed to answer the question of why his Dad chose never to go back.

The episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores history, Scotland, North Berwick, Marco Polo's journey to South Asia, India, Delhi, archaeology, witches, family history, aristocracy, partition, history writing, large families, family secrets, the golden road, Palestine, Ampleforth College, Catholic Education, Robbie Burns, travel writing, Scottish history.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

October 9, 2025

Letters from an American

Outro

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