EXCLUSIVE: Author and historian Simon Sebag Montefiore’s The World: A Family History is being developed as a TV project by The History Channel.
If greenlit, the series, which is being developed as a documentary series, will be produced by Karga Seven Pictures, examining world history through the lens of family dynasties like the Borgias, the Tudors, the Romanovs, the Khans and more.
Published this year, celebrated historian Montefiore’s novel takes the reader through families that have shaped the world, with others including the Caesars, Rothschilds and Rockefellers.
A+E Networks’ The History Channel has optioned the book as a development approach to a potential series.
Other Montefiore novels include The Romanovs and Montefiore appeared as a talking head in Netflix docu-drama The Last Czars on the topic.
He said he had “dreamed of making an epic series to match [The World: A Family History‘s] ambition” when he started writing the book. “From the start, The History Channel loved the idea and embraced my vision with enthusiasm,” he added.
Eli Lehrer, the channel’s Executive Vice President and Head of Programing, added: “In the book, Simon takes a novel approach to history with exploring ruling families and their power and leadership across thousands of years.”
