In this edition of Charlie Higson's Summer Reading History Book Club, he looks at the history between England and India.

Before the East India Company and before the British Empire, England was an unimportant backwater. Seeking better fortunes, 16th and 17th century merchants ventured to the empire of the mighty Mughals, attempting to sell coarse woollen broadcloth that nobody really wanted.

It was a land ruled from the palatial towers by women – the formidable Empress Nur Jahan Begim, the enterprising Queen Mother Maryam al-Zamani, and the intrepid Princess Jahanara Begim. Their collision of worlds helped connect East and West, launching a tempestuous period of globalisation spanning from the Chinese opium trade to the slave trade in the Americas.

Joining Charlie to explain this fascinating story is Dr Lubaaba Al-Azami, whose book 'Travellers in the Golden Realm' traces the origins of a relationship between two nations – one outsider and one superpower – whose cultures remain inextricably linked to this day.

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