Alex Rutherford is the collective pen name of two writers, Diana Preston and her husband Michael Preston. "Rutherford" is known for the six-book historical fiction series '' Empire of the Moghul''. The Prestons studied at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in history and English respectively. Their research into the building of the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

led them to explore the early history of the dynasty which built it – the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

. Over the years they have also retraced the steps of the Mughals from the

Ferghana Valley The Fergana Valley (also commonly spelled the Ferghana Valley) in Central Asia crosses eastern Uzbekistan, southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Encompassing three former Soviet republics, the valley is ethnically diverse and relation ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

– home to the first Moghul emperor, the boy-king Babur – to Iran and to the blue domes and minarets of

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

in Uzbekistan, across the red deserts to the Oxus River, over the

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

and Afghanistan and down through the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (Urdu: درۂ خیبر; ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by tr ...

to the plains of northern India. ''Empire of the Moghul'' consists of six books which is about the epic rise and fall of one of the world’s most powerful, opulent, and glamorous dynasties across 200 years. Until the series they had done only serious non-fiction, and it was their first attempt at historical fiction. They decided to create a new persona to make a distinction between their earlier writing and this new series. "Rutherford" came from the Nobel Laureate

Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who was a pioneering researcher in both Atomic physics, atomic and nuclear physics. He has been described as "the father of nu ...

, and Alex was chosen as a name that could be male or female.

Books

By Diana and Michael Preston

* '' Paradise in Chains: The Bounty Mutiny and the Founding of Australia'' * '' A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: Explorer, Naturalist, and Buccaneer: The Life of William Dampier'' * ''Taj Mahal: Passion and Genius at the Heart of the Moghul Empire'' * ''A Teardrop on the Cheek of Time: The Story of the Taj Mahal''

By "Alex Rutherford"

* ''Empire of the Moghul: Raiders from the North'' * ''Empire of the Moghul: Brothers at War'' * ''Empire of the Moghul: Ruler of the World'' * ''Empire of the Moghul: The Tainted Throne'' * ''Empire of the Moghul: The Serpent's Tooth''Books , Alex Rutherford , Reviews , Time Out Mumbai
/ref> * ''Empire of the Moghul: Traitors in the Shadows'' * ''Fortune's Soldier'' * ''Fortune's Heir''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutherford, Alex Living people Pseudonymous writers British historical novelists Year of birth missing (living people) Writing duos