This is a story of trees that ‘talk’ and how a fish learned to walk. This is a story of young men who sacrificed their lives for a country they’d never seen. This is a story of how an idea born in a desert conquered nations. This is the story of how four young men from Liverpool became the most famous musicians in the world. These are mind-bending, extraordinary and at times even improbable stories – but true ones, nonetheless.

For cultural historian and broadcaster Janina Ramirez – who wrote the introduction to Folio’s Beowulf – the rise of AI (in a world where ‘historian’ and ‘writer’ are apparently among the jobs most likely to be replaced) means that historical storytelling is more precious than ever.

‘AI can’t lead you into the minds and worlds of the people of the past,’ she says. ‘Only a historian who’s willing to think broadly and to search through the witnesses of the past can do that. Yes, we have texts – but what about objects, artworks, buildings and landscapes? This is why non-fiction matters so much.

‘It’s a cliché but it’s true that the historical past is often so much more complex and problematic than fiction imagines. You can go back through historical texts and find examples of things that you simply couldn’t make up – but actually happened.’

Who would believe, for example, that a young airman on his first mission would plummet to the ground from four miles up, live to tell the tale, then get sent straight back up again – only to black out and come to his senses in hospital three years later? But their truth is their power – as is the fact that without Miller’s book, these voices would never have been heard.

He has written 11 books, but Masters of the Air is the one that generates the most correspondence – mostly from veterans and their families. ‘Most of them say that the book helped them understand what their fathers went through. Nonetheless, every single person I interviewed would say: “Don’t speak to me. I wasn’t important.” But it’s right that we speak to people and remember these things. To know our world, we have to know ourselves better.’

Great stories aren’t limited to history – or, indeed, humans. In The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs and The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, palaeontologist and evolutionary biologist Steve Brusatte tells the tale of a group of animals over time; how they rose and fell, fought and flourished, survived and perished. You don’t get more dramatic than that. But this is a story that draws directly from the evidence – from fossils, from Brusatte’s own fieldwork and notebooks, from colleagues, papers, textbooks and museums.

So how does a work of non-fiction gain its place in the Folio canon? ‘It has to have authority,’ says Mandy Kirkby, Non-Fiction Publisher at Folio. ‘It needs to be the best on its subject, possibly the most up to date. For example, we’ve introduced modern historians such as Tom Holland and Dan Jones – people who are amazing writers as well as being great historians or scientists. They bring their subjects alive.’ She loves working directly with authors to access their deep expertise – and their desire for perfection. ‘A Folio book is seen as the perfect opportunity for authors to update the text, so we get the best stories available.’

As Peter Frankopan points out, non-fiction plays a vital role in helping us to understand today’s world – and that’s another consideration when Mandy is choosing titles. ‘It’s now sold out, but we published Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism in 2022 – a wonderful book for understanding through history how the age of the strongman comes about. US writer and commentator Anne Applebaum wrote the introduction. It felt like an important book for us to publish at that time and it was a bestseller for us.’

And the best thing about non-fiction? That well of inspiration will never run dry. As long as humans are curious, there will always be new stories to tell, and new ways of telling them. ‘It’s another way of understanding the world we live in – from politics to pop to palaeontology,’ says Mandy. ‘It’s not dry or dusty. It’s the greatest stories, told with incredible verve.’

Words: Lucy Jolin
Footer illustration: from Helen MacDonald's H is for Hawk (Chris Wormell)