John Stanley Melville Keay FRGS (born 1941) is a British historian, journalist, radio presenter and lecturer specialising in popular histories of India, the Far East and China, often with a particular focus on their colonization and exploration by Europeans. In particular, he is widely seen as a pre-eminent historian of British India. He is known both for stylistic flair and meticulous research into archival primary sources, including centuries-old unpublished sources.
Books in order of publication:
Into India (John Murray 1973)
When Men and Mountains Meet: The Explorers of the Western Himalayas, 1820–75 (John Murray 1977)
The Gilgit Game: The Explorers of the Western Himalayas, 1865–95 (John Murray 1979)
India Discovered: The Achievement of the British Raj (Windward 1981
Eccentric Travellers (John Murray 1982)
Highland Drove (John Murray 1984),
Explorers Extraordinary (John Murray 1985),
The Royal Geographical Society History of World Exploration (Hamlyn 1991), (ed.)
The Honourable Company: A History of the English East India Company (HarperCollins 1991),
The Robinson Book of Exploration (Robinson 1993), (ed.)
Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland (HarperCollins 1994), (ed. with Julia Keay)
Indonesia: From Sabang to Merauke (Textbox Ltd 1995),
Last Post: The End of Empire in the Far East (John Murray 1997),
India: A History. New York City: Grove Press. 2000.
The Great Arc: The Dramatic Tale of How India Was Mapped and Everest Was Named (HarperCollins 2000)
Sowing the Wind: The Seeds of Conflict in the Middle East (John Murray 2003),
The Spice Route: A History (John Murray 2005),
Mad About the Mekong: Exploration and Empire in South East Asia (HarperCollins 2005)
China: A History (HarperCollins 2008)
The London Encyclopaedia, Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert, Julia and John Keay with original photography by Matthew Weinreb, Macmillan Publishers, 3rd Revised edition 2008,
The Tartan Turban: In Search of Alexander Gardner, (Kashi House 2017)
Himālaya: Exploring the Roof of the World, (Bloomsbury Publishing 2022)
Oak Lawn Library Friends 