Award Hemingway Prize

Order of the British Empire (Commander, 2023)

Royal Astronomical Society (Fellow)

Royal Society of Edinburgh (Corresponding Fellow, 2018)

Royal Society of Literature (Fellow, 1995)

Royal Asiatic Society (Fellow)

Royal Geographical Society (Fellow)

Royal Historical Society (Fellow, 2022)

Royal Geographical Society Mungo Park Medal (2002)

Sir Percy Sykes Memorial Medal (2005)

Wolfson Prize for History (2001)

President's Medal, British Academy (2018)

Duff Cooper Memorial Prize (2007)

Arthur Ross Book Award (Bronze Medal, 2020)

Grierson Award (2002)

Sandford St Martin Prize (2002)

Minerva Medal (2022)

Ryszard Kapuściński Award (2015)

French Prix d'Astrolabe (2005)

Honorary Doctorate, University of St Andrews (2006)

Honorary Doctorate, University of Aberdeen (2008)

Honorary Fellow, Association of Scottish Literature (2024)

Colonel James Tod Award (2008)

Asia House Award for Asian Literature (2010)

Vodafone Crossword Book Award (2007)