WelcomeWelcome to the website of Tom Holland. Tom is an author and historian. His first work of history, Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic, won the Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize. His second, Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West, won the Anglo-Hellenic League's Runciman Award. His new book, Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom is out now, published by Little, Brown. |
Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of ChristendomOf all the civilisations existing in the year 1000, that of Western Europe seemed the unlikeliest candidate for future greatness. Compared to the glittering empires of Byzantium or Islam, the splintered kingdoms on the edge of the Atlantic appeared impoverished, fearful and backward. But the anarchy of these years proved to be, not the portents of the end of the world, as many Christians had dreaded, but rather the birthpangs of a radically new order .
MILLENNIUM is a stunning panoramic account of the two centuries on either side of the apocalyptic year 1000. This was the age of Canute, William the Conqueror and Pope Gregory VII, of Vikings, monks and serfs, of the earliest castles and the invention of knighthood, and of the primal conflict between church and state. The story of how the distinctive culture of Europe - restless, creative and dynamic - was forged from out of the convulsions of these extraordinary times is as fascinating and as momentous as any in history. Read the Preface - click here.
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ReviewsAlan Massie - The Telegraph“Millennium ranges far in both time and space yet always returns to its central theme: the right ordering of Christendom. It is narrative history in the grand manner, written with the panache and confidence we associate with the great historians of the 18th and 19th centuries. Holland's research has been prodigious… It is a marvellous, enthralling read, and gives a lively sense of these turbulent centuries that were so crucial in the making of western civilisation. Read it, and be thrilled, amazed and enlightened.” UpdateThe Truth is Out ThereWednesday, 13 May 2009What happened to the treasures looted by the Romans from the Temple of Jerusalem? What happened to the Ark of the Covenant? What happened to the Holy Grail? I don't know the answer to any of these questions, and I very much doubt that anyone else does as well. |
