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Tom Holland's Top Book Recommendations

Want to know what books Tom Holland recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Tom Holland's favorite book recommendations of all time.

1

The Roman Triumph

Listen to a short interview with Mary BeardHost: Chris Gondek - Producer: Heron & Crane

It followed every major military victory in ancient Rome: the successful general drove through the streets to the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill; behind him streamed his raucous soldiers; in front were his most glamorous prisoners, as well as the booty he'd captured, from enemy ships and precious statues to plants and animals from the conquered territory. Occasionally there was so much on display that the show lasted two or three days.

A radical reexamination of this...
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Recommended by Tom Holland, and 1 others.

Tom HollandThere is also a deep pleasure in looking at some of the things that we think we know about Rome, or the myths that we know are not actually true, taking the mystery to pieces and examining the works and seeing what is there. This is what Mary Beard does in her book…It is like paint stripping – she strips layer after layer after layer away and the mystery and the excitement of the book is... (Source)

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2

The Roman Revolution

The Roman Revolution is a profound and unconventional treatment of a great theme - the fall of the Republic and the decline of freedom in Rome between 60 BC and AD 14, and the rise to power of the greatest of the Roman Emperors, Augustus. The transformation of state and society, the violent transference of power and property, and the establishment of Augustus' rule are presented in an unconventional narrative, which quotes from ancient evidence, refers seldomly to modern authorities, and states controversial opinions quite openly. The result is a book which is both fresh and compelling. less
Recommended by Tom Holland, and 1 others.

Tom HollandThis…is an absolute classic which is completely informed by Tacitus. It has that very mordant take on the way that power works and operates. (Source)

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3

The Twelve Caesars

As private secretary to the Emperor Hadrian, Suetonius gained access to the imperial archives and used them (along with eye-witness accounts) to produce one of the most colorful biographical works in history. The Twelve Caesars chronicles the public careers and private lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome, from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar and Augustus, to the decline into depravity and civil war under Nero, and the recovery that came with his successors. A masterpiece of anecdote, wry observation and detailed physical description, The Twelve... more
Recommended by Tom Holland, and 1 others.

Tom HollandIt really had a crucial sense of shaping our understanding of Imperial Rome as a place of savagery, sexual depravity and brutal, bawdy splendour. (Source)

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4
Edward Gibbon's six-volume History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-88) is among the most magnificent and ambitious narratives in European literature. Its subject is the fate of one of the world's greatest civilizations over thirteen centuries - its rulers, wars, and society, and the events that led to its disastrous collapse. Here, in book one and two, Gibbon charts the vast extent and constitution of the Empire from the reign of Augustus to 395 AD. And in a controversial critique, he examines the early Church, with fascinating accounts of the first Christian and last... more
Recommended by Tom Holland, Diarmaid MacCulloch, and 2 others.

Tom HollandIt takes Tacitus as its model, who was famous for his waspish style, and a careful balancing and modulating of the sentences so that irony would be generated. This is what Gibbon does as well, and it means that not only is it an incredible work of scholarship but it is also compulsively entertaining. I really think that anyone who is prepared to give it a chance will find themselves smiling at... (Source)

Diarmaid MacCullochIt’s a formidable task to read it, but it’s very readable, because although Gibbon was humourless about himself, he has a tremendous sense of humour about the rest of the world. (Source)

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5
An ALA Notable Book
A New York Times Notable Book

In Blood Rites, Barbara Ehrenreich confronts the mystery of the human attraction to violence: What draws our species to war and even makes us see it as a kind of sacred undertaking? Blood Rites takes us on an original journey from the elaborate human sacrifices of the ancient world to the carnage and holocaust of twentieth-century "total war." Sifting through the fragile records of prehistory, Ehrenreich discovers the wellspring of war in an unexpected place--not in a "killer instinct" unique to the males of our species...
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Recommended by Tom Holland, and 1 others.

Tom HollandBarbara Ehrenreich's book Blood Rites was brilliant on how being simultaneously prey and predator for so long might have affected humanity, even into the present. (Source)

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6
Recommended by Tom Holland, and 1 others.

Tom HollandI curl up with @perlineamvalli’s new book, The Secret History Of The Roman Roads Of Britain: a study of their prehistory & their afterlife. It looks absolutely fascinating. (Source)

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7
An exploration of how the Greeks reacted to and interacted with India from the third to first centuries BCE

When the Greeks and Macedonians in Alexander's army reached India in 326 BCE, they entered a new and strange world. They knew a few legends and travelers' tales, but their categories of thought were inadequate to encompass what they witnessed. The plants were unrecognizable, their properties unknown. The customs of the people were various and puzzling. While Alexander's conquest was brief, ending with his death in 323 BCE, the Greeks would settle in the Indian region...
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Recommended by Tom Holland, and 1 others.

Tom HollandI curl up with Richard Stoneman's new book, The Greek Experience of India: From Alexander to the Indo-Greeks. Impossible to love Herodotus & India both, & not find this theme an infinitely fascinating one... (Source)

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8
It was a commonly expressed view during the First World War that the conflict had seen a major revival of "superstitious" beliefs and practices.

Churches expressed concerns about the wearing of talismans and amulets, the international press paid considerable interest to the pronouncements of astrologers and prophets, and the authorities in several countries periodically clamped down on fortune tellers and mediums due to concerns over their effect on public morale. Out on the battlefields, soldiers of all nations sought to protect themselves through magical and religious rituals,...
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Recommended by Tom Holland, and 1 others.

Tom HollandFrom @odavies9's fascinating new book on weird shit in the First World War, A Supernatural War. (Source)

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9
Magic, sorcery and witchcraft are among the most common themes of the great medieval Icelandic sagas and poems, the problematic yet vital sources that provide our primary textual evidence for the Viking Age that they claim to describe. Yet despite the consistency of this picture, surprisingly little archaeological or historical research has been done to explore what this may really have meant to the men and women of the time. This book examines the evidence for Old Norse sorcery, looking at its meaning and function, practice and practitioners, and the complicated constructions of gender and... more
Recommended by Tom Holland, Diane Purkiss, and 2 others.

Tom Holland@Ziyad_F It’s a fantastic book. Wonderfully written, full of jaw-dropping material. (Source)

Diane PurkissEverybody’s been waiting with bated breath for the second edition to appear, because for about ten years it was one of the most sought-after books on secondhand book sites. And it’s been revised, too. Why I’m glued to it is because I think Neil Price does a fantastic job of explaining to a modern, post-Enlightenment person what is a very strange series of cultures. He particularly focuses on the... (Source)

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10
Digging Up Britain traces the history of Britain through key discoveries and excavations. With British archaeologist Mike Pitts as a guide, this book covers the most exciting excavations of the past ten years, gathers firsthand stories from the people who dug up the remains, and follows the latest revelations as one twist leads to another.


Britain, a historically crowded place, has been the site of an unprecedented number of discoveries—almost everywhere the ground is broken, archaeologists find evidence that people have been there before. These discoveries...
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Recommended by Tom Holland, and 1 others.

Tom HollandA fascinating chapter in @pittsmike’s truly excellent book on recent archaeological discoveries, Digging Up Britain, on Gough’s Cave, concludes on a very Turner Prize note: “making ‘art’ could be an integral part of cutting up and eating people.” (Source)

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Don't have time to read Tom Holland's favorite books? Read Shortform summaries.

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  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
11
The Northumbrians have been overlooked by British and global history, but they've made astonishing contributions to both. Dan Jackson sets out to recover this lost history, exploring the deep roots of Northumbrian culture-hard work and heavy drinking, sociability and sentimentality, militarism and masculinity-through centuries of border warfare and dangerous industry. He explains what we can learn about Northumbria's people from its landscape and architecture, and revisits the Northumbrian Enlightenment that gave the world the locomotive and the lightbulb. This story reaches right to the... more
Recommended by Tom Holland, and 1 others.

Tom HollandI finish @northumbriana’s The Northumbrians: North East England & Its People, which is a wonderful book: full of amazing detail, wise, humane & balanced. Often hilarious, often upsetting; in love with its subject, but never blind to its problems. I can’t recommend it enough. (Source)

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12

The Moon

A History for the Future

An intimate portrait of the Earth's closest neighbor--the Moon--that explores the history and future of humankind's relationship with it

Every generation has looked towards the heavens and wondered at the beauty of the Moon. Fifty years ago, a few Americans became the first to do the reverse--and shared with Earth-bound audiences the view of their own planet hanging in the sky instead.
Recently, the connection has been discovered to be even closer: a fragment of the Earth's surface was found embedded in a rock brought back from the Moon. And astronauts are preparing to...
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Recommended by Tom Holland, Barbara Kiser, and 2 others.

Tom HollandI finish @Eaterofsun’s The #Moon: A History For The Future. It is probably the best book on astronomy I have ever read. Brilliant on the interface between hard science & the imagination. I learnt so much. It’s also wonderfully written. #Recommended. (Source)

Barbara KiserThe writing ever edges into the poetic; it’s just a constant pleasure. At a time when many are eyeing up that dusty expanse again for what Morton calls the Return, this book steps back, deftly explaining the science on our satellite and its cultural niche in the charged space between the once and future Moons. (Source)

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13
The Dead must stay buried.

Karthia is nothing like it used to be. The kingdom's borders are open for the first time in nearly three hundred years, and raising the dead has been outlawed. Odessa is determined to explore the world beyond Karthia's waters, hoping to heal a heart broken in more ways than she can count. But with Meredy joining the ocean voyage, vanquishing her sorrow will be a difficult task.

Despite the daily reminder of the history they share, Odessa and Meredy are fascinated when their journey takes them to a land where the Dead rule the night and...
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Recommended by Tom Holland, and 1 others.

Tom HollandOne of the most upsetting passages of prose I have ever read was by @DavidQuammen in his great book The Song Of The Dead, & deals with exactly this theme: the death of the last survivor of a species. https://t.co/OyNUTeNphE (Source)

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14

Pagans and Christians

Fox recreates the period from the 2nd to the 4th century, when the Olympians lost their dominion & Christianity, with Constantine's conversion, triumphed in the Mediterranean world.
List of Maps
Preface
Pagans & Christians
Pagans & their cities
Pagan cults
Seeing the gods
Language of the gods
The spread of Christianity
Living like angels
Visions & prophecy
Persecution & martyrdom
Bishops & authority
Sinners & saints
Constantine & the church
From pagan to Christian
Notes
Index
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Recommended by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Tom Holland, and 2 others.

Tom HollandWe tend not to think of Christianity as being an expression of Roman civilisation but in so many ways it is, even though it radically transformed the empire. Robin Lane Fox’s book is the best modern account that I can think of which will give people the sense of how this remarkable revolution took place. (Source)

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15
A historian of fascism offers a guide for surviving and resisting America’s turn towards authoritarianism.

On November 9th, millions of Americans woke up to the impossible: the election of Donald Trump as president. Against all predictions, one of the most-disliked presidential candidates in history had swept the electoral college, elevating a man with open contempt for democratic norms and institutions to the height of power.

Timothy Snyder is one of the most celebrated historians of the Holocaust. In his books Bloodlands and Black Earth, he has carefully...
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George SaundersPlease read this book. So smart, so timely. (Source)

Tom Holland"There isn’t a page of this magnificent book that does not contain some fascinating detail and the narrative is held together with a novelist’s eye for character and theme." #Dominion https://t.co/FESSNxVDLC (Source)

Maya WileyProf. Tim Snyder, author of “In Tyranny” reminded us in that important little book that we must protect our institutions. #DOJ is one of our most important in gov’t for the rule of law. This is our collective house & #Barr should be evicted. https://t.co/PPxM9IMQUm (Source)

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Don't have time to read Tom Holland's favorite books? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.