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Review
** Fast and lively . . . another blockbuster (Jenny Diski, SUNDAY TIMES )
** A mighty narrative of kings and popes, battles and massacres . . . A tremendously good read (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH MAGAZINE )
'At last, a book that sheds much-needed light on those 1,000 years between Roman Britain and the Norman conquest that we call the dark ages (Sue Arnold GUARDIAN )
'Holland tells a cracking tale, vividly bringing this neglected era of monks, popes, knights and serfs back to life (David Sinclair, TRIBUNE )
** A mighty narrative of kings and popes, battles and massacres . . . A tremendously good read (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH MAGAZINE )
'At last, a book that sheds much-needed light on those 1,000 years between Roman Britain and the Norman conquest that we call the dark ages (Sue Arnold GUARDIAN )
'Holland tells a cracking tale, vividly bringing this neglected era of monks, popes, knights and serfs back to life (David Sinclair, TRIBUNE )
Review
'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'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
To anyone who, like me, savoured Tom Holland's previous works about the Roman empire ('Rubicon') and the struggle between the ancients Greeks and Persians ('Persian Fire'), it is perhaps only natural to begin his latest book with a measure of eager anticipation ('Will it be as good as those previous two?'). In 'Millenium', Holland has moved on several centuries in Western history to discuss, by and large, the decades immediately preceding and following the year 1000 AD, part of a period in our history still often referred to as 'the Dark Ages'. That they were, in many respects, anything but 'dark' I was aware of (amongst others, the French historian Jacques Le Goff demonstrated as much in his superb book 'The birth of Europe, 400-1500'), but nevertheless Holland's book was a welcome reminder.
But whereas Le Goff's subject matter is a period of no less than 1100 years, Holland's book, by concentrating (roughly) only on the period 950-1095, has a very different focus. Whereas Le Goff argues how many of our present-day institutions, habits, beliefs, ... ultimately derive from and were first shaped in the middle ages, Holland focuses on one aspect: how the coming of the year 1000 and with it the 1000nd anniversary of the birth of Christ had a profound influence on the 'decision makers' (for lack of a better word) of that period, and ultimately resulted in a momentous step: the division - never to be bridged again - between the 'earthly' empires and the Roman Catholic church. Simultaneously, the major countries of Western Europe and their 'national' identities started taking shape. Before, it was kings and dukes that decided on the next bishop (even the one presiding in Rome), after it was the Church itself that decided on those matters. Of course, historical developments are rarely that clearcut, and for centuries afterwards kings would continue to meddle in the affairs of the Church just as popes and bishops often had not only spiritual but also political agendas. But nevertheless, a decisive step had been taken.
By its very subject matter, this is largely a history of the elite of the day (kings, popes, emperors, bishops, dukes, ...) in which servs and peasants have very little role to play (except as the hapless servs of ruthless masters) but, be that as it may, Holland tells this story admirably well, and the book reads as easily as any detective or thriller. Holland as a knack of reducing events to their essence, and as opposed to many other history books, I didn't have to leaf back and forth continuously to keep track of all the Henry's and Otto's and so on and so forth.
So why then did I find this 'not his best'? Well, it's a minor point really, but contrary to 'Rubicon' and 'Persian Fire', towards the end I couldn't help but feel that Holland becomes repetitive, and elaborates his point just a bit too often (I simply lost track of the number of times he describes - in slightly different wordings - the anxieties caused by the expected second coming of the antichrist). It's a minor quip, but that's why I gave 4 instead of 5 stars to this otherwise excellent and engrossing book.
But whereas Le Goff's subject matter is a period of no less than 1100 years, Holland's book, by concentrating (roughly) only on the period 950-1095, has a very different focus. Whereas Le Goff argues how many of our present-day institutions, habits, beliefs, ... ultimately derive from and were first shaped in the middle ages, Holland focuses on one aspect: how the coming of the year 1000 and with it the 1000nd anniversary of the birth of Christ had a profound influence on the 'decision makers' (for lack of a better word) of that period, and ultimately resulted in a momentous step: the division - never to be bridged again - between the 'earthly' empires and the Roman Catholic church. Simultaneously, the major countries of Western Europe and their 'national' identities started taking shape. Before, it was kings and dukes that decided on the next bishop (even the one presiding in Rome), after it was the Church itself that decided on those matters. Of course, historical developments are rarely that clearcut, and for centuries afterwards kings would continue to meddle in the affairs of the Church just as popes and bishops often had not only spiritual but also political agendas. But nevertheless, a decisive step had been taken.
By its very subject matter, this is largely a history of the elite of the day (kings, popes, emperors, bishops, dukes, ...) in which servs and peasants have very little role to play (except as the hapless servs of ruthless masters) but, be that as it may, Holland tells this story admirably well, and the book reads as easily as any detective or thriller. Holland as a knack of reducing events to their essence, and as opposed to many other history books, I didn't have to leaf back and forth continuously to keep track of all the Henry's and Otto's and so on and so forth.
So why then did I find this 'not his best'? Well, it's a minor point really, but contrary to 'Rubicon' and 'Persian Fire', towards the end I couldn't help but feel that Holland becomes repetitive, and elaborates his point just a bit too often (I simply lost track of the number of times he describes - in slightly different wordings - the anxieties caused by the expected second coming of the antichrist). It's a minor quip, but that's why I gave 4 instead of 5 stars to this otherwise excellent and engrossing book.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I really enjoyed Tom Hollands' previous two books (Rubicon and Persian Fire), but I found Millennium a little bit disjointed.
The other books were far more dramatic, with an epic clash of civilisations and charismatic personalities that sweep the reader up in the excitement and get them interested in the subject material. Instead, this book is lacking much of that, and feels unfocussed as it switches between the histories of different nations without much of a common theme between them (other than each starts with that country's conversion to christianity).
Strangely there are side-stories that seem like far more exciting subject material than the main thrust but are sadly neglected, including the decline of Byzantium from it's exceptional sophistication and holiness to corruption, infighting and collapse, or the crusades (the book ends with a very rushed account of the first crusade), and at first it seems like the book will chronicle the empire of Charlemagne and it's successor states but this is never fully realised.
In the end I was left confused about what the real theme of the book is supposed to be. The expected apocalypse with the coming of the millennium (hence the title of the book) is only really discussed in the first half of the book and even then only as a half-baked motivation for some of the events described (although the evidence for that explanation seems weak). Much of the book describes the evolution of the papacy from being a weak and powerless provincial bishopric into the undisputed head of the western church (with political independence from the kings of europe), but again, this covers only a small part of the book. The rise of christianity across the continent is another theme, but very little of the book describes conversions compared to the amount that discusses wars and politics.
I'm not saying that this is a bad book, but I would definitely rate it as a poor relation to the other two if (like me) you loved Tom Hollands' other books for their entertaining, page-turning drama and urgency.
The other books were far more dramatic, with an epic clash of civilisations and charismatic personalities that sweep the reader up in the excitement and get them interested in the subject material. Instead, this book is lacking much of that, and feels unfocussed as it switches between the histories of different nations without much of a common theme between them (other than each starts with that country's conversion to christianity).
Strangely there are side-stories that seem like far more exciting subject material than the main thrust but are sadly neglected, including the decline of Byzantium from it's exceptional sophistication and holiness to corruption, infighting and collapse, or the crusades (the book ends with a very rushed account of the first crusade), and at first it seems like the book will chronicle the empire of Charlemagne and it's successor states but this is never fully realised.
In the end I was left confused about what the real theme of the book is supposed to be. The expected apocalypse with the coming of the millennium (hence the title of the book) is only really discussed in the first half of the book and even then only as a half-baked motivation for some of the events described (although the evidence for that explanation seems weak). Much of the book describes the evolution of the papacy from being a weak and powerless provincial bishopric into the undisputed head of the western church (with political independence from the kings of europe), but again, this covers only a small part of the book. The rise of christianity across the continent is another theme, but very little of the book describes conversions compared to the amount that discusses wars and politics.
I'm not saying that this is a bad book, but I would definitely rate it as a poor relation to the other two if (like me) you loved Tom Hollands' other books for their entertaining, page-turning drama and urgency.
40 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Did you expect the Day of Judgement or the appearance of the Antichrist at the Second Millenium in 2000? If so, sympathise with the hapless inhabitants of the Christian world around 1000 AD as they struggle for survival and are caught up in the Church and State's duel for world-leadership. In Tom Holland's new book, the focus is on the decades leading to and from the first Millennium, ending in the recapture of Jerusalem from the Saracens in 1099.
Against the violence of this background, holy men, land-hungry dukes, Viking pirates, popes and emperors briefly blaze, and are as quickly extinguished in the flames of siege and the yelling carnage of relentless warfare. In the work of any other writer, covering such a broad canvas could lead to incoherence and battle-fatigue, but Holland organises his sprawling material with exemplary clarity.
Holland is a historian for today. His zestfully colloquial style underlines the relevance that this far-off time has for us now. He relieves the derring-do occasionally by throwing in memorable descriptions of the splendour of Constantinople or the tranquil piety of the Abbey of Cluny. There has been less written about this murky period than almost any time in history. Its chief characters could only be brought to life by someone of Holland's wide-ranging scholarship and imagination, Despite his often meagre primary sources, his description of characters and events have an almost cinematographic immediacy.
This is a Big Read about a Big Subject. If you are so swept along that you miss some of the vivid detail, it will repay reading again - and again.
Against the violence of this background, holy men, land-hungry dukes, Viking pirates, popes and emperors briefly blaze, and are as quickly extinguished in the flames of siege and the yelling carnage of relentless warfare. In the work of any other writer, covering such a broad canvas could lead to incoherence and battle-fatigue, but Holland organises his sprawling material with exemplary clarity.
Holland is a historian for today. His zestfully colloquial style underlines the relevance that this far-off time has for us now. He relieves the derring-do occasionally by throwing in memorable descriptions of the splendour of Constantinople or the tranquil piety of the Abbey of Cluny. There has been less written about this murky period than almost any time in history. Its chief characters could only be brought to life by someone of Holland's wide-ranging scholarship and imagination, Despite his often meagre primary sources, his description of characters and events have an almost cinematographic immediacy.
This is a Big Read about a Big Subject. If you are so swept along that you miss some of the vivid detail, it will repay reading again - and again.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good book
I must admit I didn't enjoy this one as much as Rubicon and Persian Fire, but that's only because Medieval history doesn't fascinate me as much as ancient history. Read more
Published 27 days ago by DavesTheName
The power of belief
Another informative epic history from Tom Holland. I like his central theme of the impact that the idea of the End Of Time had in forming the medieval world, the irony being how... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Pensato
Such a shame
If you have read Tom Holland's wonderful book "The Forge of Christendom - The End of Days and the Epic Rise of the West"
Then you have also read this book. Read more
Then you have also read this book. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Such a pity
Not as good as its predeccesors
In his two previous books Tom Holland took us to the worlds of the Roman Republic in Rubicon and the worlds of the Greek city states and Persian empire in Persian fire. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Darryn
A world of dreams and nightmares
I picked up this book in complete innocence: never having read any of Holland's previous work, and not having read much on the Middle Ages, either. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Kalense
evocative, but fails to cohere and doesn't live up to subtitle's...
After having read Rubicon, Holland's masterpiece of popularization, this book was rather disappointing. It is about the approximate period of 900 to 1100 C.E. Read more
Published 12 months ago by rob crawford
Good But Not Rubicon
I came to 'Millenium' by way of 'Rubicon', the author's previous work, so I had very high expectations indeed. Ultimately, I reckon I set the cross-bar a little bit too high. Read more
Published 12 months ago by CorkRebel67
A good description of an interesting period
I think that Tom Holland is always worth a read. Millennium addresses a period that, to me in any case, is obscure and describes events, sequence and context well. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Jon
Indian bummer
I am a great fan of Holland's work and won't go into the merits of this one, the other reviews say it all anyway. Just a word of warning: 2 titles are listed by Amazon. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Dog trainer (failed)
Another absorbing history book from Tom Holland
This is a very readable and fascinating account of the end of the Dark Ages and start of the second millennium when the Byzantine empire was beginning to wane and the Normans were... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Neil Kernohan
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