Millennium

An exhilarating sweep across European history either side of the year 1000; riveting -- Allan Massie * Books of the Year, Spectator *
I relished the blood and thunder narrative - the work of a great storyteller at his best -- Dominic Sandbrook * Books of the Year, Evening Standard *
Millennium is a superb, fascinating and erudite medieval banquet of slaughter, sanctity and sex, filled with emperors, whores and monks * Simon Sebag Montefiore *
Fast and lively... another blockbuster -- Jenny Diski * Sunday Times *
Millennium ranges far in both time and space yet always returns to its central theme: the right ordering of Christendom... it is a narrative history in the grand manner, written with panache and confidence... A marvellous, enthralling read * Daily Telegraph *
A mighty narrative of kings and popes, battles and massacres... A tremendously good read * Sunday Telegraph *
Holland excels at narration, never jogging when he can gallop... His highly individual road map to the hitherto 'dark ages' is written with forceful - and convincing - panache -- Christina Hardyment * Independent *
Enjoyable and exuberantly argued... storytelling on a magisterial scale * The Economist *
Tom Holland is a gifted narrator who covers the field with panache and a rich fund of adjectives -- Johnathan Sumption * Spectator *
Holland has written an original and elegant book -- Andrew Lynch * Sunday Business Post *
Holland's book . . . is big in every sense; and at its heart is a big idea that some may well deem heretical, others - myself included - profoundly imaginative . . . Holland's brilliantly written account of the Canossa incident, and its far-reaching consequences, is typical of the eloquence and historical imagination of the entire book . . . A remarkable book that prompts many reflections on our own day . . . Millennium is both a vastly entertaining read . . . as well as deeply intelligent: it constitutes a major contribution to some of the most crucial issues of our time -- John Cornell * Tablet *
Holland has a mightily readable style, in which powerful Latinate rhetoric jostles with cheery colloquialism . . . Far more than the stories of Greeks and Romans, this is your history -- James Delingpole * Mail on Sunday *
Holland turns his brilliant narrative spotlight on the so-called 'dark ages' ... Global in reach, this book sweeps thrillingly over the troubled centuries that saw the triumph of Byzantium, the ascent of Islam - and the lingering disaster of the Crusades -- Boyd Tonkin * Books of the Year, Independent *
It is perfectly right for Holland to claim a great deal for the eleventh century, of which his book is a splendid, highly coloured canvas -- Norman Stone * Guardian *
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 *
** 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 *