Customer Reviews
Gripping - By: Paul M. Wright, 02 Jan 2009 
Religious history, obscure Frankish kings, wars & disasters - who'd have thought they'd make such a compelling read? It's a period I know very little about, but Tom Holland's narrative gripped me from the very first page. Highly recommended & even better than Rubicon.
Very Enjoyable - By: HBH, 27 Oct 2008 
Millenium: The End of the World & the Forging of Christendom by Tom Holland is a very good book dealing with the turbulent years around the turn of the first millenium. At the start of this period western European Christianity seemed to be under threat from all sides & obsessed with the end of the world. However, as time progressed Catholicism & the states of Europe gained confidence & took the offensive against its opponents. This book shows how this happened but also provides interesting pieces of information about how the nation states of Europe such as Germany, France & Germany evolved & came to be different for example how France became a deeply divided country with a weak central government while England became heavily centralised. It is an immensely readable book which provides insights into how Europe developed & how Catholicism reformed itself & became dominant unifying factor that brought about the Crusades. Allin all a good & very readable book.
The Millenium is recreated by Tom Holland. - By: Diana Swann, 19 Oct 2008 Did you expect the Day of Judgement or the appearance of the Antichrist at the Second Milleniumin 2000? If so, sympathise with the hapless inhabitants of the Christian world around 1000 AD as they struggle for survival & are caught upin the Church & State's duel for world-leadership. In Tom Holland's new book, the focus is on the decades leading to & from the first Millennium, endingin the recapture of Jerusalem from the Saracensin 1099.
Against the violence of this background, holy men, land-hungry dukes, Viking pirates, popes & emperors briefly blaze, & are as quickly extinguishedin the flames of siege & the yelling carnage of relentless warfare. In the work of any other writer, covering such a broad canvas could lead to incoherence & 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 throwingin 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 timein history. Its chief characters could only be brought to life by someone of Holland's wide-ranging scholarship & imagination, Despite his often meagre primary sources, his description of characters & 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 - & again.
Another Treat For Holland Fans - By: Uberkritik, 11 Oct 2008 I agree with A Hall that the author's previous books (Persian Fire & Rubicon) are tough acts to follow. But for me, Holland completes the hat-trickin real style. What he does so well is combine genuine scholarship with an eye for a great story, & he keeps on picking out neglected areas of history & bringing them to life. The 11th Century may not sound that mouthwatering to begin with but it does include the Battle of Hastings & the First Crusade - pretty juicy. And if, like me, you have a taste for the bloodthirsty details, Holland digs them all up & delivers themin spades. The hardback is a bit heavy to carry around, so I might wait until his next one comes outin paperback.
A sweeping history of a fascinating age - By: Avid Reader, 06 Oct 2008 I really enjoyed Persian Fire - a masterful & accessible re-evaluation of the wars between the Persians & the ancient Greeks - & this book is even more ambitious & fascinating. The Persian Wars was a story that almost wrote itself (with Holland's insight) but making a book about the early Middle Ages read like a novel is an even greater achievement. The many strands of the story require a deft & subtle weaving together, which Holland manages to do, all the while carrying the reader along at a roaring pace. Those who enjoyed Holland's storytelling & witin his earlier books should not be disappointed.
