Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom (Paperback)

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