Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland

Published in 2005 by Anchor

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic is a well-written fact-filled narrative interpretation of the end of the Roman Republic. Interpretation? Of course - all history books are the author's interpretation. Holland has his biases, but it does not distract from the power of the book. With the exception of a slow bit in the middle, this is an entertaining read and worthy to sit on the shelf next to other histories of Rome.

I wholeheartedly recommend this one for enthusiasts (his spin on things should pique your interest) and also for newcomers to Roman history. It is a fine springboard for further study.

Tom Holland

That being said, I do have a little bone to pick with the author, on a topic that has little bearing on the text as a whole. On p. 21 (paperback) Holland claims that the Circus Maximus, the chariot racetrack, was the largest sports arena in the world (200,000 spectators) and it still holds that title today. That is an oft-repeated by British authors and documentaries. As an Indianapolis resident I must correct this - the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has permanent seats for more more than 250,000 and more than 400,000 have been known to cram in to the track in May to watch the Indy 500. Around 300,000 come to the Brickyard 400 as well.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic.

Reviewed on October 22, 2007.

Lord of the Dead: The Secret History of Byron (abridged audiobook) by Tom Holland

Lord Byron as a vampire

Originally published in 1996 by Simon and Schuster.
Performed by Richard E. Grant
Duration: 3 hours, 3 minutes.

Abridged.

I picked up this audiobook version of Lord of the Dead: The Secret History of Byron because I very much enjoyed Holland's non-fiction book about the end of the Roman Republic, Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic. I am not particularly a fan of vampire books nor of Lord Byron (who I can believe was a vampire, considering the level of his debauchery and self-absorption) but I decided to give Tom Holland another try and trust that he would make it interesting.

Lord Byron (1788-1824)

The abridgment of the book contributed to my enjoyment, I am sure. There were many long stretches that were so bloated by flowery speeches, especially in the first hour or so of the audiobook, that I probably would have bailed on an unabridged version of the book. However, the last two hours were so interesting and so well-performed by Richard E. Grant that I had to bump the score up to 4 stars.

The running time of the abridged audiobook is about 3 hours and it can be found on Amazon.com here: Lord of the Dead: The Secret History of Byron.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on May 9, 2008.