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Rubicon by Tom Holland6/1/2023 Holland's book is a series of sweeping generalizations and unfounded conclusions. So Tom Holland's background of a degree in English and an author of fantasy/horror novels does not necessarily preclude him from writing a great work of history. John Julius Norwich (Byzantium: The Early Centuries Byzantium: The Apogee Byzantium: The Decline and Fall), an English lord with no historical training, managed to produce the definitive history on the Byzantine Empire. The first won a Pulitzer, the second wrote one of the most important books on Vietnam. Rick Atkinson (An Army at Dawn) and David Halberstam (The Best and the Brightest) are both news reporters. Several of the great works of history in recent decades have been written by non-historians. Tom Holland is not a historian or a scholar. Tom Holland is for them.īut I cannot recommend this work to anyone who reads history regularly. In fact, I would recommend it to anyone who has never picked up a history book and is easily bored by the past. The book is a quick read and very accessible to any reader. His prose is flowing and even entertaining. After finishing Tom Holland's 'Rubicon', one thing is certain he's a fine writer.
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