Tom Holland

The desecration of Stonehenge

15 July 2023 10:51 pm

The Conservative party, over the course of its lengthy history, has been defined by two particular traditions. One emphasis the…

Diary

24 June 2023 9:00 am

In defence of pigeons

10 September 2022 9:00 am

I have done absolutely nothing this past year except pound away at a book. For complicated logistical reasons that are…

The prickly truth: hedgehogs face a struggle to survive

5 March 2022 9:00 am

No wild animal is closer to the hearts of the British than the hedgehog. In poll after poll, it has…

The church that’s hosted the Virgin Mary, Benjamin Franklin and Hugh Grant

13 February 2021 9:00 am

There is only one place in the world that has played host to both the Virgin Mary and Benjamin Franklin,…

The anxieties that long ago shadowed Christmas are back

19 December 2020 9:00 am

The anxieties that long ago shadowed Christmas are back

The history of Thebes is as mysterious as its Sphinx

13 June 2020 9:00 am

The Spartans were not the only Greeks to die at Thermopylae. On the fateful final morning of the battle, when…

Sugared with wit: How ‘Mr Spectator’ came to life

24 April 2020 11:00 pm

Writing for ‘Mr Spectator’

Hostility to Islam has disguised a host of other prejudices

8 June 2019 9:00 am

In 2011, when the editor of Charlie Hebdo put Muhammad on the cover, he did so as the heir to…

Thank God for western values

20 April 2019 9:00 am

Declarations of hope that Notre Dame can be resurrected have been much in evidence this Holy Week. Such is the…

Decline and fall: why America always thinks it’s going the way of Rome

10 November 2018 9:00 am

For a millennium and a half now, one of the great pleasures of being a commentator on current affairs has…

A betrayal – despite moments of spectacle that would have made John Martin gasp

Cynical, one-dimensional and oddly colourless: Jurassic World – Fallen Kingdom reviewed

9 June 2018 9:00 am

Back in the mists of prehistory, when I was eight, dinosaur films followed a set pattern. The dinosaurs themselves would…

Detail from the Ghent altarpiece by Hubert Eyck, 1423

How Christianity saw off its rivals and became the universal church

31 March 2018 9:00 am

In the reign of Constantine, whose conversion to Christianity in AD 310 set the entire Roman world on a course…

Don’t forget the Yazidis

12 August 2017 9:00 am

As the floodwaters subsided, the Ark drifted across northern Iraq. Finally, with a crunching jolt, it hit dry land. Its…

Would you believe it? A selection of ancient faiths ripe for revival

12 December 2015 9:00 am

After the success of Stoicism, more ancient faiths are ripe for revival

Standing figure of the ancient Egyptian god Horus, wearing Roman military costume, 1st–2nd century AD and Seated figure of the ancient Egyptian god Horus, wearing Roman military costume, 1st–2nd century AD

Egypt: where gods are born and go to die

29 October 2015 9:00 am

Tom Holland on Egypt, where the deities were born and history itself began

Jeremy Corbyn isn’t like Caligula’s horse – he’s like Caligula

26 September 2015 8:00 am

Jeremy Corbyn has been compared to plenty of people over the past few months — a geography teacher, Michael Foot,…

Athenian general Xenophon

Financial crises are nothing new in Greece — they go back at least to the Peloponnesian War

11 July 2015 9:00 am

Financial crises are nothing new in Greece. Back in 354 BC, at a time when Frankfurt was still a swamp,…

Roman mosaic from Pompeii depicting Darius III at the Battle of Issus (333 BC), in which he was defeated by Alexander the Great

Darius III: Alexander’s stooge

14 February 2015 9:00 am

The ‘Great Kings’ of Persia were renowned for their good looks and imposing stature, but they will always, throughout history, be eclipsed by the Greeks, says Tom Holland

Tom Holland’s diary: Fighting jihadism with Mohammed, and bowling the Crown Prince of Udaipur

24 January 2015 9:00 am

As weather bombs brew in the north Atlantic, I’m roughing it by heading off to Rajasthan, and the literary festival…

Tom Holland's diary: Alex Salmond is the Scottish referendum's answer to Shane Warne

13 September 2014 9:00 am

I feel a bit about the Scottish referendum as I did about the 2005 Ashes series. In both cases, those of…

The Islamic State is destroying the greatest melting pot in history

23 August 2014 9:00 am

The fighters of the Islamic State are bringing a deadly new intolerance to a territory rich in ancient sects

Wall painting of a female head, Pompeii, 1st century AD

Pompeii’s greatest gifts are not all archeological

12 April 2014 9:00 am

The first visitor to take a break on the Bay of Naples was Hercules. He had just defeated some rebellious…

The night that saved England

1 March 2014 9:00 am

If he hadn’t survived the Twelfth Night raid of 878, England as we know it might never have existed

My dear old thing! Forget the nasty bits

26 October 2013 9:00 am

There can be a strong strain of self-parody in even the greatest commentators. When Henry Blofeld describes the progress of…