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Rest is History Returns

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From the podcast legends who brought you The Rest is History comes The Rest is History Returns!

This time Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook bring you an alphabetical miscellany, taking on some of history's best and most bizarre moments. Charge forth against the traitors of the American Revolution, journey through Baghdad to discover the origins of the Arabian Nights and head to Sicily to witness the first face-off between Carthage and Rome.

Along the way you'll find the answers to questions like:
- Who was Jesus's wife?
- What would it have been like to live-tweet through the eruption of Vesuvius?
- Why did the Romans inspire so much American science fiction?
- Which Mitford sister tried to seduce her girlish crush, Adolf Hitler?
- Who are history's top 10 monkeys?
- Was Henry V's great-grandfather, Edward III, the biggest 'lad' in British history?

But that's not all - this book also includes puzzles and a pub quiz. So dust off your tricorne hat, grab your lasso and get ready for a rollicking rollercoaster through the past . . .

437 pages, Hardcover

First published September 19, 2024

12 people are currently reading
76 people want to read

About the author

Tom Holland

105 books3,579 followers
Tom Holland is an English historian and author. He has written many books, both fiction and non-fiction, on many subjects from vampires to history.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Holland was born near Oxford and brought up in the village of Broadchalke near Salisbury, England. He obtained a double first in English and Latin at Queens' College, Cambridge, and afterwards studied shortly for a PhD at Oxford, taking Lord Byron as his subject, before interrupting the post graduate studies and moving to London.

He has adapted Herodotus, Homer, Thucydides and Virgil for BBC Radio 4. His novels, including Attis and Deliver Us From Evil, mostly have a supernatural and horror element as well as being set in the past. He is also the author of three highly praised works of history, Rubicon, Persian Fire and Millennium.

He is on the committee of the Society of Authors and the Classical Association.

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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Profile Image for Jo.
3,871 reviews140 followers
March 22, 2025
Historians and podcasters explore various historical eras and facts alphabetically. This has been a good book to dip in and out of on an evening.
125 reviews
January 3, 2025
Audiobook. Huge fan of the podcast, but this is mainly a repackaging of the (excellent) content found on the main feed. I’m glad to have bought it simply to provide some support to the wonderful historians, but the magic of the podcast formula doesn’t translate to the book form, at least as an audiobook. That often seems the case. Here there is a lot of dubious accent work and impersonations that wear a little thin. Likely intended as a stocking filler, not a cash grab, but it offers little to existing fans of the podcast. Again, happy to provide some small repayment to the many hours of outstanding entertainment and knowledge received. Going back to listen again to the Cortes series…
Profile Image for Jessica.
2,475 reviews14 followers
June 30, 2025
My power to find other books in the series before the first one strikes again.
But there is no need to panic. This is a stand-alone book with even more history curiosities.
It's a fun read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews

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