Skip to content
The eye of Justinian

   Popular history books

History books and reviews

Reviews icon
Opinion icon

We read and review history books! Latest reviews and posts below โ†“

Byzantine Emperor Justinian
I, Emperor Justinian, welcome you to this website. Ciao!

Posted on: 20 September 2026

I'm exaggerating a little, you are after all (probably) reading this on the website which therefore can't be totally broken. What has been broken is the popular history books database that I have been...

Posted on: 20 September 2026

I'm a bit late this month, for which I blame AI. More on this later! The three that I am looking out for are: Nineteen Days in Autumn: A New History Of 1066, by Erin Goeres. Coinciding with the...

book cover book cover book cover book cover book cover book cover
little review icon

Those Who Are About To Die - review

Book cover for Those Who Are About To Die - review

Posted on: 3 August 2026

24 hours in the life of a history book author: Gladiators and the Writing Mind... Chapter 1: Tempus Postmeridianum (Afternoon). Oxford, England The author pauses, waiting for his muses to gather. The...

โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†โ˜† (2025)

Posted on: 2 August 2026

It is hot here in the UK and in Europe. That means that I am reading less as I prefer to cycle into work rather than get the (extremely hot) London underground, which is my most reliable free time for...

book cover book cover book cover book cover book cover book cover
little review icon

The Rage of Party - review

Book cover for The Rage of Party - review

Posted on: 10 July 2026

The late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries are probably among the most significant periods in English and British history, yet they do not loom large in the national consciousness. The years...

โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… (2025)

Posted on: 2 July 2026

Ok here's what we've got from last month (published in the UK in hardback). With the World Cup in full swing and England not yet out of it, I'm pleased to see at least one football history book on the...

book cover book cover book cover book cover book cover book cover
little review icon

The Black Death - review

Book cover for The Black Death - review

Posted on: 28 June 2026

I, Agnolo di Tura, called the Fat, buried my five children with my own hands... It is impossible for the human tongue to recount the awful thing. Indeed, one who did not see such horribleness can be...

โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜† (2026)

little review icon

The Four Heavens - review

Book cover for The Four Heavens - review

Posted on: 7 June 2026

Most human societies tend towards hierarchies: someone at the top giving orders, and everyone else at least pretending to follow the rules. And we tell each other stories to justify to ourselves why...

โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜† (2026)

We found a large number of these books in these characters and, as they contained nothing in which there was not to be seen superstition and lies of the devil, we burned them all, which they regretted to an amazing degree and which caused them great affliction.

Review of David Stuart, The Four Heavens

Posted on: 2 June 2026

Here's the list from last month (history books published here in the UK in hardback): only nine but a wide range of topics. A couple I am curious about are: This Little World: A New History of Tudor...

book cover book cover book cover book cover book cover book cover
little review icon

The Coming Storm - review

Book cover for The Coming Storm - review

Posted on: 17 May 2026

In my professional life I come across people ruminating on the state of the world - usually with the objective of trying to make some money out of it. These cogitations often emphasise the parallels...

โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜† (2026)

Posted on: 4 May 2026

A nice collection of books from last month (published in the UK in hardback) ranging across time and space. Three I am particularly attracted to are: The Black Death: A Global History, by Thomas...

book cover book cover book cover book cover book cover book cover

Page 1 of 17 | Next