Books by Richard Holmes
“It’s a splendid book…It’s a group biography of writers and scientists in the late 18th and early 19th century—Herschel and Humphrey Davy on the science side, and the Romantic poets, mostly in England, and their engagement with the sublime and with science. Among Holmes’s qualities are his warmth, his extraordinary depth of knowledge and the fluency in his writing. It’s just a really enjoyable read.” Read more...
The best books on Science and Wonder
Caspar Henderson, Journalist
Redcoat
by Richard Holmes
Richard Holmes is among my great heroes. He wrote a superb book about Wellington himself. But, this is something different. It is the story of the conditions that the men lived in. You hear about their camps, their pay, their food, what kind of guys they were and how they fought.
Dr Johnson and Mr Savage - a biographical mystery
by Richard Holmes
When Johnson was still young and poor in London he got to know Richard Savage who was also poor. It was a strange alliance, that of a dissolute, drunken and murderous poet and the upright Christian, Samuel Johnson. The friendship is only a mystery to those who live by stereotypes.
Interviews where books by Richard Holmes were recommended
The best books on Samuel Johnson, recommended by Peter Lilley
Samuel Johnson, author of the 1755 A Dictionary of the English Language, was not a hard-hearted Tory caricature, but a champion of the poor and enslaved, according to Margaret Thatcher’s Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Peter Lilley.
The best books on Military History, recommended by Peter Snow
The veteran British journalist and broadcaster on his history reading list. Says Stalingrad was touch and go. Wellington was feared, respected and admired by his men, but he wasn’t loved.
The best books on Science and Wonder, recommended by Caspar Henderson
When we see a rainbow or another beautiful spectacle in nature, what is that sense of wonder we are filled with? How can we nurture it? Caspar Henderson, author of A New Map of Wonders (and Five Books science and environment editor) recommends the best books to help us develop our sense of wonder.
The best books on The Origins of Curiosity, recommended by Philip Ball
Modern science emerged only when it became acceptable to ask any question about anything – and that required erosion of traditional hierarchies, says the science writer
The best books on Science and Climate Change, recommended by John Shepherd
The Research Fellow in Earth System Science at the British National Oceanography discusses Climate Change and promotes the use of geo-engineering to remove carbon from the atmosphere
