Books by Toby Wilkinson
Toby Wilkinson read Egyptology at Cambridge University. Since January 2004, he has been a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Egyptian History and has broadcast on radio and TV in the UK and abroad, including BBC’s ‘Horizon’ and Channel 4’s ‘Private Lives of the Pharaohs’. He was also the consultant for the BBC’s award-winning documentary on the building of the Great Pyramid. His books include the critically acclaimed Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt and Dictionary of Ancient Egypt.
“Other biographies out these past three months include Ramesses the Great by Toby Wilkinson, the Cambridge Egyptologist…Both rulers spent a lot of time and energy building their reputations, which may be why we’re reading about them three millennia…later” Read more...
Notable Nonfiction of Early Summer 2023
Sophie Roell, Journalist
Tutankhamun's Trumpet: The Story of Ancient Egypt in 100 Objects
by Toby Wilkinson
Tutankhamun’s Trumpet: The Story of Ancient Egypt in 100 Objects is a good, accessible introduction to the Nile civilisation of more than three millennia ago by Cambridge Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson.
A World Beneath the Sands: The Golden Age of Egyptology
by Toby Wilkinson
A World Beneath the Sands by Cambridge Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson tells the story of our encounter with ancient Egypt, from the Greeks and the first time a celebrity tourist—Julius Caesar—went down the Nile to the 20th century. He focuses on a "heyday of Egyptology" bookmarked by two epoch-making events: the decipherment of hieroglyphics, thanks to the Rosetta Stone, in 1822 and the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb a century later.
Our interview with Toby on Ancient Egypt is one of our most-read interviews on Five Books.
The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt
by Toby Wilkinson
The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt won the 2011 Hessell-Tiltman Prize, awarded annually for a history book of high literary merit and not primarily written for the academic market. (You can read our interview with Toby Wilkinson recommending books on Ancient Egypt here.)
Interviews with Toby Wilkinson
The best books on Ancient Egypt, recommended by Toby Wilkinson
Cambridge Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson discusses his favourite works on Ancient Egypt — from the first book he bought on the subject to an authoritative coffee-table tome.
Interviews where books by Toby Wilkinson were recommended
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1
Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival
by Stephen Greenblatt -
2
The Colonialist: The Vision of Cecil Rhodes
by William Kelleher Storey -
3
Fulvia: The Woman Who Broke All the Rules in Ancient Rome
by Jane Draycott -
4
The Traitors Circle: The True Story of a Secret Resistance Network in Nazi Germany and the Spy Who Betrayed Them
by Jonathan Freedland -
5
Baldwin: A Love Story
by Nicholas Boggs -
6
True Nature: The Pilgrimage of Peter Matthiessen
by Lance Richardson
New Biographies
New Biographies
Among the new biographies coming out in 2025, the lives of literary figures have been particularly prominent, including new books about Robert Louis Stevenson, the Scottish adventure writer, and Shakespeare’s rival Christopher Marlowe, who was stabbed to death aged 29. Also popular are reconstructions of lives from the distant past that we know little about, including the first King of England and Fulvia, the first wife of Mark Antony.
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1
King of Kings: The Fall of the Shah, the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the Unmaking of the Modern Middle East
by Scott Anderson -
2
The First King of England: Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom
by David Woodman -
3
The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century
by Tim Weiner -
4
The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World
by Selena Wisnom -
5
The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb
by Garrett Graff -
6
The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life
by Sophia Rosenfeld
New History Books
New History Books
It’s a golden age for historical writing, as well-researched and sometimes quite specialist books by historians are written in an engaging style for a broad audience. History books out in recent months range from ancient Assyria to the CIA in the 21st century.
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1
The Russo-Ukrainian War
by Serhii Plokhy -
2
King: A Life
by Jonathan Eig -
3
Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials
by Marion Gibson -
4
How to Flourish: An Ancient Guide to Living Well
by Aristotle & Susan Sauvé Meyer (translator) -
5
Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity
by Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson
Notable Nonfiction of Early Summer 2023, recommended by Sophie Roell
Notable Nonfiction of Early Summer 2023, recommended by Sophie Roell
As high summer hits the northern hemisphere, Sophie Roell, editor of Five Books, takes a look at the many nonfiction books published over the last three months. With so many books coming out that are both readable and written by people who know what they’re talking about, reading remains one of the most enjoyable ways to make sense of the world around us.
