290: 2022: A History

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Mentioned alongside The Waste Land as a landmark modernist work from 1922. The hosts use both works to illustrate the 'great man' model of artistic creation — the genius of individual authors like Joyce — which they argue no longer exists in 2022's fragmented cultural landscape.

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Tom reveals he took up Dominic's recommendation of this series of detective novels that cast Aberystwyth as the equivalent of Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles. Described as 'very surreal, very funny and great detective stories.' Tom has become so addicted he's just purchased the latest book in the series, showing it to Dominic during the recording.

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Referenced as 'the book on 1922' that largely focuses on modernism. Tom and Dominic discuss how Kevin Jackson's book treats 1922 as a cultural hinge point, particularly around the modernist movement. The book provides context for their comparison of 1922 to 2022 as potentially historic years.

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Mentioned as one of the landmark works of 1922 modernism alongside Ulysses. The hosts quote 'these fragments I shored against my ruin' as emblematic of the post-WWI sense that civilization had shattered and all one could do was make collages from the pieces. Discussed as part of the 'great man as artist' paradigm that has since faded.

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Referenced in the context of their General Gordon series. Tom explains that Strachey 'made him one of the eminent Victorians and kind of laughed at him' for being sexually repressed, but that when Gordon is situated in the context of his age, he emerges as a properly heroic figure rather than the risible one Strachey portrayed.

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Tom describes meeting Gordon Corera (BBC security correspondent) at a carol service, where Corera mentioned he'd written a book about the role played by pigeons in the First and Second World War. This led to a podcast episode on pigeons that Tom considers one of the year's highlights, noting that listeners initially didn't believe they were serious about the topic.

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Mentioned as one of the standout books Tom read during the year in connection with the podcast. Dominic agrees it was great. Referenced as 'Edward Shawcross's book on The Last Emperor of Mexico' — a history that both hosts clearly enjoyed but discuss only briefly.

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Tom describes finally buying this book after years of dismissing it as 'unreadable' and 'this terrible book full of rope.' After doing a big series on Trafalgar and Nelson, he got massively into the Royal Navy and decided to give it another chance based on Dominic's long-standing recommendation. He plans to read it over Christmas.

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Dominic's book recommendation about England in the 1650s/Cromwellian era, reviewed for the Sunday Times. Praised for being 'so attentive to ordinary life' — not just politics but people telling funny stories, eating pies, falling out of windows, and a vicar amusing neighbours with tales of a character called 'Mr. Prick.' The author is coming on the podcast in a couple of months.

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Mentioned as a book that came out just four days before they recorded their holidays series, with the result that the podcast 'just turned into us reading ginormous chunks from the book.' The author was sporting about it and is coming on the show to talk about a different topic. A timely book about the history of tourism.

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Described as 'a brilliant book' about 'the colossal numbers of people who were in domestic service,' published five or six years ago. Lucy Lethbridge is coming on the podcast to talk about 'the real Downton Abbey' drawing on this book's research into the world of domestic service in Britain.

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Tom Holland mentions his own forthcoming book about the Year of the Four Emperors in Rome, due out in July 2023, available from all bookshops. Referenced in the context of comparing British political turmoil (multiple prime ministers) with Roman political instability, noting that the Year of the Four Emperors turned out not to be indicative of wider sickness in the Roman system.

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Dominic recommends Tom's children's book about the Vikings, which Tom wrote during the year. There's a humorous exchange where Dominic gets the title wrong ('Fury of the Northmen') and Tom corrects him. Dominic describes it as 'brilliant' and 'full of stirring stuff about King Alfred.'