I've recently read through The Forge of Christendom and while I found it an extremely enjoyable read I do wonder how reliable it is as a work of history. This could just be a lack of experience but I've found that narritive driven histories aren't as accurate and work better as introductions/ sparks of interest to the scene than detailed looks at the period.
What is the general consensus on this book and Holland as an author (assuming he's done more works of history)?
I'm working through Tom Hollands 'Persian Fire' and he is very honest in the forward about the amount of embellishment and speculation in the work.
I'm reading this with a few other people, and while they find it significantly more enjoyable to read, we all feel that we're reading exactly what he said, speculation and embellishment. I don't know if that helps here at all.
Hopefully a historian will hop in.