I just bought Tom Holland’s book on the rise of Islam for the sole reason that he was attacked by Glen Bowesock, the most prominent living scholar of the Roman Levant. Tom Holland is a popularizer and I would not have taken him seriously otherwise.

A heuristic to estimate the quality of research is the caliber of the highest detractor, or the caliber of the lowest detractor whom the author answers–whichever is lower.

via I just bought Tom… | Facebook.