Philipp Blom (b.1970) is a historian, novelist, journalist and translator. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, and studied in Vienna and Oxford. After living and working in London and Paris he now lives in Vienna.
His historical works include To Have and To Hold (2002), a history of collectors and collecting, and Encyclopédie (2005, US edition: Enlightening the World), a history of the Encyclopédie by Diderot and d'Alembert. A cultural history of the era 1900 to 1914 in the Europe and the United States is due to be published in 2008. He has also published two novels: The Simmons Papers (1995) and Luxor (2006); an English translation of Geert Mak's Amsterdam (1999); and a book on Austrian wines The Wines of Austria (1999, reissued 2006).
As a journalist, Blom has written mainly for the Times Literary Supplement, the Financial Times and The Independent in Britain, various German-speaking publications (Neue Züricher Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Zeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung) and Vrij Nederland in the Netherlands, as well as for other magazines and journals and for German and Austrian broadcasting stations.