Parmi ses biographies les plus importantes figurent Shelley: The Pursuit, qui a obtenu le prix Somerset-Maugham ; Coleridge: Early Visions, lauréat en 1989 du Whitbread Book of the Year Prize (prix Costa) ; Coleridge: Darker Reflections, second volume de sa biographie de Coleridge, lui a valu le Duff Cooper Prize et le Heinemann Award. Son Dr. Johnson and Mr. Savage, sur l'amitié de Samuel Johnson et de Richard Savage, a reçu le prix James Tait Black Memorial.
Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin: A Short Residence in Sweden and Memoirs (Published by Penguin Classics in 1987)
Kipling: Something of Myself (coauteur avec Robert Hampson - (Published in Penguin Classics in 1987)
De Feministe en De Filosoof' (Published in Amsterdam in 1988)
Coleridge: Early Visions (Published by Hodder and Stoughton in 1989, current edition published by HarperPerenial (ISBN978-0-00-720457-1))
Dr Johnson and Mr. Savage (Published Hodder and Stoughton in 1993[2], current edition published by HarperPerenial (ISBN978-0-00-720455-7))
Coleridge: Selected Poems (Editor - Published by HarperPress in 1996 (ISBN978-0-00-255579-1))
Coleridge: Darker Reflections (Published by HarperPress in 1998, current edition published by HarperPerenial (ISBN978-0-00-720456-4))
Sidetracks: Explorations of a Romantic Biographer (Published by HarperPress in 2000, current edition published by HarperPerenial (ISBN978-0-00-720454-0))
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science (Published by HarperPress in 2008 (ISBN978-0-00-714952-0))
Ouvrages édités par Richard Holmes (Classic Biographies Series, HarperPerennial)
Defoe on Sheppard and Wild: The True and Genuine Account of the Life and Actions of the Late Jonathan Wild by Daniel Defoe (2004, (ISBN978-0-00-711168-8))
Southey on Nelson: The Life of Nelson by Robert Southey (2004, (ISBN978-0-00-711170-1))
Scott on Zélide: Portrait of Zélide by Geoffrey Scott (2004, (ISBN978-0-00-711173-2))
Johnson on Savage: The Life of Mr Richard Savage by Samuel Johnson (2005, (ISBN978-0-00-711169-5))
Godwin on Wollstonecraft: The Life of Mary Wollstonecraft by William Godwin (2005, (ISBN978-0-00-711176-3))
Gilchrist on Blake: The Life of William Blake by Alexander Gilchrist (2005, (ISBN978-0-00-711171-8))