The Best and Most Comprehensive Roman/Late Roman/Early Byzantine History in the English Language

books:


	• The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Modern Library Classics) Edward Gibbon Modern Library, 2003 - 1312 pages average customer review:based on 67 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Exceptional, though time consuming

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is undoubtedly one of the best works of narrative history, if not the best. It spares absolutley no facts, giving an absolutley complete chronology of the Roman Empire from the death of Marcus Aurelius to the fall of Constantinople. Gibbon writes in a prose style, which appeals to some but had often been the subject of criticism to others. This style makes it somewhat difficult to read, and also more time consuming, especially factoring the massive length of the set (This particular set of Volumes 1-3 is only half of the total publication) make it difficult to read quickly, I took nearly 10 months of reading it from time to time to finish it.

Undoubtedly, reading this takes a great amount of patience and dedication, though often, Gibbon will interject chapters or comments into the narrative work dealing with analysis of certain events, most infamously, the rise of Christianity, which Gibbon writes of very negativley, equating it together with the growth of barbarism. Gibbon's view of Christianity is undoubtedly very hostile, even going as far as to partially blame it for the fall of Rome, this subjective view is also demonstrated when he discusses the Sassanian empire, openly speaking positivley of the Emperor Julian's war with the Persian king Shapur II, referring to the Persians as barbarians when they were in fact, perhaps the only civilzed society which Rome bordered. While this is not a good example of the objective standard history should be held to, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire excels when speaking in a purely narrative way, giving the reader who completes it an excellent understanding of the fall of Rome.

for more information click here

The Best and Most Comprehensive Roman/Late Roman/Early Byzantine History in the English Language

A must own for any Late Roman historian. A must read for anyone attempting to determine the roots of European culture in subsequent centuries. I rarely read any book or set of books more than once and I've read this one six times. The best.

for more information click here

The best history book I have ever read!

I have only read about 25% of this book since it is a very large one (over 1000 pages), but I can say The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon is one of the best history books I have ever read.
Thought english is not my native language, the book is, with a few exceptions, very easy to read. It is loaded with a lot of history since it covers over 1000 years, but this fact does not give you a headache if your not into learning everything in it.
The book covers the history of the Roman Empire from the 1st century A.D. to the final collaps of it in the 11th century. What I like about Gibbon's writing style is that he follows every emperor's reign and (not going into very much details) explains the ups and (mainly) downs of this great empire.
That is why I wormly recommand this book to any history lover and specially to the ones interested in the reasons of the great fall of The Roman Empire.

Edit: I have read over 80% of time and I can say I am truly impressed. From all the theories of why the Roman Empire fell, Gibbon's ones are the most respected. Some argue he is a "paganist" writer since he thinks christianity is the main reason for the fall of the Roman Empire (maybe that's why I like the book so much... I totaly agree with his opinion). If you are interested in the fall of the Roman Empire this book is a must and should come first before any other book on this subject.

for more information click here

A great condensation of a still valuable classic

I had, already nearly 20 years ago, browsed passages of Gibbon's original, and used it as a reference. But I had no desire to plow through the complete unabridged six volumes.

Finally, I decided to look for an abridged version, and I found Mueller's. Long and detailed enough to catch all of Gibbon's high points. He also keeps enough of the original to capture Gibbon's style and love of subject.

Review of the Gibbon the Decline and Fall Volumes 1-3

Extremely through, thought provoking analysis of the key events that occured under each Roman Emperor over the period 180 - 495 AD; along with the primary causes of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.

Gibbon's history lacks maps and does not spend enough time on Attila the Hun. The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome provides many maps that can be used to help the reader understand the location of cities and provinces cited by Gibbon.

I found Gibbon to be excessively critical of early Christians, although he does present reasons for his criticisms. The conversion of Emperor Constantine to Christianity was one of the key events in later Roman History. Gibbon did a through job covering this.

This is a MUST read for any serious student of Roman History, and deserves the reputation it has. I would not recommend attempting to read Gibbon's history before first reading Livy, Suetonius and Tacitius to become familiar with Roman History leading up to this period.

Gibbon makes many references to the Roman Historian Ammianus Marcellinus who wrote a history covering much of the same period covered in Volumes 1-3.

for more information click here

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

A Reading List for a Free and Prosperous America, Part 1
Ashley's must-read history books
Much About History
Summer 2008
rome

search for books
decline and, classics, decline, empire, fall, library, modern, roman

Impressum / about us