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The Fall Of The West: The Death Of The Roman Superpower (2010)

by Adrian Goldsworthy(Favorite Author)

3.91 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0753826925 (ISBN13: 9780753826928)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Phoenix

review 1: THE definite look on HOW the Roman empire fell, and of course it did NOT "fall" as such, there werent any cataclysmic disasters that overnight killed it off, it was a long, declining process that lasted several hundred years, and this book shows it quite well, as usual Dr Goldsworthy's writing is thrilling, elaborating but never "TOO elaborating", it has a great, natural flow and it is quite hard to stop reading, noone in this field has a better, more rich and good flow, it never becomes "just another history book" like so often is the case with these kinda books, if i was a student there is no other lecturer id wanna attend the classes of, id recommend this book to anyone even vaguely intrested in the Roman Empire, and personally, i cant wait to get hold of his upcoming b... moreook about Augustus
review 2: Let's see... a bloated and sclerotic bureaucracy, debilitating contests between rival aspirants to imperial power, immigrant barbarian tribes accepted and settled in the Empire who never actually integrated, bribing enemies instead of confronting them to save money, etc., etc. This book has it all. Sure is a good thing we've wised up over the last 1500 years and don't have to deal with such ineptitude, craveness, and selfish behavior in our own time.Mr. Goldsworthy demonstrates his rather thorough knowledge regarding the Roman military, but I would have preferred some additional information on the culture of the time. That is, in fact, probably what is keeping that 5th star away. To be fair, Goldsworthy does a good job pointing out that we just cannot be certain about most things during the time period covered, so gaps in various subject matter are not his fault. I find most historians just make conclusions based on available data (or based on previous author's work), and state them as fact. Goldsworthy, refreshingly, refrains from that - or makes it clear that he is espousing unverifiable opinion based on available evidence / scholarship. less

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