Customer Reviews

Attila: King of the Huns: The Man and the Myth

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The text, is very informative on the relationship between the Huns, Goths, and the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. However, if you are looking for information on Attila the Hun, this book seems to brings nothing new to light. It appears to use two common references to Attila, One writen by Jordanes (a Gothic historian), who wrote, The Origin and Deeds of The Goths, a summary of Cassiodorus' much longer treatment of the history of the Goths. Also, the other source for the material seems to come from the Roman Historian, Priscus, who actually attended the court of Attila as a Roman Ebassy.
The book gives a good accounting of the political air of the Roman, Hunish conflict, but nothing new on Attila.
The bottom line is that I am no expert on history or that of the Goths or Attila, but I am a student. This book beat all around the "Whole bush" before I figured out that there was not a whole lot of content on Attilla that I could not find on the web.

The writing is engaging. The author explores the evidence and the various views of Attila over the centuries. The first chapters gave the reader the background setting of this turbulent period. I found chapters 13-21 to be the most crucial. The authors speculations on why Attila spared Italy from more devestation was good food for thought. This book should inspire the reader to do more research on the subject. But, the index is rather brief and the absense of maps was sorely missed. The problem may be that there simply are not enough original sources? When more archaeological artefacts come to light I look forward to this book being revised.

Patrick Howarth had a rich and varied career, that included study in languages at Oxford, work during the second world war in special operations and intelligence, and a wide ranging writing career, all of which have come together to help craft this interesting overview and introduction to the Huns and their most illustrious leader, Attila.

This book is less a biography of Attila the Hun, the Scourge of God, as it is an overview of the cultural, military, political and personality aspects of the late Roman Empire and the expansive but short-lived Hunnish Empire. It also addresses how the mythology of Attila and the Huns is far more pervasive throughout history than the truth has been, or continues to be. Howarth's thesis begins that the Huns are a much-maligned people, and that most of our historical information comes with a distinct political taint, handed down by the victors (those who win get to write the history), the Romans, the Byzantines, and that longest-of-lasting institutions, the Christian church.

Little known and less taught is the fact that the Roman Empire did in fact have major, if disorganised, rivals for their power. The Celtic Empire prior to the Common Era was one such; the Hunnish Empire from the middle fourth century to the late fifth century held more territory than Rome and Constantinople. This makes it more credible that Attila, who in fact only ruled as king of the Huns for a little under a decade, such a threat to both the Eastern and Western Empires.

Howarth's text looks at the pieces that make up the history of the period. He looks at the internal politics and dynamics of the courts and general population of Rome and Constantinople, how they played off each other in addition to the Huns. He looks at the military situation was some insight, showing the difficulties of troop movement and support, the problems of intelligence gathering and planning, and the difficult time the Romans East and West had defending their territories, which also made it difficult in the end for the Huns to hold the gains, too.

One of the more interesting chapters involves one of the great legends that has been spun around the interaction of Attila and Pope Leo. Howarth describes the effects of art and legendary stories on the way history is popularly perceived, and even academically transmitted - examples of Raphael and Gibbons commenting on the legends of the Pope's eloquence (and the appearance of Sts. Peter and Paul to threaten Attila) compared with other, more rationally likely explanations for Attila's reluctance to attack Rome.

The controversy over Attila's death is also explored, drawing on sources contemporary and later, that Attila died on the night of his wedding to Ildico. Whether he was murdered or died of natural causes will likely never be known; where his grave is located also remains a mystery. Howarth discusses several possibilities, again drawing from ancient sources.

Howarth combines a lot of ancient primary sources with more modern expositions of the history. He also looks at the continuing legacy of Attila, in popular culture around the world, as well as in modern-day Hungary. This is not a 'high academic' scholarly text, but it does serve as a good introduction to the subject, with the right balance between speculation (generally presented as such) and source-text reporting. There is a short index, which could be improved upon, and as another commentator has observed, the absence of maps is a significant flaw for a text on this kind of history. Still, the writing is engaging, if occasionally choppy, and the subject, already interesting in and of itself, is developed in an interesting fashion.

Huzzah!

This is a fair biography of Attilla and perhaps a good introduction in that respect. But if you are looking for a history with some depth in the military aspects of his reign, you will likely want to look some more. One invaluable tool for the military man that is noticably absent are maps. The battle descriptions are also rather shallow for the tastes of the avid military historiphile. Still, the writing is good and the organization of the material is equally good. One nice feature was a table at the beginning that had contemporaries listed for rulers of the western and eastern Roman empires, rulers of the Huns, and rulers of the Visigoths. It helps a great deal to have that ready reference of names unfamiliar to modern western ears. Not a bad resource and a worthwhile biography.

I am enjoying this book a lot; however it is very frustrating because the book does not provide ready reference to the maps of the many ancient countries and cities, especially Roman and Hungarian. Instead, there are several pages of black & white 'artists conceptions' (19th & 20th century) of Atilla. What I could have used was a few maps (by century) with the location of the myriad locations referred to therein.

This book never really gets to describing who Attila was.
I am not a student of Attila, but have read some about the Roman Empire.
The book does a half-hearted job of setting the context for the times Attila lived. It talks about some of the leaders of the eastern and western Roman empire as well as the leaders of some of the tribes in Europe threatening the western Roman empire. The book also gives very minimal information about who the Huns were and even less on what made them different at the time. The book eventually gets to several engagements between Attila and his rivals for power, but again, no depth.
The book winds up with a short discussion about the mythology that has grown up around Attila.
Basically, I came away knowing very little more than when I started and with no clue why Attila is important in history.
I do not recommend this book.

A quick easy read. The author dwelled on the conditions of both Western and Eastern Roman Empires, and less on the life and abilities of Attila. Book puts to rest that Attila had more reputation than actual cruelty. Attila was made out to be blood thirsty barbarian, when in actuality he was tolerant of different peoples and ideas.

Attila is so interesting and Howarth writes in such an easy, flowing style that I read this book in a single sitting. The only criticism I can muster is an echo of the other reviewer's - maps would have been beneficial.

This book claims to be "...a thrilling piece of historical reconstruction." Needless to say it didn't live up to its claim. I enjoy reading about history, but up to this point I have not studied the fifth century. It wasn't a bad book for getting a feel for the time period, but provided little relevant information. I have two main complaints about this book.
1. There is actually little said about Attila. The Romans are the central figure for much of the book. I understand that the Hun and Roman interactions are where we get most of our information about Attila, but if you do not have enough information to write a book about Attila, do not try. It would be similar to someone writing a 10 chapter book on Stalin during WWII, spending 7 of those of Hitler, one on FRD and Churchill, one on Russia, and taking one chapter to discuss Stalin.
2. There are no maps included. The book mentions many little ancient villages and gives no way of determining where they are located. I eventually gave up trying to visualize where in Europe and Asia the Huns were pillaging. Every once in a while the book will mention a major location such as Paris or Rome. Their route from one place to another is still a mystery to me.

Patrick Howarth does a good job of writing a short and cogent book establishing context and "factual" evidence for the conduct of Attila before and during his reign. It reads more like a well done generalized history of beginning of the Eastern Roman empire as well as the decline of the Western Roman empire as much as a history of Attila's short rule of the Huns (and dominating the associated allied barbarian kingdoms) than anything else. It is concise, informative, and well done, but it could have been improved greatly with maps. I definitely would not fault the bibliography however.

In addition to the aforementioned, the cultural after effects of Attila and the Huns, and how they had been portrayed in popular European history during various periods of European history is of great interest also. Variously such portrayals in literature, plays, or opera have been used for political purposes to inspire or motivate for a specific purpose, domestically or internationally, show how pervasive and influential the effects of Attila's rule are even today when properly manipulated.

In sumation, a well written, introductory history of Attila the man and his environment which has served to further pique my interest in the period of history in which the Romans and barbarians were contesting for dominance of Europe.