The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Penguin Classics) [ABRIDGED] (Paperback)

~ (Author), Diro A. Saunders (Editor) "IN the second century of the Christian era, the Empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilised portion of..." (more)
Key Phrases: Aurelius Victor, Augustan History, Dion Cassius (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

British parliamentarian and soldier Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) conceived of his plan for Decline and Fall while "musing amid the ruins of the Capitol" on a visit to Rome. For the next 10 years he worked away at his great history, which traces the decadence of the late empire from the time of the Antonines and the rise of Western Christianity. "The confusion of the times, and the scarcity of authentic memorials, pose equal difficulties to the historian, who attempts to preserve a clear and unbroken thread of narration," he writes. Despite these obstacles, Decline and Fall remains a model of historical exposition, and required reading for students of European history.

Review

?[Gibbon] stood on the summit of the Renaissance achievement and looked back over the waste of history to ancient Rome, as from one mountain top to another.??Christopher Dawson -- Review --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (June 30, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140431896
• ISBN-13: 978-0140431896
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #306,508 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

128 of 131 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Everyman's edition, volumes 1, 2, & 3 (boxed) of 6 , May 15, 2005

By	Vincent Poirier "CISSP, http://vfp15.wordpres... (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volumes 1-3 (Everyman's Library) (Hardcover)

This is the best edition available of Gibbon's history.

+ It has all of Gibbon's footnotes;
+ it is packaged in an attractive boxed set;
+ it's hard bound in good plain cloth, not snobby leather;
+ it's printed on fine paper;
+ it can be expected to last into the next century;
+ it leaves enough white margin for writing notes;
+ it has an index;
+ it even smells good.

Caveat

- It gives no translation of the better Latin and Greek passages;
- the black paste used to print the cover's gold-on-black logo flakes off;
- don't forget to order the other half (volumes 4, 5, and 6).

(The only other edition worth considering is the unabridged paperback Penguin edition. It also contains the full notes, and it is cheaper, but it is bulkier since two volumes are bound as one and the paper is of much lower quality, so the that other edition won't last much more than 10 or 20 years...)

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gibbon's Masterpiece in a Readable Edition, January 15, 2002

By	Tom Moran (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volumes 1-3 (Everyman's Library) (Hardcover)

These three volumes constitute the first half of Edward Gibbon's masterpiece. Many would-be readers will find reading Gibbon to be somewhat daunting, but his wit, scholarship, and narrative drive (in these early volumes, anyway) make this book hard to resist.

A word about the text. Everyman's Library reprints the famous J.B. Bury edition (Bury was a famous Irish historian who wrote a well-respected History of Greece), which is close to 100 years old (it dates to 1909). If you're reading Gibbon for a history course on an undergraduate or post-graduate level, you should probably read the more recent David Womerseley edition, which is available in a three-volume Penguin paperback (with, unfortunately, unreadably microscopic type). The hardcover edition was remaindered recently, though, so you might find it on Amazon secondhand.

If you're reading Gibbon for pleasure, however, the Everyman's Library edition is the one to get. The individual volumes are just the right size, and the text is large enough and clear enough to be read easily. The text is complete, which is not always the case (some fancy editions -- the Folio Society's comes to mind -- tend to cut back on the footnotes).

Gibbon makes great bedtime reading. Take him slowly, and don't rush. Keep your eye on the footnotes -- some of the best and snarkiest stuff in Gibbon is discreetly hidden in the footnotes (in one of my favorite early footnotes [in Chapter IV] he mentions the giraffe, "the tallest, the most gentle, and the most useless of the large quadrupeds."). If you decide to push on to the second three volumes (Chapters 39-71), be prepared to be patient, because there are some rough spots. It might take you a while to get through it (my last reading of the entire work took me 26 months), but Gibbon is more than worth the effort. Which is why I've just started reading him again -- for the fifth time.

75 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STILL HOLDS UP IN MOST REGARDS EVEN AFTER 2 CENTURIES, January 24, 2000

By	maxentius (Harrisburg, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol 1. (Modern Library) (Hardcover)

I always loved Roman and Byzantine history, so it was only a matter of time before I "knew" I had to read this. Like most of you I had heard a lot of modern authors and historians condemn Gibbon but I found him to be very entertaining and informative. Unlike the genius below who POSTED HER PSAT SCORES, I liked his writing style. It's obvious that the FLOW of history is important to him. I especially enjoyed the chapters in the first book about early Christianity - he actually takes a very harsh view that was very refreshing. His storytelling is superior to all others and this book is rightfully considered among the best works of the English language.

However, Gibbon does have some drawbacks- though it wasn't his fault. The Byzantine Empire, Slavs, Bulgarians, etc all get shafted by Gibbon. It's understandable since at the time this work was written, Byzantine study was not given serious thought. Overall a 5 star book! For Byzantine history I would recommend Procopius, Psellus, or "Romanus Lecapanus and his Reign" by Sir Steven Runcimen. Can't go wrong with those!