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The Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireBook

by Edward Gibbon

Who uses, recommends or left The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, in their own words: each a verbatim quote with a link to where it was said.

1 person

Tom Holland
British historian, translator and broadcaster; author of Rubicon and Dominion and co-host of The Rest Is History podcast.
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But the truth is that it remains incredibly readable. As I said before, it takes Tacitus as its model, who was famous for his waspish style, and a careful balancing and modulating of the sentences so that irony would be generated. This is what Gibbon does as well, and it means that not only is it an incredible work of scholarship but it is also compulsively entertaining. I really think that anyone who is prepared to give it a chance will find themselves smiling at the very least throughout it.

Five Books interview on the best books about ancient Rome

2011-09-13·fivebooks.com ↗

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