Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Easily the most famous historical chronicle in English, Gibbon’s account of Roman decline remains a remarkably fresh and vital contribution to the subject more than two centuries after its first publication. A landmark in its time for classical and historiographical scholarship, its fame today, however, rests more on the scope and force of Gibbon’s argument and the brilliance of his style, which is still an utter delight to read. But above all, the book is a superb monument to the Enlightenment ideal of rational enquiry which Gibbon made the object of his life’s work.