Publisher's Synopsis
VOL 1 of Edward Gibbon's six-volume History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-88) is among the most magnificent and ambitious narratives in European literature. Its subject is the fate of one of the world's greatest civilizations over thirteen centuries - its rulers, wars and society, and the events that led to its disastrous collapse. Here, in volumes three and four, Gibbon vividly recounts the waves of barbarian invaders under commanders such as Alaric and Attila, who overran and eventually destroyed the West. He then turns his gaze to events in the East, where even the achievements of the Byzantine emperor Justinian and the campaigns of the brilliant military leader Belisarius could not conceal the fundamental weaknesses of their empire.To begin with versions of all six volumes of the foremost celebrated chronicled work in English writing. Gibbon s Decrease and Drop covers the thirteen centuries from the age of Trajan to the drop of Constantinople with unmatched learnedness, clarity, and organization. Gibbon brought a width of vision and a basic dominance of the accessible sources which have not been equaled to this day; and the result was clothed in an incomparable composition (PMM). Gibbon composed that it was in Rome on October 15, 1764 whereas pondering amid the ruins of the Capitol, where the barefooted friars were singing vespers within the sanctuary of Jupiter the thought of composing the decay and drop of the city to begin with begun into my intellect. It was not until 1772, after his father s passing and Gibbon s taking up autonomous lodging in London, that he began the showstopper which would be twenty a long time within the making. Upon perusing the original copy for the primary volume, Gibbon s distributer William Strahan multiplied the printing arrange from 500 to 1000 copies .
