Adrian Goldsworthy is a preeminent historian of the ancient world. His many acclaimed works include Caesar, a New York Times Notable Book and winner of the Society of Military History’s Distinguished Book Award for Biography. Goldsworthy, who received his doctorate at Oxford, lectures widely and consults on historical documentaries produced by the History Channel, National Geographic, and the BBC.
"Goldsworthy . . . claims the empire's fatal move was to make the
centre of authority—Rome and its experienced senatorial
government—irrelevant. . . . Goldsworthy's expertise guarantees his
clearly and powerfully articulated thesis will open up the debate
all over again."—Peter Jones, Telegraph
"Meticulously researched, complex and thought-provoking."—Diana
Preston, The Washington Post Book World (Best of 2009 Review)
"Goldsworthy gives a vivid account. . . . [he] tells us clearly and
well—and without attempts at literary majesty—about the series of
events that brought Rome’s western empire to a state of
collapse."—Wall Street Journal
Selected as one of the Best Books of 2009 in the World History
category, Diana Preston, Washington Post Book World
"Adrian Goldsworthy is one of the new generation of young
classicists who combines scholarship with storytelling to bring the
ancient world to life."—Simon Sebag Montefiore
These two fine books about late Roman history bring to mind the current discussion of the worldwide economic debacle's impact on empire. Goldsworthy's popular history traces the three centuries leading up to the final collapse of the Western Empire in 476 C.E. In the shorter, more academic 428 AD, Traina follows a single year across the late empire from Egypt to Britannia. While Goldsworthy pursues large-scale trends over centuries, Traina describes life on the ground (as far as the historical record allows) through the leading figures of the day, including generals, emperors, and clerics. Goldsworthy convincingly argues that the Roman state collapsed from within, showing that internal disorder and the ballooning bureaucracy (rather than barbarian invasion or Christianity) created the conditions leading to fall. Traina's focus on a single year, a half-century before the end of the Western Empire, reveals a world already more like the medieval period than ancient times, with Christian bishops arguing over heresy, ascetic monks perched atop columns, and Germanic tribes occupying much of Gaul and Spain (and preparing to invade Africa). The authors' complementary perspectives lead to similar conclusions: the empire's ever-so-slow collapse was almost unnoticeable to the Romans, for whom the concept of mighty Imperial Rome endured despite the reality simply because there was nothing to take its place. Unusual for a popular historian, Goldsworthy always takes the time to share with readers his interpretive process with source materials, and he is more explicit than Traina about present-day parallels. Goldsworthy's book would satisfy any reader, while Traina's scholarly work makes a good follow-up for serious students.-Stewart Desmond, New York Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
"Goldsworthy . . . claims the empire's fatal move was to make
the centre of authority-Rome and its experienced senatorial
government-irrelevant. . . . Goldsworthy's expertise guarantees his
clearly and powerfully articulated thesis will open up the debate
all over again."-Peter Jones, Telegraph
"Meticulously researched, complex and thought-provoking."-Diana
Preston, The Washington Post Book World (Best of 2009
Review)
"Goldsworthy gives a vivid account. . . . [he] tells us clearly
and well-and without attempts at literary majesty-about the series
of events that brought Rome's western empire to a state of
collapse."-Wall Street Journal
Selected as one of the Best Books of 2009 in the World History
category, Diana Preston, Washington Post Book World
"Adrian Goldsworthy is one of the new generation of young classicists who combines scholarship with storytelling to bring the ancient world to life."-Simon Sebag Montefiore
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