James McCormick reviews Bryan Ward-Perkins’ The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization:
If one wants a great historical bridge between the writings of Victor David Hanson and Robert Kaplan, few titles can beat The Fall of Rome. Throw in Alfred Crosby’s The Measure of Reality for some early Renaissance insight, and you’ve got a solid train of interesting historical reading stretching from ancient Athens to yesterday’s Baghdad.In a few weeks, The Fall of Rome will be out in affordable paperback from Oxford University Press. Let’s hope this “if you only read one book” title makes it into the hands of new generation of young historians, and onto the holiday gift list of anyone who’s wondered what “the end of a civilization” really looks like. This compact summary of the fall of Rome will amaze you, maintain your interest, and cause the odd shiver.