New Goldsworthy and Holland in May 2009

[DDickey]

Don't know if these have been mentioned elsewhere, but I saw them on Amazon and thought I'd link to them here. I'm definitely looking forward to both of them.

 

How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower by Adrian Goldsworthy

 

The Forge of Christendom: The End of Days and the Epic Rise of the West by Tom Holland

[Ursus]

Thank you for the update.

 

I might read Goldsworthy, but it would depend on 2 things:

1) Is he less verbose than he was in his Caesar book?

2) Does he improve upon Peter Heather's views?

 

As for Holland, I'll read his book just for the prose.

[guy]

DDickey said:

Don't know if these have been mentioned elsewhere, but I saw them on Amazon and thought I'd link to them here. I'm definitely looking forward to both of them.

Thanks for the alert. I'm looking forward to the reviews.

 

My greatest interests in Roman history are the "third century crisis" and the development of the Christian movement in the Ancient World. I'm looking foreward to the books. I've already read a couple books from each author and have enjoyed them all.

Edited March 19, 2022 by guy

[DecimusCaesar]

I'm looking forward to seeing Goldsowrthy's take on the Fall of Rome, as I've been wanting to read that book for some time.

Tom Holland's book on the Middle Ages has already been released in hardback, I believe. I saw a few reviews for it on Amazon. So far they seem positive, although some think he doesn't have much of a grasp on Medieval History as he had with the Classical World. Then again, many modern scholars have poured heavy criticism on Rubicon and Persian Fire for their historical inaccuracies.

[Maty]

When you see the reviews for Goldsworthy's latest, take a good look at the reviewer's name. I've read the book, and I think it's going to ruffle a few feathers. The modern approach is that all was basically all fine and dandy in the later Roman empire albeit the place was going through some extensive social, political and economic changes. I think it's fair to say that Goldsworthy disagrees with this view, so I'm expecting to hear noises indicating deep outrage from late Roman historians. Even the title suggests that the western empire 'fell' - preposterous!

[sonic]

When you see the reviews for Goldsworthy's latest, take a good look at the reviewer's name. I've read the book, and I think it's going to ruffle a few feathers. The modern approach is that all was basically all fine and dandy in the later Roman empire albeit the place was going through some extensive social, political and economic changes. I think it's fair to say that Goldsworthy disagrees with this view, so I'm expecting to hear noises indicating deep outrage from late Roman historians. Even the title suggests that the western empire 'fell' - preposterous!

 

I have to agree with Maty. It is possible that Goldsworthy's latest will receive poor reviews from those who hold to the 'the Empire was going through changes but everything was still Roman and great' view. No doubt it will create some interesting threads on the forum!

[ASCLEPIADES]

Salve, Amici

 

For this and related topics, the first question is always the same:

 

What is the author's working definition for the Fall of Rome?

 

More than half the authors I have checked on have extensively argued why it happened without actually explaining what it was (at least for each one of them).

Edited November 27, 2008 by ASCLEPIADES

[Ursus]

I have to agree with Maty. It is possible that Goldsworthy's latest will receive poor reviews from those who hold to the 'the Empire was going through changes but everything was still Roman and great' view. No doubt it will create some interesting threads on the forum!

 

 

And it might make for a really great book review/ author interview.