01-25-2008, 09:49 PM | #1 |
Groupie
Posts: 181
Karma: 232
Join Date: May 2006
|
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
As I understand it, it is still the main textbook on this subject even though it was written in the 1800s.
However due to all the footnotes free ebook versions are not formatted well enough and for me it is unreadable. Can anyone recommend a good version to buy or a free version? If no-one can I am willing to spend a lot of time (and it will take a long time because it has many pages and footnotes) in making my own version and then share it with you all. I don't want to do all that work if a good version already exists, however. It is one of the main reasons I bought the ebook reader because the whole set itself costs around $200 aussie and I was just about to fork over the cash when I thought again about getting an ebook reader. |
01-25-2008, 10:03 PM | #2 |
creator of calibre
Posts: 43,749
Karma: 22446736
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Mumbai, India
Device: Various
|
Isn't decline and fall available from connect? Here's a shorter history of rome
|
Advert | |
|
01-25-2008, 10:08 PM | #3 |
Bookaholic
Posts: 14,391
Karma: 54969924
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Minnesota
Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +
|
They have a three volume set put out by Random House for $4.70 per volume.
Fictionwise has the same Random House set in LIT and they also have a six volume version in Multiformat. http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/Ed...bboneBooks.htm Last edited by AnemicOak; 01-25-2008 at 10:11 PM. |
01-25-2008, 10:43 PM | #4 |
Reader
Posts: 11,505
Karma: 8720163
Join Date: May 2007
Location: South Wales, UK
Device: Sony PRS-500, PRS-505, Asus EEEpc 4G
|
And the book is older than you think: the first volume was published in 1776 (- the same year as Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations).
|
01-26-2008, 09:28 AM | #5 | |
Groupie
Posts: 181
Karma: 232
Join Date: May 2006
|
Quote:
, I did not know of that set. I bought them for less than $4 at www.booksonboard.com. They are formatted perfectly with many "illustrations". |
|
Advert | |
|
01-26-2008, 11:15 AM | #6 | |
Books and more books
Posts: 917
Karma: 69499
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: White Plains, NY, USA
Device: Nook Color, Itouch, Nokia770, Sony 650, Sony 700(dead), Ebk(given)
|
Quote:
And the dismissal of Byzantium (a vibrant Christian civilization that stood against terrible attacks for a very long while) is nothing short of ignorant and prejudiced. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 under the Islamic Jihad of the Ottomans after being severely weakened by the Catholic Crusades of the "Franks" (after all the Byzantines were infidel dogs or unrepentant heretics) was nothing short of cataclysmic and represented the final fall of Rome in many eyes. |
|
01-26-2008, 07:45 PM | #7 | |
Groupie
Posts: 181
Karma: 232
Join Date: May 2006
|
Quote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Byzantium1430.JPG Your views that his book is incorrect are strong. Is that the Christian view only? Is it really a waste of time to read? (after I just bought it...) Anyone like to contribute their thoughts? How about a poll? |
|
01-26-2008, 11:31 PM | #8 | |
Books and more books
Posts: 917
Karma: 69499
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: White Plains, NY, USA
Device: Nook Color, Itouch, Nokia770, Sony 650, Sony 700(dead), Ebk(given)
|
Quote:
There are many books about Byzantium that correct Gibbon's misleading description; JJ Norwich has a trilogy (summarized also in one volume) that I found best for popular reading being quite accurate historically too. Regarding Gibbon's description of the fall of the Western Empire, there are many modern books that rebut him, though there is no one particularly definitive book as far as I know and there are various theories of what happened; the book itself is quite entertaining though and it's definitely worth reading since the factual events presented were as accurate as known in Gibbon's times following the surviving historical accounts. Now of course through various studies much, much more is known and the whole "fall of the empire" is sometimes regarded as a misleading description. After all in 476 a puppet emperor was deposed by a high ranking german officer who sent his crown to Constantinople and proclaimed himself the ruler of Italy in the name of the Eastern Emperor. And not much changed in Italy for a while, until Justinian's attempts to reattach the province to his effective rule in the 530's which led to the terrible war with the Ostrogoths that devastated Italy. Similarly the other Western provinces were only fictionally ruled from Italy in 476, with the Visigoths, Vandals, Franks, Burgunds, Huns and various other people actually forming their own kingdoms, principalities and so on inside what had once been the Western Empire, process that had started well in the late 300's (especially with the Huns emergence from Asia and their push of the Germanic tribes West, led to a massive influx of german refugees inside imperial border) and then when the terrible winter of 405/6 and the frozen Rhine led to the decisive invasion that saw the Germanic tribes installed for good in former imperial territory So the situation was very complex and in Gibbon's time only some part of it was understood. But all in all, the book is still worth reading and it deserves its reputation being very entertaining and a "page turner" so to speak. So in my opinion the book is definitely a worthwhile and enjoyable read; what I would object to is regarding its conclusions as "definitive" and then the treatment of Byzantium as a degenerate state and not worthwhile writing about, which is so misleading and inaccurate to be almost laughable. |
|
01-27-2008, 02:21 AM | #9 |
Groupie
Posts: 181
Karma: 232
Join Date: May 2006
|
Thanks for such a comprehensive answer - I am sure many will find that informative.
I am looking for .lit versions nor JJ Norwich now. |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
History Gibbon, Edward: The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, v1.0, 6 July 2008 | bartolucci | Kindle Books | 7 | 09-05-2010 04:43 PM |
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire | ahi | Reading Recommendations | 32 | 09-16-2009 11:23 AM |
Non-roman fonts | ebookworm | Sony Reader | 6 | 10-06-2007 12:12 AM |
Film chronicles decline of the independent book store | sea2stars | Lounge | 2 | 02-26-2007 02:45 PM |
E-book titles on the decline? | Colin Dunstan | News | 3 | 08-30-2005 09:37 AM |