02/26/2018
Aaron CarrollI’m going to spend March learning about the Fall of Rome and the Dark Ages. You’ve already also given me some great ideas. I want to post them here, so you can help me prioritize what to read. If you think I’m missing something, please go tell me. I’m opening comments, or you can tweet me.
- The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 (Chris Wickam)
- Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization (Ward-Perkins, and I already read it this month)
- The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians (Peter Heather)
- How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower (Adrian Goldsworthy)
- Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (Jared Diamond)
- The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade (Susan Wise Bauer)
- The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire (Kyle Harper)
- A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century (Barbara Tuchman)
- Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire (Judith Herrin)
- The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire (Edward Luttwack)
What do you all think? Any thoughts on the order? Am I missing something good?
by Josue Hurtado on February 26th, 2018 at 12:45
The World of Late Antiquity (Peter Brown).
Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376 – 568 (Guy Halsall)
The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire (Kyle Harper)
by Josue Hurtado on February 26th, 2018 at 12:46
Oops. I see you already have the Harper book on your list.
by Andrew MacNamara on February 26th, 2018 at 13:12
Just a plug for Dan Carlin’s awesome podcast, Hardcore History, that tackled the fall of Rome in 2010-11. Seven-part series, each quite long, so not sure if that’ll meet your needs, but wanted to bring it to your attention.
https://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-history-death-throes-of-the-republic-series/
by Brett on February 26th, 2018 at 13:47
If you are driving places and need podcasts to listen to, Patrick Wyman’s “Fall of Rome” series is a really good companion to those books.
by Lambert Strether on February 27th, 2018 at 12:17
I’d try Mike Duncan’s podcast:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-rome/id261654474?mt=2
A bit of a “great man” focus, but/therefore with great relevance to contemporary politics.
And he’s so, so solid on the timeline. Very informal style, moves along at a good pace.
by Corby on February 26th, 2018 at 15:32
Barbara Tuchman’s “A Distant Mirror.”
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/barbara-w-tuchmen/a-distant-mirror-the-calamitous-fourteenth-cent/
by roger tubby on February 26th, 2018 at 22:00
A Distant Mirror for the dark ages. Great scholarship and a a view on today written about the 14th century.
by frank klimko on February 27th, 2018 at 09:07
what about: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire written by the English historian Edward Gibbon,
by sd on February 27th, 2018 at 17:22
Samuel Dill’s Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire will take you there, and you will never forget the experience.
by Torrence on February 27th, 2018 at 20:15
Joseph Tainter, “The Collapse of Complex Societies”.
https://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Complex-Societies-Studies-Archaeology/dp/052138673X
It’s cited in Jared Diamond’s book. It’s been a while since I read Tainter’s book but as I recall I found it more persuasive than Collapse because Tainter’s theory is more general and can explain more than Diamond’s view.
by Adam Wheeler MD on February 28th, 2018 at 14:04
Lars Brownswoth Lost to the West (book) or 12 Byzantine Emperors (podcast). I am assuming you have read Justinian’s Flea.
by Jean Rossner on March 1st, 2018 at 08:22
“How the Irish Saved Civilization,” by Thomas Cahill