The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Edward Gibbon Edited by David Womersley

Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is the most celebrated historical work in the English language. First published in three installments between 1776 and 1788, it covers a period of thirteen centuries. The first installment traces the Empire from the Age of the Antonines to the growth and establishment of Christianity and the persecution its followers received in the reigns preceding Constantine; the second begins with the reign of Julian the Apostate and continues up to the conquest of the Roman territories in the West by the Goths, Huns, and Vandals; the last installment follows the Empire from Justinian to the taking of Constantinople by the Turks.

Throughout its length, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is never routine, always alert with humanity and intelligence and often surprising in its sympathies. Gibbon's genius as a prose stylist, his breadth of knowledge, his wit and energy combine to make the Decline and Fall one of the greatest narratives in European literature.

This new edition provides the reader with the most accurate text of the Decline and Fall, complete and unmodernized, and illuminates it with an unrivaled wealth of related material. David Womersley's Introduction describes the development of the Decline and Fall as it moved from installments to installments and locates it in relation both to the events of Gibbon's life and to the Enlightenment culture within which it was written. The most substantial variants, and the comments and notes Gibbon made in his own copies of the work, are given in appendices. Also reprinted as an appendix is the famous Vindication (1779), in which Gibbon replied to attacks on his treatment of Christianity. For the first time since Gibbon's death, two hundred years ago, a critical edition has been established.