The Ruin of the Roman Empire

A New History

By: James J. O'Donnell

Narrated by: Mel Foster

What really marked the end of the Roman Empire? Was it a long, inevitable decay, or did real people make real choices with surprising and unintended effects?

The Ruin of the Roman Empire takes us back to the sixth century, into the lives, cultures, and events that influenced ancient Rome. James O'Donnell restores the reputations of many "barbarians", while showing that Rome's last emperors doomed their realm with the hapless ways in which they tried to restore and preserve it.

Sweeping and accessible, The Ruin of the Roman Empire captures the richness of late antique life and the colorful characters of the age, while offering insight into today's debates about barbarism, religion, empires, and their threatened borders.

©2008 James J. O'Donnell (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"An exotic and instructive tale, told with life, learning and just the right measure of laughter on every page. O'Donnell combines a historian's mastery of substance with a born storyteller's sense of style to create a magnificent work of art. Perfect for history-lovers and admirers of great writing alike." (Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State)

Everything you want a history to be.

This was a very good history. It mixes sketches of individual persons to provide an accessible perspective on a world with the larger movements and events in history. It has a good narrative quality, yet still manages to discuss the scholarly sources in a manner interesting to causal readers and essential for academics. It also challenges conventional views about the late Roman world, and quite successfully argues that this part of history needed the fresh look that this book provides. The narrator takes a bit of getting used to, but settles in nicely after about an hour or so.

Important History

Important and even vital history of a critical time in European and Asian existence. Told with erudition, personality and humor. A joy to learn and enlightening to experience. Very well done.

Excellently done

Very good book with a lot of information about Rome never put together in this unique way.

Interesting book with boring reader

This book starts out very slow but gets interesting. The author has valid points from his scholarship. Unfortunately, the monotone voice of the Mel Foster makes it tedious to listen to this audio book. It's a struggle just to listen to a good book with a boring reader. I enjoyed the book despite the reader. This is a good audio book if you love Roman history, otherwise, other audio books might be more enjoyable.

Excellent Survey!

This is a original survey of the late Roman Empire. The author gives more attention to the lower classes than is common is these types of histories. In general this work describes the actual Roman Empire including more than just the emporers and wars. Overall, it is worthwhile but does require some discipline at times like any survey history.