The Fall of Rome: End of a Superpower

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Buy The Fall of Rome: End of a Superpower by Holmes, Nick online on desertcart.ae at best prices. ✓ Fast and free shipping ✓ free returns ✓ cash on delivery available on eligible purchase. Review: I have read about 3/4 of this book and the scope of time and number of players, including Roman leaders, and their enemies within and without Rome, is overwhelming. Sometimes the text lacks clarity and requires rereading several times to figure out. But I give Holmes great credit for tackling such a Herculean endeavor. Even this one book of the series gives me a more comprehensive look at the the massive sweep of European history than I had ever encountered before. The multiplicity of ambitious men, their motivations (famine, threats and invasions, droughts, lust for power, jealousy, greed, desire for a just and peaceful society, the reluctant taking up the mantle of king or emperor or even unexpected heir, ) and the terrain they tackled in their battles and what they accomplished or failed to accomplish is mind boggling. To even fit together probable Roman motivations, information, etc is a masterwork of sleuthing. Then building a framework of meanings and intentions and connecting the knowns across pockmarked unknowns, in spite of missing pieces and hen scratch pointers is quite amazing. And have it all make sense. I had to put the book down and take a deliberate time out several times. For example, I could feel for Julian and his apparent intentions, successes, shifting priorities and misjudgments as he rose to the challenge he never wanted and the horrific final outcome he could neither anticipate nor avoid. To put the European /Mediterranian broad history into a reasonable perspective as Holmes does, made me realize as never before, the challenges of any military leader in earlier civilizations - e.g. very little real time data to work with - all required a physical body traversing the distance and its threats in order to deliver information which had changed, sometimes catastrophically, in the time it took to get there. Maps and roads were often non-existent. There were no compasses to help with directions on cloudy days. The enemy's mindset and capabilities usually a mystery. I needed a break from my armchair view of the devastating battlefields and treacherous activities to reorient myself to here and now. And newly appreciate my relatively quiet and peaceful life with cell phones and computers. Review: For those who like the topic of the fall of the Roman Empire (with a potential parallel to the United States), this book pretty much stays on track with the common wisdom and trajectory of the decline of the Roman Empire. Rather than seeking out a culprit for the Fall of Rome, the author views it as a perfect storm set of events that come together. It is easy to read. It provides helpful information.