Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published between 1776 and 1788, is the undisputed masterpiece of English historical writing which can only perish with the language itself. Its length alone is a measure of its monumental quality: seventy-one chapters, of which twenty-eight appear in full in this edition. With style, learning and wit, Gibbon takes the reader through the history of Europe from the second century AD to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 - an enthralling account by 'the greatest of the historians of the Enlightenment'. This edition includes Gibbon's footnotes and quotations, here translated for the first time, together with brief explanatory comments, a precis of the chapters not included, 16 maps, a glossary, and a list of emperors.

On the death of Edward Gibbon (1737-94), his unpublished papers were left to his friend John Baker Holroyd, first earl of Sheffield, who published them in two volumes in 1796. Gibbon had written six manuscript accounts of his own life, and, according to Sheffield, had always intended to publish his autobiography in his lifetime. The memoir as edited by Sheffield begins with Gibbon's family history, and taking in his education, travels, and career as a historian, finishes with his anxiety over the future of Europe in 1788. Sheffield then continues the story until Gibbon's death through his correspondence, providing a linking narrative, and this, together with 210 other letters to and from Gibbon, takes up Volume 1. His great work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, is also reissued (in the 1896-1900 edition by J. B. Bury) in the Cambridge Library Collection.

On the death of Edward Gibbon (1737-94), his unpublished papers were left to his friend John Baker Holroyd, first earl of Sheffield, who published them in two volumes in 1796. Volume 2 contains abstracts from Gibbon's reading, with his reflections on what he read, and extracts from his journal (sometimes in French, with a parallel translation), short pieces on various aspects of Roman history, an outline of his planned history of the world from the ninth to the end of the fifteenth century, literary criticism, a history of the House of Brunswick (ancestors of the Hanoverian British royal family), and a riposte to a criticism of his own great work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, which is also reissued (in the 1896-1900 edition by J. B. Bury) in the Cambridge Library Collection.

The pre-eminent historian of his day, Edward Gibbon (1737-94) produced his magnum opus in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. Reissued here is the authoritative seven-volume edition prepared by J. B. Bury (1861-1927) between 1896 and 1900. Immediately and widely acclaimed, Gibbon's work remains justly famous for its magisterial account of Roman imperialism and Christianity from the first century CE through to the fall of Constantinople and beyond. Innovative in its use of primary sources and notable for its tone of religious scepticism, this epic narrative stands as a masterpiece of English literature and historical scholarship. Volume 1 commences with the early emperors and a survey of the empire's extent and expansion. Examining Roman culture, law, government, slavery and agriculture, Gibbon guides the reader through three centuries to Constantine's emergence as sole emperor in 324.

The pre-eminent historian of his day, Edward Gibbon (1737-94) produced his magnum opus in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. Reissued here is the authoritative seven-volume edition prepared by J. B. Bury (1861-1927) between 1896 and 1900. Immediately and widely acclaimed, Gibbon's work remains justly famous for its magisterial account of Roman imperialism and Christianity from the first century CE through to the fall of Constantinople and beyond. Innovative in its use of primary sources and notable for its tone of religious scepticism, this epic narrative stands as a masterpiece of English literature and historical scholarship. Volume 2 seeks to explain the rise of Christianity, focusing on its emergence from and early interactions with Judaism, and the nature of Christian belief and worship. It also examines the founding of Constantinople and the pagan reign of Julian.

The pre-eminent historian of his day, Edward Gibbon (1737-94) produced his magnum opus in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. Reissued here is the authoritative seven-volume edition prepared by J. B. Bury (1861-1927) between 1896 and 1900. Immediately and widely acclaimed, Gibbon's work remains justly famous for its magisterial account of Roman imperialism and Christianity from the first century CE through to the fall of Constantinople and beyond. Innovative in its use of primary sources and notable for its tone of religious scepticism, this epic narrative stands as a masterpiece of English literature and historical scholarship. Volume 3 mainly covers the period 363-455 CE, including the division of the Eastern and Western Empires, the rise of the Huns, the end of paganism, the German invasion of Gaul, the Vandal conquest of Africa, and the life of Attila the Hun.

The pre-eminent historian of his day, Edward Gibbon (1737-94) produced his magnum opus in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. Reissued here is the authoritative seven-volume edition prepared by J. B. Bury (1861-1927) between 1896 and 1900. Immediately and widely acclaimed, Gibbon's work remains justly famous for its magisterial account of Roman imperialism and Christianity from the first century CE through to the fall of Constantinople and beyond. Innovative in its use of primary sources and notable for its tone of religious scepticism, this epic narrative stands as a masterpiece of English literature and historical scholarship. Volume 4 focuses on the fifth and sixth centuries CE, examining the Vandal sack of Rome and the fall of the Western Empire, the conversion of barbarians to Christianity, the Saxon conquest of Britain, and the wars of the Goths and the Vandals.

The pre-eminent historian of his day, Edward Gibbon (1737-94) produced his magnum opus in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. Reissued here is the authoritative seven-volume edition prepared by J. B. Bury (1861-1927) between 1896 and 1900. Immediately and widely acclaimed, Gibbon's work remains justly famous for its magisterial account of Roman imperialism and Christianity from the first century CE through to the fall of Constantinople and beyond. Innovative in its use of primary sources and notable for its tone of religious scepticism, this epic narrative stands as a masterpiece of English literature and historical scholarship. Volume 5 covers the period 565-1356 CE, addressing the Lombard conquest of Italy and the Persian siege of Constantinople, the divisive Christian doctrine of the incarnation, Byzantine rulers up to 1185, the reign of Charlemagne in the West, the life of Mohammed and the spread of Islam.

The pre-eminent historian of his day, Edward Gibbon (1737-94) produced his magnum opus in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. Reissued here is the authoritative seven-volume edition prepared by J. B. Bury (1861-1927) between 1896 and 1900. Immediately and widely acclaimed, Gibbon's work remains justly famous for its magisterial account of Roman imperialism and Christianity from the first century CE through to the fall of Constantinople and beyond. Innovative in its use of primary sources and notable for its tone of religious scepticism, this epic narrative stands as a masterpiece of English literature and historical scholarship. Volume 6 covers the period from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries CE, addressing the Arab sieges of Constantinople, the culture of the Eastern Empire at the end of the first millennium, the origins of the Bulgarian, Hungarian and Russian peoples, the rise of the Turks and the conquest of Asia Minor, and the Crusades.

The pre-eminent historian of his day, Edward Gibbon (1737-94) produced his magnum opus in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. Reissued here is the authoritative seven-volume edition prepared by J. B. Bury (1861-1927) between 1896 and 1900. Immediately and widely acclaimed, Gibbon's work remains justly famous for its magisterial account of Roman imperialism and Christianity from the first century CE through to the fall of Constantinople and beyond. Innovative in its use of primary sources and notable for its tone of religious scepticism, this epic narrative stands as a masterpiece of English literature and historical scholarship. Volume 7 covers the period 1206-1590 CE, examining the rise of Genghis Khan, the conquests of Tamerlane, the Council of Basel, the Ottoman capture of Constantinople, the Western schism and reunion, and the ruins of ancient Rome. Indexes to the text and appendices are also included.

Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796-1862) was a colonial advocate and political theorist, who was influential in the early colonisation of New Zealand and South Australia. Wakefield read widely on contemporary economics and social questions, and his theory of colonisation helped shape the British Empire. He formed the New Zealand Association in 1837 to create a new colony in that country, finally emigrating himself in 1852. His son, the editor of this volume of letters, was appointed secretary of the first settler expedition to New Zealand in 1839, and was elected political representative for Canterbury in 1854. The letters in the volume, published in 1868, which span the period 1847-50, trace the history of the town of Canterbury from Wakefield senior's suggestion of church-led settlement in the 1840s to its foundation in 1850-1. A planned second volume was never published.

Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796 1862) was a controversial colonial advocate and political theorist, who was the driving force behind the early colonization of New Zealand and South Australia. Barred from entering parliament after serving a three-year sentence in Newgate Prison, Wakefield read widely on contemporary economic and social questions before forming the New Zealand Association in 1837, with the aim of creating a colony in the country based on his theories of systemic colonization. This volume, first published in 1839, contains a detailed description of the New Zealand Association's plans for the formation of a British colony in the country. Published to attract new members and potential colonists to the Association, this volume discusses the natural resources of New Zealand and describes the Association's method of colonisation together with a proposed system of government, providing a valuable practical example of Wakefield's influential theories of colonization.

Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796-1862) was a controversial colonial advocate and political theorist, who was the driving force behind the early colonization of New Zealand and South Australia. Barred from entering parliament after serving a three-year sentence in Newgate Prison, Wakefield read widely on contemporary economics and social questions, developing his influential theory of colonization. He formed the New Zealand Association in 1837 to create a new colony in that country, finally emigrating himself in 1852. This volume, first published in 1849, contains an explanation of Wakefield's philosophy of colonization. Writing in the form of letters to an anonymous statesman, Wakefield fully explores and discusses the social, political and economic aspects of his system of colonization, based on regulating emigration by fixing the price of land. Wakefield's ideas influenced early colonial economic policy in South Australia, and stimulated the development of later theories of colonization.

‘Instead of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long’

Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire compresses thirteen turbulent centuries into an epic narrative shot through with insight, irony and incisive character analysis. Sceptical about Christianity, sympathetic to the barbarian invaders and the Byzantine Empire, constantly aware of how political leaders often achieve the exact opposite of what they intend, Gibbon was both alert to the broad pattern of events and significant revealing details. The first of its six volumes, published in 1776, was attacked for its enlightened views on politics, sexuality and religion, yet it was an immediate bestseller and widely acclaimed for the elegance of its prose. Gripping, powerfully intelligent and wonderfully entertaining, it is among the greatest works of history in the English language and a literary masterpiece of its age.

This abridgement is based on David Womersley’s definitive three-volume Penguin Classics edition of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Complete chapters from each volume, linked by extended bridging passages, vividly capture the style, argument and structure of the whole work.

The foreword to this work, first published over a century ago, provides the following recommendation: 'The narrative of Simon Ockley, which Edward Gibbon characterised as instructive, and his translation of Arabic MSS as 'learned and spirited', make his 'History of the Saracens' a fitting sequel to what has been offered in this volume from Gibbon's great work.' The combined essence of the writings of these two historians on Saracenic history, is here combined in a single volume of unsurpassed scholarship. Its republication will be welcomed by a wide readership.Simon Ockley (1678-1720) was born in Exeter and educated at Cambridge where, in 1711, he became Professor of Arabic at the University. His great work on the Saracens, published between 1708 and 1757, was the result of years of study in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The second part of the present volume is an abridgement of this work.Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) is best known for his monumental history 'The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'. He was an admirer of Ockley's early translations from Arabic sources. Gibbon's own work forms the first part of the present work.

EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND APPENDICES BY DAVID WOMERSLEY Although it covers no less than thirteen centuries of history, writes David Womersley, Gibbon's Decline and Fall 'is never routine, always alert with humanity and intelligence, often surprising in its sympathies'. It counts, quite simply, as 'one of the greatest narratives in European literature'. This definitive three-volume edition presents a complete and unmodernized text, the author's own comments and notes, and his famous Vindication. The first volume considers the extent and constitution of the empire under the Antonines and then takes events down to the end of the fourth century. It includes the controversial chapters on the early Church and examines in detail the reign of the first Christian and last pagan emperors, Constantine and Julian.

Gibbon’s masterpiece, which narrates the history of the Roman Empire from the second century a.d. to its collapse in the west in the fifth century and in the east in the fifteenth century, is widely considered the greatest work of history ever written. This abridgment retains the full scope of the original, but in a compass equivalent to a long novel. Casual readers now have access to the full sweep of Gibbon’s narrative, while instructors and students have a volume that can be read in a single term. This unique edition emphasizes elements ignored in all other abridgments—in particular the role of religion in the empire and the rise of Islam.