The Fall of the Roman Empire has been a best-selling subject since the 18th century. Since then over 200 discrete reasons have been advanced for the collapse of the western half of the Roman empire. Until very recently, the academic view downplayed the death and destruction, to spin a positive story of the 'world of late antiquity'. Barbarian invasions are described in neutral language: the movement of peoples. It is all painfully 'politically correct'. Now Adrian Goldsworthy comes forward with his trademark combination of clear narrative, common sense, and a thorough mastery of the sources. In telling the story from beginning to end, he rescues the era from the mealy-mouthed and diffident: this is a red-blooded account of barbarian invasions, palace coups, scheming courtiers and corrupt emperors who set the gold standard for dissipation. It is 'old fashioned history' in the best sense: an accessible narrative with colourful characters whose story reveals the true reasons for the fall of Rome.

自18世纪以来，罗马帝国的衰落一直是一个最畅销的话题。从那时起，人们为罗马帝国西半部的崩溃提出了200多个不同的理由。直到最近，学术界的观点一直在淡化死亡和破坏，为 "古代晚期的世界 "编织一个正面的故事。野蛮人的入侵被用中性语言描述：人民的运动。这都是令人痛苦的 "政治正确"。现在，阿德里安-戈德斯沃西以其标志性的清晰叙述、常识和对资料的全面掌握的组合出现了。在从头到尾讲述这个故事的过程中，他把这个时代从口无遮拦和漫不经心中拯救出来：这是一个关于野蛮人入侵、宫廷政变、阴险的朝臣和腐败的皇帝的赤胆忠心的描述，他们为挥霍制定了黄金标准。这是一部最佳意义上的 "老式历史"：叙述通俗易懂，人物丰富多彩，故事揭示了罗马灭亡的真正原因。