This is an audiobook I started listening to last fall. The audiobook combines the six volumes originally written by Edward Gibbon. At over 150 hours, it takes a long time to listen to. There were times when I had to put it aside and go back to fiction as the information was on overload. In the end, though, I came away with a much better understanding of history from the period of 98 A.D. until about 1600 A.D.

Edward Gibbon was an English historian and member of Parliament when he spent approximately 20 years researching and compiling the information presented here. The book is not perfect. Gibbon is a product of the times he was raised in, and there’s a tendency towards misogyny and homophobia that feels out of place now. He frequently uses the term “effeminate” to describe both men and armies in their entirety, especially when they are on the losing side. There are also instances of him dismissing women as not being able to accomplish the same things that men can. These are the only negatives I have, though. Gibbon pored over primary sources to compile this history, which makes it one of the most comprehensive and detailed histories out there. Overall, this was an excellent production.

There were many things that contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. There were people who became leaders who should not have been leaders. There were pressures from both within and external to the Empire that caused it to fracture. Instead of just telling us about the Huns and attacking the Empire, Gibbon details the history of the Hun civilization that led to this confrontation. This is just one example of the level of detail contained within this epic tome. Gibbon takes on the story of Genghis Khan and his grandson with an equal amount of detail leading up to their conflict with Rome.

Of course, much of the time is spent discussing the Roman alignment with Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church. It almost seems that this is the key to the downfall of the Empire. When politics and religion combined, it distorted the original beliefs of the early Christians as well as added an air of supernaturalism to the Roman government. This also covers the rise of Islam and how that impacted the Empire as well as its early history. Gibbon has done a terrific job interweaving these various histories together in a way that doesn’t feel disjointed or hard to follow, which is not easy to do.

There was also a problem with two distinct areas of the Empire that were occasionally in conflict as well. We tend to think of Rome as the Empire’s capital, but Constantinople (Istanbul) was also considered the capital. This means that there were two seats of government. When the Western Empire fell apart and France, Spain, England, and other countries broke off from the Empire, the Eastern one remained with Constantinople as its capital. I took AP European History in high school, but while listening to this audiobook, I learned more about this time than I did in a year-long class.

It also resonated quite a bit with the times we are currently living through. Much of the reason Rome fell had to do with the egos and missteps of its leaders. Gibbon details how they came to power and how they fell from power. Oftentimes, it seems that a good leader – Caesar – died and whoever he had set up to follow him was incompetent. Most of the time, it was a son, but there were times others were designated to succeed him, and it was just as disastrous. Will there be a time 1,000 years from now when someone is reading that same story regarding the United States? Alas, it seems we won’t come anywhere near to the length of time the Roman Empire survived.

Narrated by Charlton Griffin, I give him a lot of credit. It must have taken a very long time to record it, especially with the various histories that are gone over with different names and places. Griffin is articulate, clear, and easy to listen to. Gibbon’s writing is expressed well by Griffin, as he seems to grasp when a topic made Gibbon angry while writing as well as convey the sarcasm that is also present at times.

This is not an easy listen. At times it dragged, but that’s more to do with the material than Gibbon’s writing or Griffin’s narration. It’s a very deep topic that is presented with a tremendous amount of detail. It’s not a casual read (or listen) by any means. I think people need a sense of curiosity about history to decide to invest the time into listening to this. It isn’t something to decide to listen to on a lark. If you have that curiosity, though, I think you’ll come away from this feeling that you’ve learned quite a bit.