The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire (Volume 3)

This is the best edition available of Gibbon's history. + It has all of Gibbon's footnotes; + it is packaged in an attractive boxed set; + it's hard bound in good plain cloth, not snobby leather; + it's printed on fine paper; + it can be expected to last into the next century; + it leaves enough white margin for writing notes; + it has an index; + it even smells good. Caveat - It gives no translation of the better Latin and Greek passages; - the black paste used to print the cover's gold-on-black logo flakes off; - don't forget to order the other half (volumes 4, 5, and 6). (The only other edition worth considering is the unabridged paperback Penguin edition. It also contains the full notes, and it is cheaper, but it is bulkier since two volumes are bound as one and the paper is of much lower quality, so the that other edition won't last much more than 10 or 20 years...)

I always loved Roman and Byzantine history, so it was only a matter of time before I "knew" I had to read this. Like most of you I had heard a lot of modern authors and historians condemn Gibbon but I found him to be very entertaining and informative. Unlike the genius below who POSTED HER PSAT SCORES, I liked his writing style. It's obvious that the FLOW of history is important to him. I especially enjoyed the chapters in the first book about early Christianity - he actually takes a very harsh view that was very refreshing. His storytelling is superior to all others and this book is rightfully considered among the best works of the English language. However, Gibbon does have some drawbacks- though it wasn't his fault. The Byzantine Empire, Slavs, Bulgarians, etc all get shafted by Gibbon. It's understandable since at the time this work was written, Byzantine study was not given serious thought. Overall a 5 star book! For Byzantine history I would recommend Procopius, Psellus, or "Romanus Lecapanus and his Reign" by Sir Steven Runcimen. Can't go wrong with those!