The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

By: Edward Gibbon

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 126 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Here in a single volume is the entire, unabridged recording of Gibbon's masterpiece. Beginning in the second century at the apex of the Pax Romana, Gibbon traces the arc of decline and complete destruction through the centuries across Europe and the Mediterranean. It is a thrilling and cautionary tale of splendor and ruin, of faith and hubris, and of civilization and barbarism. Follow along as Christianity overcomes paganism... before itself coming under intense pressure from Islam. It is a story that begins in Rome and ends in the capture of Constantinople by the Turks almost 1,500 years later. To aid in navigating this massive work, please refer to the accompanying PDF, which contains a table of contents and starting times for each chapter.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

Public Domain (P)2015 Audio Connoisseur

Loved It!

A great historical and thorough introduction of not only Roman antiquity but of Christianity and Islam. Astonishing how similar modern history resembles the sinuous advances between cultures and conquerors of the time periods in this book.

need a lot of time for this one.

I made it through. I think that's enough. I would have a appreciated a little brevity.
parts of this made me laugh out loud.

Maddening and informative

Gibbon doesn’t hide his biases and this abounds with sarcasm. His marching through time without reference to dates, or even to centuries is frustrating. But I’m glad to have listened to it. I know much more now about this lengthy period than I did prior to listening. It does stimulate curiosity to learn more.

A most impressive feat

I have many audiobooks. Perhaps due to length, this one stays with me.

There are various places in the book where Gibbons seems angry about some idiocy or atrocity. Griffin gives these sections his all with forceful outrage. Now that I've gone through some other history books, I need to give this another listen.

A masterpiece

Took me like two years to finish this. But it was worth it. One of the great works of history. Once you're done you have an excellent grasp of the history of Europe and the Mediterranean from ancient times into the middle ages. Gibbon is always insightful and often very funny. The narrator Griffith does a fantastic job with the text.

80 hours for ~1500 years of history

What a task to weave that much development, activity, and wit into one work. Gibbons doesn't think highly of non white European people, but isn't particularly uncutting against any group or person.

Very Interesting but Can be Hard to Follow at time

The author jumps around a lot making it hard to follow the chain of event and when they happen or in what order. The author also uses the word or a lot where it's not needed which can be confusing and makes me wonder if he is just guessing on some of the things he's saying. Sometimes he is clearly just pointing out that that there's more than one way to say the same thing but other times it's clear that he's not because he will use a word that's the exact opposite as the other word that he just used. Examples: "This happens or this or this" "they went here or here"

Classic Literature

Classic tale of the rise and fall of Rome. Tedious through many parts, but still overall a masterpiece of literature. The use of language and story telling at its best.

If it wasn't for the thick accent

It's a subject I'm very interested in. Studying the past certainly is important for understanding our current situation and our future in America. looks like this are a great way to pass the time while commuting. However in this case the readers English accent is so thick that I'm struggling to understand what's being said the entire time.

Outstanding Reading of a Classic Historical Work

OK, so I'm only about 20 hours, with 106 hours to go, but what a joy so far. Charlton Griffin's performance really brings the text alive. This is much more enjoyable to listen to than you might expect. The fact that Gibbon is unafraid to express his own opinion in just about every sentence he writes is part of what makes this fun. He was a phenomenal writer and Griffin is a phenomenal reader. If this peaks your interest at all, you should definitely give it a try.