The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1

By: Edward Gibbon

Narrated by: Bernard Mayes

Length: 41 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Considered one of the finest historical works in the English language, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is lauded for its graceful, elegant prose style as much as for its epic scope. Remarkably accurate for its day, Gibbon's treatise holds a high place in the history of literature and remains an enduring subject of study.

Gibbon's monumental work traces the history of more than 13 centuries, covering the great events as well as the general historical progression. This first volume covers A.D. 180 to A.D. 395, which includes the establishment of Christianity and the Crusades.

©Public Domain (P)1992 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Gibbon] stood on the summit of the Renaissance achievement and looked back over the waste of history to ancient Rome, as from one mountain top to another." (Christopher Dawson)

excellent all round

Bernard Mayes deserves the highest accolades for his narration of this masterpiece. His reading is itself a masterwork!

Great Text, Tedius Listen

The narrator is droning, but the text is still great. It took a long time to listen to this, because I continually lost track.

One caveat: part of the beauty of the written texts are Gibbon's colorful footnotes. You miss these colorful splashes when you listen to the narration.

Outstanding

Gibbon’s history has never been surpassed for its scope and accuracy. Later writers dispute some of his conclusions, but he knew and used all of the available sources and based his work on these.

Contemporary historians can do no better than to simply cite his work.

This production is skillfully and elegantly read.

Wonderful writing brilliantly read

Well done. Its a great book and Bernard Mayes is up to the daunting task of reading it.

A Classic - We Should Always Remember

Would you consider the audio edition of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1 to be better than the print version?

It is different to listen to Decline and Fall than to read it. Listening to it allows one to experience the visualization of fight scenes and what was going on in a stronger way. I've owned a copy of the full series since I was 14 and this is a beautiful accompaniment to the written version.

What other book might you compare The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1 to and why?

This stands alone as an epic classic.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The World Will Continue These Tales for Generations to Come...

Any additional comments?

If you are not afraid of the sheer mass of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - get this and listen away... you will have adventure, intrigue and hours of listening pleasure.

Great recording of a great work.

I have no complaints about the book or recording. They are great.

The Decline and Fall can be very difficult to keep track of when/where you are at. I recommend listening through the first time, then listening again to gain more clarity of how everything occurred.

Never a dull moment with this narrator

Would you listen to The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1 again? Why?

When I finished this audiobook, I listened to it again. And again. It just keeps on giving. Gibbon's command of the language is breathtaking. His quiet, ironic sense humour bursts through the narrative from time-to-time, and is utterly delightful.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1?

Passage after passage is worth quoting. For example: "The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful."

What about Bernard Mayes’s performance did you like?

It felt like Gibbon himself was reading the book.

Some books are meant to...

Some books are more suitable for the medium of audiobooks than others, just as some books are meant to be read while others are meant to stand on the shelf testifying the learned sophistication of the owner. In printed form, Edward Gibbon's masterpiece makes fabulous sleeping aid, in audiobook form, it has lost even that, the recording sounds like it comes from outdated dictaphone, and the content, well, it's "decline and fall of the roman empire..."

Very Poor Sound Quality

It's a shame, because the narrator has just the right voice and accent to do Gibbons. But this sounds like it was recorded off a tape-to-tape transfer, with some parts too low to understand and others too loud.

Bad

I'm sure the book is very good as I like ancient history, but the audio quality is pathetic. I don't use this word lightly; I can and have gotten past alot and will do so again. I don't know if I can listen to it, much less burn it to disc. As for two stars I gave. The book is much better than that but the audio quality is just that bad.