Heather seems to feel it necessary to take a stab at writing in a post-modern vein. The attempt at accessibility has had one unfortunate consequence. Both the style and the questions addressed take the book beyond the narrow audience of those who have to write essays on the late Roman Empire. It aims to be accessible-this is a book that can be read for pleasure-yet it is no less scholarly than his other work. His latest book is slightly different in style. His previous book, The Goths, has become essential reading for all students of the period. He has published widely on subjects relating to the late Roman Empire and its successor states in the west. Heather is well placed to produce such a work. He draws on material previously only available in specialist publications to produce a synthesis that takes into account the last 40 years of research into late antiquity. One of history’s greatest mysteries, Peter Heather tells us in his new book, is “the strange death of the Roman Empire.” An up-to-date general study of the fall of the Roman Empire has long been needed. Peter Heather, The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History, (London: Macmillan, 2005)
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