{"product_id":"the-ruin-of-the-roman-empire-a-new-history-isbn-9780060787370","title":"The Ruin of the Roman Empire: A New History","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt\"\u003e\u003ci style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"COLOR: black\"\u003eThe Ruin of the Roman Empire \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"COLOR: black\"\u003eby James J. O’Donnell is a “vigorous” (\u003cem\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/em\u003e) and “richly layered” (\u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e) history of \u003c?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = \"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\" \/\u003e\u003cst1:city w:st=\"on\"\u003e\u003cst1:place w:st=\"on\"\u003eRome\u003c\/st1:place\u003e\u003c\/st1:city\u003e’s fall. Renowned historian and author of \u003cem\u003eAugustine,\u003c\/em\u003e O’Donnell revisits this ancient tale in a fresh way, \u003c\/span\u003ebringing home its sometimes painful relevance to today’s political issues.\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"COLOR: black\"\u003e\u003c?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = \"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office\" \/\u003e\u003co:p\u003e\u003c\/o:p\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003eThe dream Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar shared of uniting Europe, the Medi­terranean, and the Middle East in a single community shuddered and then collapsed in the wars and disasters of the sixth century. It was a looking-glass world, where some Romans ideal­ized the Persian emperor while barbarian kings in Italy and France worked tirelessly to save the pieces of the Roman dream they had inherited. At the center of the old Roman Empire, in his vast and pompous Constantinople palace, the emperor Justinian, with too little education and too much religion, set out to restore his empire to its glories. Step by step, the things he did to bring back the past sealed the doom of his entire civilization.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHistorian and classicist James J. O'Donnell—who last brought us his masterful, disturbing, and revelatory biography of Saint Augustine—revisits this old story in a fresh way, bringing home its sometimes painful relevance to issues of our own time. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith unexpected detail and in his hauntingly vivid style, O'Donnell begins at a time of apparent Roman revival and brings us to the moment of imminent collapse that just preceded the rise of Islam. Illegal migrations of peoples, religious wars, global pandemics, and the temptations of empire: Rome's end foreshadows our own crises and offers hints how to navigate them—if we will heed this story.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“A massively scholarly and lively biography.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“An exotic and instructive tale, told with life, learning and just the right measure of laughter on every page. O’Donnell combines a historian’s mastery of substance with a born storyteller’s sense of style to create a magnificent work of art. Perfect for history-lovers and admirers of great writing alike.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMademoiselle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“An exotic and instructive tale, told with life, learning and just the right measure of laughter on every page.  O’Donnell combines a historian’s mastery of substance with a born storyteller’s sense of style to create a magnificent work of art.  Perfect for history-lovers and admirers of great writing alike.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMadeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A vigorous history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“James O’Donnell is an engaging writer with an important story to tell. . . . . His discussion of the Emperor Justinian’s failed military and diplomatic maneuverings against Persia leads to a new and valuable understanding of the contemporary Middle East.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLewis Lapham\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“James O’Donnell’s \u003cem\u003eThe Ruin of the Roman Empire: A New History\u003c\/em\u003e takes as its centrepiece the period of Ostrogothic rule in sixth-century Italy. . . . [It is] revelatory: scholarly and original, unafraid to tackle profound issues of cultural and religious identity, and often hauntingly poetic.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“O’Donnell’s richly layered book provides significant glimpses into the many factors that leveled a mighty empire.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Poetic, haunting and humane: a learned and often visceral account of how the Mediterranean ceased to be Roman which serves simultaneously as charge-sheet and lament.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTom Holland, author of Rubicon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ecco","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889115689189,"sku":"NP9780060787370","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780060787370.jpg?v=1730230549","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-ruin-of-the-roman-empire-a-new-history-isbn-9780060787370","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}