Title:The Decline and Fall of the Roman empire
Author: Edward Gibbon
Category: Historical

One of the only epic in English literature I have read and it is really an epic.
Six volumes in total,although I read an abridged volume of 1500 pages.The canvass author has painted is huge i.e 1500 years in total from start of Christianity to the final fall of Constantinople.What an era it has been,ascent of Roman empire to it's glory,Caesars trying to usurp power from senate,corruption of institutions and the nadir when Roman title was sold off in an auction.

Equally intrigiung is the role of religion, rise of Christiandom,conversion of the emperors as well as barbarians to christianity,reign of Popes,birth of Islam and it's rapid conquests from Spain to India & Africa.Division of powers among the western and eastern branches of empire led to the final partition and Constantine was the emperor who tried to unite them.The Crusades for delivery of Holy land and their ultimate failure in acheiving the end result.

It has definite lessons for a student of history and politics that how mighty an empire be,nobody can stop it's decline if people are not concerned for it.
But definitely it is a masterpiece with no parallel in the annals of mankind.

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