this is the way gibbons intended it to be read
― flopson, Saturday, 20 May 2017 18:52 (six years ago) link
this is probably the best book ever
― The Remoans of the May (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 20 May 2017 19:17 (six years ago) link
Yearly reminder to read Gibbon
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 4 September 2017 20:52 (six years ago) link
it's actually not that great as an intro to Roman history - it starts after all the famous imperial stuff (Caesar Augustus, Claudius, Nero) is over (and assumes its audience knows its way around that iirc); but the title hides the fact that you do get Attila, Genghis Khan, Charlemagne, rise of Islam, Crusades etc etc.
― you don't exist in the database (woof), Monday, 5 September 2011 bookmarkflaglink
Is it worth reading Suetonius before starting on this btw?
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 25 May 2020 13:56 (three years ago) link
neither of them are the most accurate things to read as history in 2020, both of them are the best things to read as entertainment, you certainly *could* read Suetonius first but then there's 600-odd years of Roman history before the Caesars so it's still not the whole empire. i think the Decline makes sense on its own, Gibbon sets out his terms at the beginning and in the title.
― Children of Bo-Dom (Noodle Vague), Monday, 25 May 2020 14:02 (three years ago) link
Got it, Ty.
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 25 May 2020 14:03 (three years ago) link
Iggy Pop on Gibbon’s Decline and Fall is the most poignant thing I’ve read all week. https://t.co/jksAqwnpAQ pic.twitter.com/sG5aW5gN9h— Mary Harrington (@moveincircles) January 3, 2021
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 4 January 2021 11:28 (three years ago) link
I've seen that before but it is great
― Uptown Top Scamping (Noodle Vague), Monday, 4 January 2021 13:18 (three years ago) link
"I feel less tyrannized by the present day"
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 4 January 2021 17:43 (three years ago) link
Iggy's frequenting the bookstore at which I worked in the early '90s was a delight.
― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 4 January 2021 17:45 (three years ago) link
Ha, was wondering when that was going to get mentioned.
― Dog Heavy Manners (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 4 January 2021 17:47 (three years ago) link
did he ever come into the bookstore shirtless?
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Monday, 4 January 2021 21:20 (three years ago) link
Barefoot.
― meticulously crafted, socially responsible, morally upsta (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 5 January 2021 03:19 (three years ago) link