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Bottom of the pile
11
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
6/100Critics
17/100Scholars
Author:
Douglas Boin
Publisher:
W. W. Norton Company
Date:
June 9, 2020
Denied citizenship by the Roman Empire, a soldier named Alaric changed history by unleashing a surprise attack on the capital city of an unjust empire.
What The Reviewers Say
Lacking personal particulars, Boin paints a richly detailed portrait of the world in which Alaric maneuvered, defined by the thrashings of an empire in turmoil.
... a smart book for the general reader.
Without his thoughts having survived, the subtitle, An Outsider’s History, feels more aptly applied to sixth century, medieval, and eighteenth-century historians who used Alaric’s deeds to bolster their criticisms of Rome as well as the modern reader peering at a world so far apart but not so unlike our own, in which bigotry, inequity, and hedonism war with ideas of inclusion, freedom, and equal aspirations for all. Anyone who appreciates vividly detailed stories of the past or is morbidly curious about the dying days of a wealthy, self-important, diverse, autocratic global power should pick this up..
First impressions count for a great deal, and this first encounter with Alaric in Mr. Boin’s narrative—one that need not have even occurred, given the unreliability of the sources—hardly bears out the view that he later tries to adduce. He seems to want to have it both ways in his presentation of Alaric, making him out to be a dashing brigand at some points, an oppressed Roman wannabe at others. Readers of Alaric the Goth will often be uncertain which side its subject is on or what he is fighting for.
