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The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 1

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The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 1

By: Edward Gibbon
Narrated by: Philip Madoc, Neville Jason
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About this listen

Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is one of the greatest texts in the English language. In magisterial prose, Gibbon charts the gradual collapse of the Roman rule form Augustus (23 BC - AD 14) to the first of the barbarian kings, Odoacer (476- 490 AD). It is a remarkable account, with the extravagant corruption and depravity of emperors such as Commodus, Caracalla, and Elagabalus contrasted by the towering work of Constantine, Julian, and other remarkable men. It remains the standard work of scholarship on the subject two hundred years after it is written; yet equally important, in its sheer accessibility, it is an unforgettable story.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

(P)1995 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd.; ©1995 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd. Ancient

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Philip Madoc’s beautiful enunciation perfectly matches the elegance and incisiveness of Gibbons’ language. As for that reviewer’s complaints about sound quality they are frankly inventing problems that aren’t there. This is a wonderful reading of a wonderful work. Highly recommended.

Disregard the ridiculous review that says ‘dated narration’. This is a masterly reading.

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This is an extraordinary book! And although I listened to both parts, it is really during the second part, and especially with the account of the fall of Constantinople, that I was gripped ? and astonished. To be honest, it?s a bit of a challenge to listen to and I?m certainly not enough of an expert to review the book as such ? but I think this abridgement is OK. I suspect that reviewer Andrew from Dublin has read the whole work and is better placed to judge. I was quite irritated by Philip Madoc?s voice. When you start listening you think ?oh yes this is the voice of Gibbon? but after a while his sonorous tones get on your nerves ? and he sounds too old. Neville Jason who reads the intervening passages comes as a relief. Nevertheless, it is something of a tour de force to read the long, and to our modern ears, difficult to follow sentences and Madoc makes sense of what we are hearing. The book itself tends to be ?one damn thing after another? and unless you keep up and concentrate, you quickly loose the thread. But the advantage of modern technology is you can go back again, and again, and again?Depending on how good your concentration is, you may or may not be able to follow the book successfully. Having said all that, if this is one of the books you always meant to read ? the audiobook is certainly a good way of absorbing the Decline and Fall ? which is, when all is said and done, an achievement of monumental proportions.

An excellent way to read Decline and Fall

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Well read, but lacks the wit of the original, or rather the suggestion of it in the voice. The abridgement leaves out some of the more famous and amusing comments of Gibbon. The passages on the younger Gordian are omitted, and only summarised by the edtitorial voice, and some passages on the early Christians also. The music is not of the period as one might expect. But generally worth while.

Abridged Gibbon

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parts of the book were gripping, it did feel quite disjointed at times and all over the place, much like the Roman Empire by the sounds of it. The hardest part for me was the narration, it wasn't for me, sounded like I was listening to Noel Coward for 7 hours, excellent to put you to sleep, I found myself easily distracted

Great in parts

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What a shame that such an important literary work as this, has not been updated with a clearer quality sound and a less dramatic narrator.
Over and above the constant background noise and the crackling LW radio distortion, the narrator sounds like the voiceover for a 1960's Hollywood movie trailer.

I'm afraid that it's not worth a credit.

Come on Audible, it's time to update your classics catalogue with newer neutral narration with contemporary sound quality.

disappointing dated narration and poor audio quali

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