An article in the September issue of Commentary by Joseph Epstein, The Best of Scribblers: Edward Gibbon and the importance of great writing to great history, has induced me to return to Gibbon's great 18th Century monumental work. I read it once about thirty years ago, in the Modern Library three-volume version I purchased at Strand, and if one if going to read it one should avoid the various "abridged" versions. Yes, it is long (about 3000 pages, about as long as five or six bloated contemporary novels) but well worth it, not only for the fascinating detail but also for the elegant style. Epstein read about 20 pages a day, taking him a total of five months, and in this time of short attention spans the effort is indeed rewarding.
If you think that corruption, fear and avarice are only contemporary problems, then this book shows you, as Epstein says, "just how wearily constant human nature has been through time." In this day when little history is being taught, especially below the college level, for fear of offending someone, Gibbon is not afraid to include his own opinions about the richly detailed history he recounts. He is particularly intense about the conversion of Constantine(272-337 C.E.) to Christianity, with the resultant intolerance by Christians and the hypocrisy of popes and priests.
My fondness for Gibbons is not just for his insights and his unsurpassed knowledge of history, it is also due to his elegant writing style. Not everyone is as fond of Richardson, Smollett and Fielding as I am (though if you have not read them I would urge you to give them a try) but Gibbons is another superb 18th C. stylist. In today's world, when too much history writing is dry and dull and fiction has a considerably diminished vocabulary, Gibbons stands out as an intense pleasure to read.
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