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The third of Nick Holmes’ books on the end of the Roman Empire covers from the sacking of Rome in 410 through the death of Attila in 453, and then the end of Western Roman administration in 476.

The good news is that the transition between The Fall of Rome and this book isn’t as repetitious as between the first two, and I don’t know of any books essential to the period that he’s missed out on this time.

The bad news is the transition does still have a lot of copy-and-pasted material that someone reading straight through will want to skip, and there’s no roadsigns to it. But it’s not as extensive, and seems broken up a little by new or rewritten material.

I am gratified to see Ian Hughes’ books (most notably Patricians and Emperors) show up in the notes. I have some problems with his books, but they are invaluable reconstructions of what was going on politically in the western Empire in this period. For anyone wanting more on the climatic battle between (effectively) Western Europe and Atilla, I recommend Osprey Publishing’s Catalaunian Fields AD 451 (Campaign #286). This is a detailed look at the campaign, and might have informed this book some, but is at a lower level than the bulk of the narrative.

On the other hand, Holmes has definitely fallen in love with one of his sources, Priscus’ History of Byzantium; or at least those pieces that survive. The actual work is lost to us, but it extensively quoted in other places, and he presents a translation of parts of those quotes put together at the end of his book. I admit I haven’t really read that part, but I certainly commend him for its inclusion.

Holmes does have his own thoughts on the importance of Atilla, and the tribute the eastern Empire was paying during this period. Even better, he has some thoughts on a military recovery in this period. I’d have to see something a little more finely argued, and some counter arguments to come to a real opinion, but he does make an interesting case. Overall, its a good addition to the series, and while I still say don’t read it immediately after the previous book, it’s still a great starting place on this bit of history.