Alaric the Goth: An Outsider's History of the Fall of Rome
Written by Douglas Boin
Narrated by Chris MacDonnell
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Stigmatized and relegated to the margins of Roman society, the Goths were violent "barbarians" who destroyed "civilization," at least in the conventional story of Rome's collapse. But a slight shift of perspective brings their history, and ours, shockingly alive.
Alaric grew up near the river border that separated Gothic territory from Roman. He survived a border policy that separated migrant children from their parents, and he was denied benefits he likely expected from military service. In stark contrast to the rising bigotry, intolerance, and zealotry among Romans during Alaric's lifetime, the Goths, as practicing Christians, valued religious pluralism and tolerance. The marginalized Goths preserved virtues of the ancient world that we take for granted.
The three nights of riots Alaric and the Goths brought to the capital struck fear into the hearts of the powerful, but the riots were not without cause. Combining vivid storytelling and historical analysis, Douglas Boin reveals the Goths' complex and fascinating legacy in shaping our world.
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Reviews for Alaric the Goth
41 ratings6 reviews
What our readers think
Readers find this title to be a mixed bag. While some appreciate the good research and entertaining story, others criticize the author's bias against the Catholic Church and his attempt to compare the Goths to immigrants and refugees. The book is seen as relevant to the USA in 2020, but some readers wish it had been written by someone with Teutonic blood. Overall, the summary leans towards the positive, highlighting the enlightening factual history of Alaric the Goth.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I learned a little more than I knew about the history and it was not terribly written. But the author makes his bias against the Catholic Church extremely clear, and he takes away the proud Germanic nationalism of Alaric and tries to obviously compare him and the Goths to "immigrants and refugees" in the American context. The fact that this came out in 2020 and the author won't stop babbling on and on about "xenophobia" and "bigotry" and talks about immigration policy makes it obvious he wrote this as a long anti-Trump tirade with a historical backdrop. I would not recommend anyone buy this book, but listening to it for free to pass the time was not the worst experience ever.
3 people found this helpful
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Biased trash dripping with the author’s attempts to score modern political points
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very good considering there isn’t much in the way of primary sources generated by the subject.
Very relevant to USA in 2020. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good research entertaining story. I did really enjoy the book!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good factual history of Alaric the Goth that is very enlightening.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I wish for the day that books about great German Hero's that are in English will be written by one with Teutonic blood. For as much as we have given the world, we destroyed rome (A very good thing) Then created the "Holy Roman empire of the German Nations" which current historians in there hate of all thing German seem to leave out the last two words in the empires name. I know all we have done and i am very proud of my people. For all those who dont like us..... I could give 2 fucks lol