Edward Gibbon and the Shape of History

Synopsis

Edward Gibbon's Presentation Of Character In Both The 'history Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire' And In His Posthumously Published 'memoirs' Demonstrates A Prevailing Interest In The Values Of Transcendent Heroism And Individual Liberty, But Also An Insistent Awareness Of The Dangers These Values Pose To Coherence And Narrative Order. Roberts Explores The 'decline And Fall' As A Work Of Scholarship And Of Literature, Tracing Both Its Expansive Outline And Its Expressive Details. Introduction: Shaping Edward Gibbon -- Gibbon's Characters: Identity And Personhood In The Decline And Fall -- 'on The Celebrated Ground': Equivalency In The First Volume Of The Decline And Fall -- 'to Unite The Most Distant Revolutions': Inheritance In The Second And Third Volumes Of The Decline And Fall -- 'a Solemn And Mournful Recollection': Repetition In The Fourth, Fifth, And Sixth Volumes Of The Decline And Fall -- The Marmoreal Edward Gibbon: The Memoirs And The Ruins Of Rome -- Conclusion: Edward Gibbon And The Shape Of History. Charlotte Roberts. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.