Peter Brown vs Bryan Ward Perkins. Do you know a book that synthesize their opposed opinions on the end of the Roman Empire ?

by MxSankaa

I would like to read a neutral book about the end of the Roman Empire, not a tale about a peaceful transition downplaying the violence of the events neither a polemical essay aimed to undermined the last thirty years of academical knowledge about the period. Which book would you recommend me ? Thank you, I like this sub

HankCo_employee

Not sure I’ve the karma for this to show up but here it goes.

I’d recommend The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity by Averil Cameron. It runs from the death of Theodosius through the foundation of the Abbasid caliphate. The thesis is made very clear in the Introduction and the relationship with the “barbarians” is explored thoroughly in the first half. Brown is referred to and critiqued within but not in a hostile manner. Hope this helps.

y_sengaku

Harper, Kyle. The Fall of Rome: Climate, Disease & the End of An Empire. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2017: Ecological history, out of Emperors' activity mainly brought the empire(s) down.
Sarris, Peter. Empires of Faith: The Falls of Rome to the Rise of Islam, 500-700. Oxford: OUP, 2011 : Balanced narrative, mainly from a political point of view.
Wickham, Chris. The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2010. The Penguin History of Europe. : balanced mix-up of political, religious, and socio-econommic views. Basically a lite versiion of the same author's very volumious Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400-800. Oxford: OUP, 2005

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Notes that it is clear from this post of mine that I'm much more inclined to the view of Brown than that of Ward-Perkins.
[edited]: typo fixes.