The Sword of Attila: A Novel of the Last Years of Rome Kindle Edition

In AD 451 a massive confederation of barbarians streamed out of what is now Russia and southwestern Asia with the intent of not only conquering but annihilating Rome and the West. This army, unprecedented in both size and savagery (if the primary sources are to be believed) was stopped at the Battle of Catalaunian Plains by a combined force of Romans, Visigoths (who had themselves been the scourge of Rome just a few decades earlier) and Alani in an epic battle to rival anything in Tolkien. While treated as little more than a foot note now, this battle was one of the true crossroads of history - for though the Western Roman Empire dissipated a mere 25 years later, the legacy of Rome (with its government and structure, but most of all its thought and religion) persisted; and we can only imagine how unrecognizable our own world would be if the Huns had succeeded.The Sword of Attila by Michael Curtis Ford is about this battle - but it is more about the juxtaposition of two of the defining figures of the age, the Roman general Aetius and the Hun King Attila. Aetius was the last great general of the Western Roman Empire, stoic and indefatigable with barbarian ties of his own. Rather than portraying Attila as the blood thirsty psychotic he is usually remembered as, Ford paints the picture of a complex man completely devoted to a cold philosophy. The book excels, though, in tracing the relationship between the two, who according to Ford were childhood friends and even fought alongside each other (which is plausible given the shifting allegiances characteristic of the time).Ford's novel is of the traditional military adventure style. It full of superlatives, and is about manly men doing manly things with only a few female stock characters (i.e. the dutiful wife, the wicked secubis, etc.) making cameo appearances. Ford writes well, but is not trying to wow you with his writing - he is trying to wow you with his story. The ending is a bit Hollywood. However, he works in a great many details that give one a good feel for the classical world - not just in terms of military matters but also a touch of philosophy, ideology, and beliefs - that make the story ring true.A number of reviewers here have cast stones at this novel for being "inaccurate". First of all, the description of the battle and the protagonists' lives are quite accurate; it is only the details that Ford sometimes seems to stumble on. The Roman army he describes is very much a traditional one, and not what we would have been likely to encounter in Late Antiquity. However, I feel that crying "inaccuracy" over such matters is not always fair. The Fifth Century is very difficult to write about because anachronisms come from both sides. Much was changing rapidly, there is a paucity of sources on the matter, and even the sources we have are plagued by a strange convention of the times that made educated men write about their world with feigned ignorance (such as calling all mounted nomads "Scythians"). Many times we know that some details and conventions changes, but we have little information on what they changed to. If the information is available, does it warrant the half-page diatribe that would be required every time something new is presented? So if you are the type of person who will be deeply annoyed when the writer talks about a Roman army in 451 wearing sandals, red cloaks in summer, wearing breast plates, and marching 20 miles a day and digging 144 cubic feet of trench per night, or if you do not like seeing ale sweetened with honey being called "mead" then skip this book. But if you are interested in exploring these amazing and dramatic events and getting into the heads of these amazing people then I readily recommend The Sword of Attila.- David Gray Rodgers, author of The Songs of Slaves

What a great novel. I totally enjoyed the historical points of the story. Because of this story, I went on to purchase and read all of the previous Michael Curtis Ford's novels.

The author does a very good job in placing the reader in the period. It is a straight forward story with good intensity towards the battle scenes. Like most every other book, the story gets a little slow during the character building parts, but the story gets moving early on. I will read more from this author.

Awesome

Novels written based on real history are always good. It rounds out the real characters of history and makes for good reading.

Very interesting to read about Attila and the Romans. Fascinating to read their way of life and interaction between the different societies not to mention their battles. For me it was a very visual read. Would live to have this be made into a good movie.

It is great when an auther pulls you inside the story with his words. That is exactly what this author does! This historically accurate novel uses actual events, times, places, and people to bring you in and keep your interest. Great book!!!

It was almost like walking into the store and buying it right off the shelf. Just a very pleasant experience..

Found the book very interesting but not much of a story, more historical research than anything,but I enjoyed it very much. D Bowen.

Livre totalement sans intérêt.1/ L'auteur n'a visiblement pas pris la peine de lire quelques ouvrages historiques sur la période. Son ignorance de l'Histoire est meme choquante2/ l'histoire - avec un petit h- est en elle-même ennuyeuse.A éviterLisez plutôt "the scourge of God" de William Dietrich sur le meme sujet: passionnant et assez veridique