Product Description

Attila the Hun has been known to the world for centuries as a bloodthirsty tyrant and little else. In this fascinating piece of historical detective work, Patrick Howarth throws a new and more sympathetic light on the popular legend. Attila ruled over the vast, but short-lived, Hun Empire of the fifth century, the time of the disintegration of the Roman Empire and the emergence of the great barbarians. In successive campaigns, from his military headquarters in Hungary, he brought his armies to the gates of Constantinople, through Germany and France to Orleans, and deep into italy. This scholarly and engaging work, using primary sources, as well as recent archaeological finds in Hungary and elsewhere, shows that Attila was much more than a great commander and reveals the little understood world of the Huns, a people of remarkable equestrian skills who came from the borders of China.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1175551 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

About the Author
Patrick Howarth is the author of numerous works of history, biography and criticism, including The Year is 1851 and George VI. Eight programmes of his poetry, ranging in length from fifteen to forty minutes, have been broadcast by BBC Radio 3. A former diplomat, who served in Special Operations, he has broadcast for the BBC in five languages. He has had a long association with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. He lives in Sherbome, Dorset.

Customer Reviews

Manhood and mythology...
Patrick Howarth had a rich and varied career, that included study in languages at Oxford, work during the second world war in special operations and intelligence, and a wide ranging writing career, all of which have come together to help craft this interesting overview and introduction to the Huns and their most illustrious leader, Attila.

This book is less a biography of Attila the Hun, the Scourge of God, as it is an overview of the cultural, military, political and personality aspects of the late Roman Empire and the expansive but short-lived Hunnish Empire. It also addresses how the mythology of Attila and the Huns is far more pervasive throughout history than the truth has been, or continues to be. Howarth's thesis begins that the Huns are a much-maligned people, and that most of our historical information comes with a distinct political taint, handed down by the victors (those who win get to write the history), the Romans, the Byzantines, and that longest-of-lasting institutions, the Christian church.

Little known and less taught is the fact that the Roman Empire did in fact have major, if disorganised, rivals for their power. The Celtic Empire prior to the Common Era was one such; the Hunnish Empire from the middle fourth century to the late fifth century held more territory than Rome and Constantinople. This makes it more credible that Attila, who in fact only ruled as king of the Huns for a little under a decade, such a threat to both the Eastern and Western Empires.

Howarth's text looks at the pieces that make up the history of the period. He looks at the internal politics and dynamics of the courts and general population of Rome and Constantinople, how they played off each other in addition to the Huns. He looks at the military situation was some insight, showing the difficulties of troop movement and support, the problems of intelligence gathering and planning, and the difficult time the Romans East and West had defending their territories, which also made it difficult in the end for the Huns to hold the gains, too.

One of the more interesting chapters involves one of the great legends that has been spun around the interaction of Attila and Pope Leo. Howarth describes the effects of art and legendary stories on the way history is popularly perceived, and even academically transmitted - examples of Raphael and Gibbons commenting on the legends of the Pope's eloquence (and the appearance of Sts. Peter and Paul to threaten Attila) compared with other, more rationally likely explanations for Attila's reluctance to attack Rome.

The controversy over Attila's death is also explored, drawing on sources contemporary and later, that Attila died on the night of his wedding to Ildico. Whether he was murdered or died of natural causes will likely never be known; where his grave is located also remains a mystery. Howarth discusses several possibilities, again drawing from ancient sources.

Howarth combines a lot of ancient primary sources with more modern expositions of the history. He also looks at the continuing legacy of Attila, in popular culture around the world, as well as in modern-day Hungary. This is not a 'high academic' scholarly text, but it does serve as a good introduction to the subject, with the right balance between speculation (generally presented as such) and source-text reporting. There is a short index, which could be improved upon, and as another commentator has observed, the absence of maps is a significant flaw for a text on this kind of history. Still, the writing is engaging, if occasionally choppy, and the subject, already interesting in and of itself, is developed in an interesting fashion.

Huzzah!

Lack of source material makes for an unsatisfactory read
The problem with writing any life of Attila the Hun is the lack of original source material. That means that much of his life must be interpolated from oral tradition and folk tales. This makes for an unsatisfactory read as it is impossible to accurately trace where he went or what he did much of the time. The only reliable accounts are from Romans who visited his court, and their portraits of the man are quite interesting. Apparantly much of his army was made up of mercenaries, men captured in raids or adventurers seeking opportunities for loot. His chief of staff was Italian, and his court was quite cosmopolitan. The book is intermittently interesting, but inevitably ends up leaving many unanswered questions.

To Mother tongue
Mother tongue is a excellent choice to those people that like the poetry. However, this book is very different because isn't a romantic poetry , of course, that we can get it but in fact the poems have some sadness, angry , and love.For me the best poem is My wife become Mother.... It is very especial poem.Peter Hargitai wrote this poem to his wife in a moment where he was so happy because he will become in father but at the same time he was so worry because he didn't know how could be his future and his new family.
I really recomendece it....