Alaric the Goth Now in Paperback!
⭐︎ Named a 2020 Book of the Year ⭐︎
The Economist
“[V]ividly conveys the fears and confusion that surrounded the issue of immigrants’ rights in a period of declining Roman power.” — The Boston Globe
⭐︎ Named an Amazon Books ⭐︎
Best of Month, June 2020
⭐︎ Selected by Forbes ⭐︎
Father’s Day Gift Guide
⭐︎ Best of 2020 ⭐︎
Financial Review (Australia)
Alaric the Goth Has Been Featured At
The Paris Review
(Contributor’s Favorites of 2020)
Lapham's Quarterly (June 2020)
Order wherever books are sold.
Denied citizenship by the Roman Empire, a soldier named Alaric changed history by unleashing a surprise attack on the capital city of an unjust empire.
Praise for Alaric the Goth
“Written in an enchanting and effortless style that transports you back in time, Douglas Boin’s Alaric the Goth masters the art of bringing the past to life in a thrilling fashion and making it relevant to today. An essential and scholarly page-turner.”
Sarah Parcak
Author of Archaeology From Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past
Douglas Boin is a Full Professor of History at Saint Louis University and the author of Alaric the Goth, Coming Out Christian in the Roman World, and two additional scholarly books on antiquity. He lives in Austin, Texas.
Additional Praise for Alaric the Goth
“A brilliant Goth’s-eye view of the sack of Rome.”
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“Boin paints a richly detailed portrait of the world in which Alaric maneuvered, defined by the thrashings of an empire in turmoil….A cogent, readable text that vividly conveys the fears and confusion that surrounded the issue of immigrants’ rights in a period of declining Roman power.”
Wendy Smith, The Boston Globe
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“A fascinating account of one of the most important—and misunderstood—leaders in Roman history. Douglas Boin…tells the story of a man fighting for respect and dignity in a world consumed by civil war, religious intolerance, ethnic prejudice, greedy self-interest, and treacherous politics. Boin brings Alaric’s world to life, and so brings Alaric to life. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the whole story of the fall of Rome.”
Mike Duncan New York Times best-selling author of The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic
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“[This book] understands what drives personal success far better than modern treatises on management and self-help. That is, it understands the power of an inferiority complex. What the English call 'chippiness' is as potent a source of motivation as exists in life. And the least celebrated."
Janan Ganesh, Financial Times
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“A brilliantly readable account of the fall of the western Roman Empire, which for the first time spotlights not the Romans, but the Gothic invader Alaric. This is a story for our own age too. Douglas Boin asks us to take seriously the question of what would have happened if the tottering city of Rome had prioritized inclusive citizenship over paranoia and conflict; if it had built bridges rather than walls. This is urgent, gravid history, which will be read by anyone interested in empire, cultural conflict and the making of the modern narrative of the West.”
Tim Whitmarsh, Author of Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World
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“A remarkable feat of historical alchemy: a transmutation of the scanty and inadequate sources into the gold of a gripping narrative.”
Tom Holland, Author of Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic
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“This is a story of desperation and broken promises, pitting refugees from the north seeking homes, respect, and citizenship in an unwieldy empire already juddering with anti-immigrant fears, social upheavals, and political treachery. With deep research and insight, Boin traces the trajectory of cultural conflict from dashed hopes to devastation.”
Adrienne Mayor, Author of Gods and Robots
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“An admirable history of a lesser-known Roman era….expert….revealing.”
Kirkus Reviews
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“The most engaging parts of Alaric the Goth, and by far the greater portion of its contents, diverge from Alaric’s story to give a sweeping view of Roman life near the fall of the empire. It’s here, especially in matters of Christian-pagan tension, that Mr. Boin excels.”
James Romm, Wall Street Journal
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“Eye-opening….[Boin’s] brisk and well-documented account reveals the Roman Empire 50 years before its collapse as a decadent society rife with xenophobia and political conflict. This invigorating rehash of ancient times speaks clearly to the modern world.”
Publishers Weekly
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“Anyone who appreciates vividly detailed stories of the past or is morbidly curious about the dying days of a wealthy, self-important, diverse, autocratic global power should pick this up.”
Sarah Rice, Booklist
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“An entertaining, highly readable account….a fresh approach….a work of noteworthy historical portraiture….a compelling, historically situated biography of the original King of the Visigoths….Boin writes in lyrical and breezy prose.”
Clayton Trutor, The New Criterion
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“Boin offers valuable insights into a culture that, while in crisis, was still vibrant, and provides tantalising glimpses into a frontier world that is so often glossed over. …[A] a finely crafted account of how Alaric became the embodiment of Rome's self-defeating fear of the world outside its frontiers.”
Philip Parker, Literary Review
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“Some books tilt the world so that you will never quite see it the same way again, and this is definitely one.”
Catherine Nixey, History Extra (BBC History Magazine)
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“[Douglas Boin] knits the strands together expertly with a vibrant writing style.”
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“Boin published his book before the attack on the US Capitol, but his reading of the ancient past through the lens of contemporary trauma offers a fitting epitaph to a regime that did not fall but petered out – and a reminder that even a failed sack can be given meaning.”
Josephine Quinn, London Review of Books
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“Significantly reframes the stereotypical narrative.”
Daniel José Camacho, The Revealer
2020 Events
November 24
Chicago, IL
Art Institute of Chicago
Boshell Foundation Lecture,
In Conversation with Lisa Çakmak
