The Fall of the Roman Empire. The Military Explanation by Arther Ferrill

The Fall of the Roman Empire. The Military Explanation by Arther Ferrill lays out his reinterpretation of the collapse of the Western Empire. I first was exposed to this when during my undergrad I did a special project on whether the Roman Empire had a grand strategy. I recently came across a copy and wanted to know if it still held up all these years and books later. I'm happy to say that for the most part it does.

Ferrill argues that there were two major threads of failure in the West, bad decision-making and the absorption of Germanic tactics and equipment in the Roman army. There was also a relaxation of levels of training as well as recruitment that led to Roman military failures.

There's a decent enough summary of the major theories behind Rome's collapse. Some like the lead poisoning idea are mentioned just to make fun of them while others are dealt with more seriously. He also tries to make the case that the Empire in the West actually did in fact fall instead of transitioning into the successor states without any changes.

Recommended.

Is available through Abebooks.