CRITICISM

Braudy, Leo. “Edward Gibbon and ‘The Privilege of Fiction.’” Prose Studies 3, no. 2 (September 1980): 138-51.

Argues that Gibbon's attitudes towards and adoption of fiction as a means to interpret historical events are more important elements in the historian's writings than are works of classical historians and contemporary social philosophers.

Carnochan, W. B. Gibbon's Solitude: The Inward World of the Historian. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1987, 228 p.

Full-length study of Gibbon's life and works that concentrates on the historian's efforts to understand both ancient Rome and himself.

Cosgrove, Peter. “The Circulation of Genres in Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” ELH 63 (spring 1996): 109-38.

Seeks to understand the narrative model of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by examining its relationship to a broad range of literary forms, most notably the mock-heroic.

Craddock, Patricia. “Edward Gibbon (1737-1794).” In Medieval Scholarship: Biographical Studies on the Formation of a Discipline. Volume I: History, edited by Helen Damico and Joseph B. Zavadil, pp. 47-61. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1995.

Provides a concise overview of Gibbon's life and works.

Dickinson, H. T. “The Politics of Edward Gibbon.” Literature and History, no. 8 (autumn 1978): 175-96.

Argues that Gibbon's political opinions, especially his high regard for the British Constitution, were important factors in how the historian viewed ancient Rome.

Furet, François. “Civilization and Barbarism in Gibbon's History.” Daedalus 105, no. 3 (1976): 209-16.

Defines the central thesis of Gibbon's Decline and Fall as the claim that the downfall of Roman civilization was due to the emerging strength of barbarism and Christianity.

Hamilton, Richard. “Gibbon's Use of Sources in the Portrait of Hypatia.” English Language Notes 28, no. 2 (December 1990): 6-16.

Describes Gibbon's prose portrait of the philosopher Hypatia as an illustrative example of how Gibbon used historical sources to convey central themes in the Decline and Fall.

Jordan, David P. “Edward Gibbon: The Historian of the Roman Empire.” Daedalus 105, no. 3 (1976): 1-12.

Argues that Gibbon's Memoirs shows that the historian had to overcome a number of obstacles, especially the constant disapproval of his father, before he was able to harness his genius to write the Decline and Fall.

Morris, John N. “Gibbon's Fortunes.” Modern Age 8, no. 4 (fall 1964): 389-98.

Argues that Gibbon did not write the Memoirs as a defence of his life or views, but rather as a frank, dispassionate study of the forces, both positive and negative, that pushed him into the role of author of the Decline and Fall.

Oliver, Dennis M. “The Character of an Historian: Edward Gibbon.” ELH 38, no. 2 (June 1971): 254-73.

Sees Gibbon's autobiographical description of his first, failed love affair as an illustrative example of how the historian conceived of events, both in his personal life and in the historical context for which he is best known.

Shackleton, Robert. “The Impact of French Literature on Gibbon.” Daedalus 105, no. 3 (1976): 37-48.

Traces the influence of French thought on the Decline and Fall, especially that of Montesquieu's social philosophy.

Turnbull, Paul. “‘Buffeted for Ancestral Sins’: Some Neglected Aspects of Gibbon's Roman Conversion.” Eighteenth-Century Life 11, no. 1 (February 1987): 18-35.

Argues that personal events described in Gibbon's Memoirs—especially the author's religious conversion, the death of his mother, a failed love affair, and his strained relationship with his father—are vital to understanding the historian and his work.

Additional coverage of Gibbon's life and career is contained within the following sources published by the Gale Group: British Writers, Vol. 3; Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 104; Literature Resource Center; and Reference Guide to English Literature, Ed. 2.