Escape from Rome

One of the Financial Times' Best Books of 2019: Economics

One of the Evening Standard's Best Books of 2019

Finalist for the PROSE Award in Archaeology and Ancient History, Association of American Publishers

The fall of the Roman Empire has long been considered one of the greatest disasters in history. But in this groundbreaking book, Walter Scheidel argues that Rome's dramatic collapse was actually the best thing that ever happened, clearing the path for Europe's economic rise and the creation of the modern age.

Ranging across the entire premodern world, Escape from Rome offers new answers to some of the biggest questions in history: Why did the Roman Empire appear? Why did nothing like it ever return to Europe? And, above all, why did Europeans come to dominate the world? In an absorbing narrative that begins with ancient Rome but stretches far beyond it, from Byzantium to China and from Genghis Khan to Napoleon, Scheidel shows how the demise of Rome and the enduring failure of empire-building on European soil launched an economic transformation that changed the continent and ultimately the world.

'An outstanding, epic history of the fall of the Roman Empire and rise of the European West.' - Simon Sebag Montefiore, Evening Standard

'A remarkable book.' - Peter Brown, New York Review of Books

'Scheidel marshals his facts with verve and force.' - Robert Colvile, The Times

'Makes a bracing case...What did the Romans do for us? Scheidel does not give the usual answers.' - Peter Stothard, Financial Times

Escape from Rome deserves to be taken very seriously...This is a fiercely intelligent, closely argued book.' - Peter Thonemann, Times Literary Supplement