Gibbon's 'Rise and Fall' offers 1st lesson for our own time [audio 14min]
Ever since the celebrated 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon wrote The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, people have looked to his work for signs of decay in their own age. In the first of a new three-part series, 'The Gibbon Test', Matthew Parris explores what lessons Gibbon may have for Britain, its politicians and its institutions. Are they too in decline? Do they too face a great fall? A writer for The Times and The Spectator, Parris is also a frequent broadcaster on British television and radio.
Read entire article at BBC Radio 4 "The Westminster Hour: Sunday Supplement"