LITERATURE - Edward Gibbon

The news is often determined to tell us that we live in uniquely critical times, beset by political disasters and afflicted by terrible crises and that the demise of human civilisation is surely imminent. We are encouraged to view the world - and our own lives - in bleak, apocalyptic terms. Oddly, as the great 18th century historian Edward Gibbon shows us, history can be powerfully consoling, not because it tells us that our times are great, but because it shows us how normal large societal troubles really are. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/SSYin Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/Uxamv FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://bit.ly/3Jf9cxU “The news is often determined to tell us that we live in uniquely critical times, beset by political disasters and afflicted by terrible crises and that the demise of human civilisation is surely imminent. We are encouraged to view the world - and our own lives - in bleak, apocalyptic terms. Oddly, history can be powerfully consoling, not because it tells us that our times are great, but because it shows us how normal large societal troubles really are. The English 18th century historian Edward Gibbon is particularly helpful with this task of bringing us to a less frightened perspective. His massive, elegantly written work covers 1500 years, from the pinnacle of Roman power around the year 180 AD, through the collapse of the Western Empire to the final fall of its last outpost, the city of Constantinople, in 1453. Gibbon started work on the series of volumes around 1770 and completed the final volume on a summer’s evening in 1787 while he was on holiday in Switzerland…” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on LITERATURE in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLliterature SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-school-of-life-for-business/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Tracy Wedderburn tj-tracyfoster.squarespace.com Title animation produced in collaboration with Vale Productions https://www.valeproductions.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices