About the book: 2023 / Branded with shame and considered the scum of Roman society, the Goths were cruel "barbarians" who destroyed "civilization", according to at least in the traditional interpretation of the history of the collapse of Rome. But shifting the vantage point just a little brings their history and ours to life. Although the Romans cared about law and order, it was a society where cruelty and profit-seeking reigned supreme. Alaric grew up near the river that separated Gothic land from Roman possessions. He experienced the impact of frontier policies that took settler children away from their parents, and he was denied the benefits he might have expected from military service. The Romans argued bitterly over who should be granted the privileges of citizenship. They wanted to strengthen their power in the world, but were not so sure about the Roman identity; they depended on foreign goods, but they ridiculed foreigners and denied them the right to be heard and considered human. Unlike the Romans, who experienced a rise in fanaticism, intolerance, and radicalism during Alaric's lifetime, the Goths, as practicing Christians, valued religious pluralism and tolerance. The Goths, marginalized and cast as fearsome harbingers of destruction and the onset of the Dark Ages of history, preserved the achievements of the ancient world that we take for granted. In the centuries to come, the Gothic style would become a symbol of freedom itself - a quality that was highly valued by members of the British government who were skeptical of power kings and queens; they built their parliament building in the Gothic style. For whom: For everyone who is interested in history. For those who are ready to look at the events of the past in a new way.