The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

"Another damned fat book, Mr. Gibbon? Scribble, scribble, scribble, eh Mr. Gibbon?"

"I set out upon...Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire [and] was immediately dominated both by the story and the style....I devoured Gibbon. I rode triumphantly through it from end to end and enjoyed it all."