The Ruin of the Roman Empire, James O'Donnell

Arguing about how and why the Roman Empire fell is a long, time-honored tradition. But, in a (relatively) recent book, historian James O'Donnell makes the compelling argument that the principle cause should be seen as anything external like barbarians, or anything as nefarious as taxes or anything of that sort, but rather the overambitious drive of one man--the Emperor Justinian.