The Night Attila Died

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Before Saddam, before Hitler, before Napoleon—there was Attila. "Born to shake the nations," the feared and reviled leader of the Huns cut a bloody swath of death and destruction across fifth-century Europe. Yet, for all his barbarian savagery, it took a mere nosebleed to end his life. At least that's how history has recorded it. For more than fifteen hundred years, the relatively tame way Attila died has remained a curious footnote to a legacy rife with violence. But history happens to be wrong. Michael Babcock, PhD, a noted philologist and recognized authority on the life and legend of Attila, makes a stunning revelation: The "Scourge of God" died as he lived—he was murdered. Using philology, the careful analysis of textual and historical evidence, Babcock lays out his argument like a skilled trial lawyer in a high-profile murder case. He puts the reader in the jury box as he presents piece after piece of evidence pointing to the assassination plot and subsequent cover-up that were orchestrated by Attila's chief rival, Marcian, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. In this intriguing book, Babcock succeeds not only in solving an ancient murder mystery, he stirs the stilled waters of history—and rewrites it for the next fifteen hundred years.