Bryan Ward Perkins: Hessell-Tiltman History Prize winner

Bryan Ward Perkins has been announced as the 2005/6 winner of the Hessell-Tiltman History Prize. His book, The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilisation, looks at how and why successive generations have understood the fall of the Roman Empire and why this particular period in history is still significant today. For many years the fall of Rome has been attributed to hostile and vicious barbarian invasions but more contemporary views propose that there was a largely peaceful transition into German rule, with a gradual, positive adaptation of Germanic culture. Judges, Professor Linda Colley, Graham Robb and Frances Stonor-Saunders said that Bryan Ward Perkins’ book was written ‘beautifully and with great wit.’ They felt that it examined a well-known known piece of history with fresh, thoughtful research and commended the author’s ability to handle an immense breadth of historical material and present it in a manner appealing and accessible to readers. The prize is awarded annually in honour of novelist Marjorie Hessell-Tiltman after her death in 1999 for a non-fiction book of specifically historical content and high literary merit.