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GIBBON, E.: Memoirs of My Life (Unabridged)
Edward Gibbon (1737−1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament known for his monumental series The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire, which chronicled the dissipation of the Roman dynasties in a lofty, majestic style unique to its author.
Memoirs of My Life, published posthumously in 1796, wholly unveils the character of the world’s greatest historian in full candour and openness. We follow him from birth, through to his education at Oxford, to his time in Switzerland where he met Voltaire and fell in love with a Swiss girl. We accompany him on his travels through France and Lausanne, leading on to his eventual arrival in Rome, where he conceived his epic Decline and Fall.
Gibbon’s Memoirs is a portrait of a rich and productive life and offers a compelling insight into a towering figure; it is essential listening for anyone interested in great literature.
Tracklist
|  | 1 | In the fifty-second year of my age… | 09:08 |
| | 2 | My family is originally derived from the county of Kent. | 10:30 |
| | 3 | It is not two years since I acquired, in a foreign land… | 09:53 |
| | 4 | My grandfather could not expect to be treated… | 09:34 |
| | 5 | I was born at Putney, in the county of Surrey… | 08:14 |
| | 6 | After this previous institution at home… | 09:45 |
| | 7 | As far back as I can remember, the house, near Putney Bridge… | 10:59 |
| | 8 | The curiosity, which had been implanted in my infant mind… | 09:49 |
| | 1 | A venerable prelate, whose taste and erudition… | 09:48 |
| | 2 | The college of St Mary Magdalen… | 08:27 |
| | 3 | The long recess between the Trinity and Michaelmas terms… | 09:57 |
| | 4 | In these dispositions, and already more than half a convert… | 10:21 |
| | 5 | Bayle was the son of a Calvinist minister… | 10:30 |
| | 6 | But it is the peculiar felicity of youth… | 08:02 |
| | 7 | Such, from my arrival at Lausanne… | 10:22 |
| | 8 | From a blind idea of the usefulness… | 11:56 |
| | 1 | Before I was recalled from Switzerland… | 09:04 |
| | 2 | If my childish revolt against the religion of my country… | 09:14 |
| | 3 | Of the two years (May 1758-May 1760) between my return… | 08:45 |
| | 4 | If in a more domestic or more dissipated scene… | 11:36 |
| | 5 | Two years elapsed in silence… | 08:05 |
| | 6 | At Lausanne I composed the first chapters… | 10:53 |
| | 7 | The loss of so many busy and idle hours… | 08:50 |
| | 8 | Beriton, April 14, 1761. | 12:55 |
| | 1 | But the principal end of my journey was to enjoy… | 11:14 |
| | 2 | If my studies at Paris had been confined… | 11:47 |
| | 3 | On the 25th June 1765, I arrived at my father's house… | 10:32 |
| | 4 | It was in search of some liberal and lucrative employment… | 11:17 |
| | 5 | In the fifteen years between my Essay… | 11:28 |
| | 6 | I had now attained the first of earthly blessings… | 10:00 |
| | 7 | That curious and original letter will amuse the reader… | 13:11 |
| | 1 | The profession and rank of Sir David Dalrymple… | 10:01 |
| | 2 | I perceived, and without surprise, the coldness… | 07:41 |
| | 3 | From my early acquaintance with Lausanne… | 08:39 |
| | 4 | My transmigration from London to Lausanne… | 09:44 |
| | 5 | From this display of genius… | 09:18 |
| | 6 | I am less flattered by Mr Porson's high encomium… | 09:03 |
| | 7 | Within the last two or three years… | 13:36 |
| | 8 | Gibbon was to live another six years… | 06:53 |