The Night Attila Died: Solving the Murder of Attila the Hun

by Michael A. Babcock
Berkley Hardcover (July 5, 2005)
336 pages

Before Saddam, before Hitler, before Napoleon...

...there was Attila, the reviled leader of the Huns who cut a bloody swath of death 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-a curious footnote to a legacy rife with violence.

But history happens to be wrong.

Michael Babcock, 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...

Attila was murdered.

Using careful analysis of textual and historical evidence, Babcock lays out his argument like a skilled trial lawyer. He puts the reader in the jury box as he presents the evidence pointing to an assassination plot and subsequent cover-up, orchestrated by Attila’s chief rival, Marcian, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire.


From the Author
The product of some twenty years of research, "The Night Attila Died" is not just an intriguing detective story about "what happened" to one of the most feared men in history. This book is also about how we know what we know about the past -- and how we know it.

From the Inside Flap
"If Sherlock Holmes had been an academic, this is the kind of detective work he would have done. Brilliant and compelling!" -- Bob Brier, Ph.D., author of "The Murder of Tutankhamen"

About the Author
Michael A. Babcock, Ph.D., a recognized authority on the historical and legendary material surrounding the life and death of Attila the Hun, is an Associate Professor of Humanities at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He holds a Ph.D. in Germanic Philology from the University of Minnesota and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina.

History Book Club Review, July 2005
"Babcock has created a tour de force." -- Thomas R. Martin, author of "Ancient Greece"

Bloomberg Newswire, July 13, 2005 (www.bloomberg.com)
"Babcock presents a convincing case for homicide." -- Joe Mysak, Bloomberg News Columnist

Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 23, 2005
"Babcock can flat-out write.... J.R.R. Tolkien would have inhaled this book."

http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/attilathehun/a/AttilaMurder.htm


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attila_the_Hun