Attila the Hun is a household name - a byword for barbarism and violence - but to most of us the man himself, his world and his place in history have remained elusive. Until now.
For a crucial twenty years in the early 5th century AD, Attila held the fate of the Roman Empire and the future of Europe in his hands. In numerous raids and three major campaigns he and his warriors earned an undying reputation for savagery, and his empire briefly rivalled that of Rome, reaching from the Rhine to the Black Sea, the Baltic to the Balkans.
Attila's power derived from his astonishing character. He may have been capricious, arrogant and ruthless, but he was brilliant enough to win the loyalty of millions: his own people thought him semi-divine while educated Westerners were proud to serve him. From his base in the grasslands of Hungary, this scourge of God so very nearly dictated Europe's future...
Drawing on his extensive travels in the barbarian heartland and his experience with the nomadic traditions of Central Asia, John Man's riveting biography reveals the man behind the enduring myth of Attila the Hun.
