Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire , published between 1776 and 1788, is generally acknowledged to be a masterpiece of English historical writing. Gibbon takes the reader through the history of Europe from the 2nd-century AD, to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. This edition includes Gibbon's footnotes and quotations, together with brief explanatory comments, a precis of the chapters not included and a list of emperors.