Historiography of the fall of the Western Roman Empire Historiography of the fall of the Western Roman Empire The causes and mechanisms of the Fall of the Western Roman Empire are a historical theme that was introduced by historian Edward Gibbon in his 1776 book "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". He started an ongoing historiographical discussion about what caused the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, and the reduced power of the remaining Eastern Empire, in the 4th–5th centuries. Gibbon was not the first to speculate on why the Empire collapsed, but he was the first to give a well-researched and well-referenced account.
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) accompanying LP. Agreements were finalised on 8 January, but the project was not revealed until a press release on 10 March. Separately, the Kinks began work on the programme's companion record, entitled "Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)". Development of "Arthur" occurred during a rough period for the band, due to the commercial failure of their previous album "The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society" and the subsequent single, "Plastic Man", as well as the departure of founding member and bassist Pete Quaife. In early 1969, Quaife had told the band he was quitting, though