...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.