Attila the Hun

Michael Grant tells how, some 1000 years ago, the “Scourge of God” died on his wedding night.

I was sitting in a little public garden of a town in central Anatolia, and on the next bench sat a young Turkish mother, watching her plump baby as it tottered about on the path. Then, to my surprise, she addressed the angelic infant by a name which to us carries memories of horror, of the Scourge of God: “Attila,” she said, “Attila darling, come here and let me wipe your face.”

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