After prefacing the book with a brief word on the nature of leadership—"the privilege to have the responsibility to direct the actions of others” (i)—the author ensures that the reader understands the book as a fictional account of what Attila the Hun could have said when presented with various challenges and pressing circumstances. As he makes clear, “The aphorisms spoken by Attila in this book have no basis of authenticity as ever having been said by the King of Huns” (iii).

In the introduction, he first discusses the wandering nature of the Huns as a loosely organized group of unrelated tribes and peoples. Attila was born into this context in 395 CE, and his father died young. At the mercy of his vicious uncles who assumed leadership, Attila was shipped off to Rome as part of a hostage exchange. Rejecting any possibility of assimilation, the young boy watched and learned from the Roman leaders who surrounded him, studying military protocol and strategies for diplomatic relations. After being returned to his people many years later, he assumed leadership and began to unite the various tribes in a way that had never been done.