Product Description

For a thousand years an extraordinary empire made possible Europe’s transition to the modern world: Byzantium. An audacious and resilient but now little known society, it combined orthodox Christianity with paganism, classical Greek learning with Roman power, to produce a great and creative civilization which for centuries held in check the armies of Islam. Judith Herrin’s concise and compelling book replaces the standard chronological approach of most histories of Byzantium. Instead, each short chapter is focused on a theme, such as a building (the great church of Hagia Sophia), a clash over religion (iconoclasm), sex and power (the role of eunuchs), an outstanding Byzantine individual (the historian Anna Komnene), a symbol of civilization (the fork), a battle for territory (the crusades). In this way she makes accessible and understandable the grand sweeps of Byzantine history, from the founding of its magnificent capital Constantinople (modern Istanbul) in 330, to its fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33104 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Philip Pullman
'I've been reading it with fascination. This most intriguing of empires is the best introduction to Byzantine history I've seen. I can say with absolute certainty that I shall steal from it several times.'

Jerry Brotton, Sunday Times
'Herrin has taken the brave decision to approach her subject thematically, choosing particular events, monuments and individuals through which to tell her story ... Rich and convincing ... a fascinating account.'

Economist
'She presents Byzantium as a vibrant, dynamic, cosmopolitan reality which somehow escaped the constraints of its official ideology.'