A Short History of Byzantium

Dates Covered: 300 - 1500
ISBN: 0679772693
HH Rating:

Our Take

A short history of an empire that spanned over 1100 years is going to be tricky, but author John Julius Norwich pulls it off with aplomb. In a style that would suit the sensantionalist Byzantines he so admires, Norwich leaves aside the details of everyday life for a grand and zesty telling of the innumerable and invariably sordid details of court intrigue, battles gone wrong, and corruption that defined the grand empire. There are better books than the nonprofessional Norwich's for a scholarly understanding, but this book will induce the desire to read them, and leave you hungry for ever more detail.

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