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The Byzantine Empire, one of its most eminent students reminds us, lasted "for a total of 1,123 years and 18 days," which is an astonishing duration matched by only a few others. Condensing Norwich's three-volume history, this overview captures the splendor and strangeness of Byzantine rule, marked by family intrigues, constant warfare, political and religious strife, and personal ambition--a "somewhat lurid background," as Norwich modestly declares in passing. Norwich is a master of the telling vignette. In one, he writes of imperial guards made up of "Anglo-Saxons who had left their country in disgust after Hastings and had taken service with Byzantium." Facing a Norman enemy in southern Italy, these Anglo-Saxons exacted terrible vengeance until the Normans rallied under the leadership of a fearless woman, one Sichelgaita, and massacred their enemy. Norwich's book abounds in similarly surprising and absorbing episodes.
Book Description
Published to coincide with a major exhibition on Byzantium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the spring of 1997, Byzantium tells the dramatic story of Byzantium, from its beginnings in A.D. 330, providing readers with a spirited, gripping, and original account of a great lost civilization and its magnificent artistic heritage. 24 pp. of illustrations, 8 pp. in full color. Size C. 432 pp. 20,000 print.
Customer Reviews:
Standard, Fast-Moving Poltical/Military History.......2007-08-19
A Short History of Byzantium is aptly-named. It covers over a thousand years of history in 381 pages. As such, it is necessarily short on depth and contains no analysis--or footnotes for the serious historians. More concerning to me, however, was its lack of any material beyond male military leaders and emperors. There is no cultural history, a little religious history, and the presentation of the few women in the book is a joke. Casual readers will probably won't be bothered, but anyone with a serious interest in history should read the original three volume work and be prepared to supplement it with additional works.
Disappointment.......2007-07-22
I had high hopes for this book. A Short History of Byzantium, however, reads like little more than a laundry list of people, places, and dates, all passing by at a breakneck pace.
Norwich formula for writing about Byzantine history goes something like this:
Emperor X... 1) assumes the throne, 2) eliminates any perceived threats to his authority, 3) weds a young woman (probably named either Theodora, Eudoxia, or Zoe) in the hopes of siring a male heir, 4) sends his army to wage war against Enemy Y, and 5) is subsequently overthrown by conspirator Z, who now becomes Emperor Z. Repeat steps 1 to 5. Norwich's approach nicely illustrates an antiquated approach to historical writing that focuses exclusively on the lives of the sovereign, his family, and high officials.
Even more unfortunate, Norwich makes little effort to place those people, places, and dates within any broader cultural, social, or political context, resulting in a tedious and lifeless narrative. He also neglects to discuss topics that may interest the average reader, such as Byzantine art, culture, or military tactics. He does spend some time describing events surrounding the great monophysite debate (which concerned the nature of Christ), but still fails to adequately discuss the ideas that made the debate important in the first place. So what's the point?
Norwich is correct in asserting that the Byzantine Empire has been long neglected in Western scholarship (see the book's introduction). Unfortunately, I cannot imagine how this book could help to reverse that inattention. I love reading history, but Norwich made it impossible for me to get excited about the Byzantine Empire. It is books like this that give the field of history a bad name.
True, Norwich's prose is smooth and the book provides some detailed maps and thorough chronological listings of emperors, popes, and sultans. Still, if the author's overall approach is terribly flawed and the storytelling dull, who really cares to know that Alexius Comnenus ruled from 1081 to 1118?
Istanbul and Constantinople.......2007-03-11
It's fascinating to come upon the reviews for John Julian Norwich's, "A Short History of Byzantium" and see how many reviewers are complaining about the pace. Mr. Norwich has explained the difficulty of reducing three volumes into one volume of 380 pages and I wonder if he had to do it over again if he would. It must have been a hair raising editing process and for anyone so inclined by all means get the three volume version (but it's hard to find) and give the author a break. One reviewer who did said she was very much more enjoying the pace and seemed quite settled down. This shortened version has made me hungry to find all three but in the meanwhile I found it a very compelling read, jam packed with information about the Empire of the East. What a story! I think Norwich is right in saying that this is a whole forgotten chunk of time and place in the west and it seems to have been his pleasure to help us find it and unravel it. To say that a situtation or relationship or organization is "Byzantine" implies all of the tangled confusion which we have associated with that civilization for centuries and this short history now makes me totally aware of how that word is applicable. And I thought the Plantagenets were confusing! This work has at least begun to clarify for me the movement of power from west to east, the movement into orthodoxy and finally into islam. And how it remains with us today throughout the Middle East, the Balkans and Central Asia. For anyone who would like some enlightenment on this long period of history pick up a copy of this book, then hold on to your seat. It's quite a ride.
A narrative summary of the Byzantine empire, not an academic work.......2007-02-12
I've noticed a number of reviewers complaining that this book, A Short History of Byzantium, contains absolutely no analysis. They seem surprised at what the book is: a brief summary of Byzantium. It doesn't claim to be anything else. In the introduction, John Julius Norwich clearly states that it is not an academic work for the purpose of historical analysis. It is a summary of a relatively unknown and overlooked empire in history, written for the purpose of spurring interest in the Byzantine world.
Having defended the purpose of Norwich's work, I still can't give it an wonderful review because of some pronounced internal problems. Such a short summary of over 1100 years naturally feels like the reader is racing through events, and soon the names and controversies blur into one another. For this reason the reader can expect to have an unusually low rate of retention for the information presented in the book. On a better note, the maps and family trees in the front of the book are helpful to keep things straight.
Norwich likes to put in exact dates of events, but often leaves out the year so that you have to stop and do simple math for context. For instance, here is an excerpt of page 134:
"They had captured Alexandria in 818; seven years later, forcibly expelled by the Caliph Mamun, they headed for Crete...Within only two years of the capture of Crete another company of Arabs invaded Sicily..." Of course the math is easy, but it interrupts the reader's flow of thoughts on the content itself.
Furthermore, because Norwich has created a non-academic work, some of his choices for the flow of the story are controversial. The reader must therefore approach the events cautiously. For instance, Norwich narrates the life of Constantine the Great as if the emperor truly believed Christianity was the true religion. And yet in a class on Constantine and the Council of Nicea I took in college, an excellent case was made that Constantine used Christianity almost solely for political gain.
I have not read the longer, three volume version of this work, but since the biggest issue is the neck breaking pace, I would imagine the longer works would do much to overcome the major problem of this specific edition.
Old fashioned and trivial.......2007-02-07
Perhaps the shortcomings of this book are due to the fact that it's an abridgement of a three-volume work, but I'm not so sure. I found it to be extremely tedious and very old fashioned. It is merely a catalog of events with strong doses of the salacious and a great deal of "looking down the nose" opinion.
There is absolutely no analysis and no sense of what the events meant for their own time and for the future. It is firmly rooted in a very old fashioned, indeed 19th-century British, approach to history. I'm very sorry I wasted my money and enough time to decide it wasn't worth reading on it.
Book Description
A gripping intellectual adventure story,
Sailing from Byzantium sweeps you from the deserts of Arabia to the dark forests of northern Russia, from the colorful towns of Renaissance Italy to the final moments of a millennial city under siege….
Byzantium: the successor of Greece and Rome, this magnificent empire bridged the ancient and modern worlds for more than a thousand years. Without Byzantium, the works of Homer and Herodotus, Plato and Aristotle, Sophocles and Aeschylus, would never have survived. Yet very few of us have any idea of the enormous debt we owe them.
The story of Byzantium is a real-life adventure of electrifying ideas, high drama, colorful characters, and inspiring feats of daring. In Sailing from Byzantium, Colin Wells tells of the missionaries, mystics, philosophers, and artists who against great odds and often at peril of their own lives spread Greek ideas to the Italians, the Arabs, and the Slavs.
Their heroic efforts inspired the Renaissance, the golden age of Islamic learning, and Russian Orthodox Christianity, which came complete with a new alphabet, architecture, and one of the world’s greatest artistic traditions.
The story’s central reference point is an arcane squabble called the Hesychast controversy that pitted humanist scholars led by the brilliant, acerbic intellectual Barlaam against the powerful monks of Mount Athos led by the stern Gregory Palamas, who denounced “pagan” rationalism in favor of Christian mysticism.
Within a few decades, the light of Byzantium would be extinguished forever by the invading Turks, but not before the humanists found a safe haven for Greek literature. The controversy of rationalism versus faith would continue to be argued by some of history’s greatest minds.
Fast-paced, compulsively readable, and filled with fascinating insights,
Sailing from Byzantium is one of the great historical dramas–the gripping story of how the flame of civilization was saved and passed on.
Customer Reviews:
Entertaining biographical sketches that shaped the world after 1453.......2007-08-28
This readable history of the historical waves emanating from Byzantine influences is an indispensable work. The style is partly biographical sketches and partly telling of a story making it easily accessible and useful to novice and professional historian alike. The biographical flavor provides the structure for history as events involving human beings with complex characters and mixed motivations acting on the society in their time. The story-telling aspect provides the glue that sweeps the characters and their influence through their geographical dispersions to reveal their influence in Russia, western Europe, and Islam.
An enjoyable read for any historian looking for hints of the Byzantine in the world today. Well done.
Tremendous work.......2007-08-14
This is a great work about an empire that was - and indeed still is - important in our world today. Back when I took a course in Classics in college, my professor lectured us on the importance of the Byzantine Empire, and yet, how few people understand it, and can convey the importance. The author, in my view, has done a truly tremendous job of condensing history down into a very readable, non-intimidating book, which conveys the entire history of Byzantium, from its founding in 500 A.D. to its end in 1493 A.D. The author commands an encyclopedic knowledge of the Classical world, as well as an ability to write. I can't say enough about this work of history. And anyone who might think this is ancient history and doesn't affect us: the history of the clash and cooperation between Islam and Christian civilizations continues to this day (of course). As the author mentions, if the walls of Constantinople had not been so well designed, the Muslims might well have put Europe in a pincer movement in 750 A.D. Instead of being stopped by Charles Martel at Poitiers in France, and turned back, the Muslims might have conquered all of Europe. We would be speaking Arabic now. Yes, it is relevant ! At the same time, the author shows attempts made inside the Arabic Muslim world (which stretched from Spain to Afghanistan) to integrate Greek rationalism and Greek knowledge. Averroes was a famous Arab philosopher who not only championed rationalism, but also kick-started the European Scholastic movement. Unfortunately, Averoes lost out in the Arab world, and the reaction to rationalism, in 850 A.D. began, and continues to this day as Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia. We feel the reverberations to this day...
A very valuable work, at once encyclopedic, and very accessible.
A Great History of a Lost Empire.......2007-06-18
I have always had a fasination with byzantium. This book as well as John Julius Norwich's series of books has helped to appreciate this lost empire more than ever. I especially liked the end of the book where it is just abruptly ended. In a way it made me cry a little to see what could have happened to the world if Byzantium had never have existed. I feel that more people should read this book and be aware of the several contribution that Byzantium has bestowed upon out modern world.
Forget Byzantium at Your Peril!.......2007-05-19
Ignorance of Byzantium (in two senses: lack of knowledge and lack of attention) has confounded Islamicists and Western European historians alike in the past 100 or so years. Colin Wells offers a concise and cogent description of the role Byzantium,including exiled or conquered Byzantines, played in the preservation and transmission of ancient Greek science and philosophy to the Muslim empires of the pre-Crusade "golden age" and directly to Western Europe chiefly by way of Italy. For nearly a thousand years, Byzantium WAS Rome, the hinge of civilization, linking rising and sinking cultures from the Visigoths of North Africa to the Vikings who called themselves Rus, from the humanists of Renaissance Florence to the Nestorian Christians of Syria, the primary translators of the Greek classics into Arabic.
Yet despite the significance of the material presented, it's a fun book, a quick read, written in a relaxed and simple style, accessible even to people who couldn't locate Byzantium on the map. (Hint: "Istanbul is Constantinople, now you can't go back to constantinople...")
Cultural and religious dispersal.......2007-04-20
This is not a "history" book in the exact sense of the term, if you think of "history" books as a linear progression of events. What this author has done is written a very valuable work detailing how the Byzantine Empire spread its culture and religion to its neighbors. The book is divided into three parts, each one showing the effect of Byzantium on 1: Western or "Latin" Christianity, 2: the states in the Balkan area, and 3: what eventually bcame Russia. It's a fascinating tale, extremely well told, and reveals to us that, even though 1453 saw the political end of the Empire, its influence in many different aspects spread and remain even today in many areas. These are subjects rarely, if ever, covered in this context, and should be required reading for anyone interested in obtaining a well-rounded knowledge of Byzantium.
Book Description
The word 'Crusades' has traditionally referred to the wars fought after the late eleventh century to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. Regan argues that they actually be-gan in the seventh century with the conquests of the Byzan-tine Empire by the Per-sians. In retaliation, the emperor Herac-lius used Christian propaganda to turn the war into the first crusade. Coincidentally, Heraclius's career was unfold-ing at the same time as that of the Muslim prophet Mohammed. No sooner had Heraclius overthrown the power of Persia and re-gained the Holy Land, than he lost it to the irresistibly strong Arabs. First Crusader is an entertaining and challenging rein-ter-pretation of the Crusades.
Customer Reviews:
A very accessible book.......2004-05-03
Regan's book writes in a style that is easy to understand and even fun to read. This was the first book I read dealing with the Byzantine Empire, it was good enough to warrant a topic switch in my major from Medieval studies, to Byzantine studies. Regan's book makes a clear cut and convincing case for emperor Heraclius of Byzantium, as the First Crusader. Though the book does not contain enough detail for my taste, it was still a captivating and informative read. This should be considered an informative introductory to the study of the Byzantine Empire.
A little more detail would have made it a good one.......2004-01-01
Geoffrey Regan's books are entertaining. Read his Military blunders 1&2, which by the way were much better books than this one. He wishes to elaborate on the first true crusader, Heraclius but starts off with his typical satire, related to the times of Constantine's father and the birth of Byzantium. The early history of Byzantium was unnecessary. He could have written more on Heraclius himself. The lack of description of key battles and undertakings do not do justice to a man who deserves more. There are a couple of interesting pictures. On the good aspect of the book. One gets to read a bit of interesting history and legends. The author uses good judgement to question the authenticity of the True Cross and the Holy Sepulchre. Overall i'd say its a good book to keep but i wont recommend buying the hardback version.
A fresh look at some little-known history.......2003-08-25
This book reminds us that Christian crusades to liberate Jerusalem's holy places long predate the so-called First Crusade of the eleventh century. More than four hundred years earlier, the Byzantine Empire used Christian themes in its struggles against threats from the East. Regan is particularly effective in describing the campaigns of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, who regained Jerusalem from the Persians. Regan follows the story through the era of Islamic expansion, the Turkish conquests, and the first Western Crusade. Among other things, readers will discover the original Church of the Holy Sepulcher built by Constantine, much more impressive than the current version. Like the Jewish Temple, it was destroyed by invaders. The book, written in an accessible style, includes black and white photographs and some basic maps.
Wars of Heraclitus against the Persians.......2003-05-17
REVIEWED BY SMITH HEMPSTONE ...
When it comes to warrior-kings, the Byzantine emperor Heraclitus, who ruled Constantinople from 610 to 641 A.D., was in a league by himself. Few have risen so fast, and achieved so much in such a short time, only to lose all at the end.
Indeed, in "First Crusader: Byzantium's Holy Wars," the British historian Geoffrey Regan makes a convincing case that the wars of Heraclitus against the Sasanian Persians (622-628 A.D.) should rank as the first crusade rather than that from the West called by Pope Urban in 1095. Heraclitus smashed the Persian empire, recovering the flags and standards lost by 100 Byzantine armies over the centuries, regained the lost colonies of Syria, Palestine and Egypt, sacked a dozen great cities, brought back the True Cross from Persia and rebuilt the shrine of the Holy Sepulchre.
Whether you call the wars of the Christian Byzantines against the fire-worshipping Zoroastrian Persians crusades, or something else, the heroics of Heraclitus, who personally led his troops in battle and fought in single combat the champions of many enemy armies, had the effect of prolonging the life of the Eastern Roman empire for several centuries, delaying the Moslem advance into the Balkans by hundreds of years.
Both his personal life and his military successes combined to weaken Heraclitus toward the end of his reign. His popular first wife, Fabia-Eudokia, died in 612 A.D., leaving the emperor with only one male heir, not nearly enough to guarantee the succession. So Heraclitus married his beautiful and able niece, Martina, daughter of his sister, Maria. Although incestuous unions were not that unusual in those days, they were forbidden. But a significant group of the Byzantine establishment regarded the deaths of four of her disabled children as God's judgement on Martina, blaming her for defeats at the hands of the Moslem Arabs.
When Heraclitus died horribly of "dropsy" (cancer) this was taken as yet another sign of divine displeasure. The fates of Martina and her surviving sons: Martina's tongue was split and she was exiled to Rhodes with her eldest son, who had his nose cut off. Of her three other sons, two had their noses cut off and the youngest was castrated.
Like many another political leader, Heraclitus wanted to have both chariots and wine, and his wars proved ruinously expensive. Syria and Palestine had been regained but were denuded of their populations, their fields lay fallow and returned little revenue. Egypt was about to fall to Mohammed's desert Bedouin breaking out from Arabia.
The Orthodox Church, through the influence of Heraclitus' great friend and supporter, the Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople, had floated huge loans to pay for the wars. But now, except in distant Egypt, the wars were over and the church wanted its money back.
Heraclitus paid up, but only at the cost of his planned reform of the army and the civil service. Alexandria soon fell to the Moslems and much of Syria followed. By 674 A.D. the Moslem jihad had carried them to the gates of Constantinople. In desperation, the Byzantines fell back on their secret weapon: "Greek fire," a highly flammable mixture of tar, resin, sandarac and powdered sulphur mixed with dolphin and goat fat. It was ignited after passing through a hose and could not be put out with water. The Byzantine garrison of Constantinople used this primitive napalm to great effect against the Arab fleet and the wooden siege machines of the Moslems.
Their effective use of "Greek fire" and the arrival of Bulgar reinforcements and their King Tervel, resulted in over 20,000 Moslems killed. The Arabs abandoned the siege in 718 A.D., and the city was to block the Moslem invasion of Eastern Europe for another 700 years.
The millennium of Christ's death in 1033 A.D. triggered a wave of religious fervor that engulfed all Western Europe. What had been mere acts of faith evolved into a series of crusades whose objective was nothing less than the conquest of the Holy Land and its restoration to Christian rule.
What distinguished the Western crusaders from the earlier pilgrims was that by their acts they earned indulgences from the pope. These guaranteed protection of his family, lands and assets during his absence and granted the remission of sins should the crusader die in battle, with immediate entry into Paradise. In an age of faith, this was of no little consequence.
Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. and by the Persians in 614 A.D. The Moslem Arabs had captured it in 638 A.D. In 1099 A.D. it was invested by the Western Crusaders and fell in a bloody massacre. After all the Moslems were dead and most of the Crusaders had sailed back to Europe, just 300 Christian knights and 2,000 infantry remained in the smoking ruins.
While Byzantium remained, it did so only as a shadow of its former days of greatness under Hiraclitus. Christian communities in the Near East could no longer expect help from Constantinople, which was to fall to the Ottoman Turks. As the gap grew greater between Latin Christianity and the Orthodox Church, Islam was rent by the division between Sunni and Shia and defeated in France and Hungary. It was not a time for greatness.
Book Description
When his grandfather dies, Armon inherits the family home in Ronda, Spain, and finds himself trying to unravel the surreal conundrum his grandfather has left for him. Armon begins to remember his childhood art lessons, and gradually, as his grandfather's studio takes hold of him, he finds himself pulled, day by day, toward a most extraordinary elliptic link with his past.
Binding art and text in a narrative marriage, Nick Bantock takes us to the Forgetting Room, where he teases us through a tale of discovery, revenge, alchemy, and Moorish legend.
Customer Reviews:
Blech........2004-03-19
Thank goodness this was a library copy, or I'd have felt most cheated.
The writing was clumsy, and strained at many instances. One can feel that Bantock is trying to be witty at times, but his 'set-ups' are so obvious it's paintful.
The pacing was off. There's a big lag in the middle.
The few pieces of 'art' seemed to have been thrown in because the whole story was so boring and self-indulgent.
Rich in symbolism? I find the whole exercise ponderous, and utterly contrived.
Borrow, don't buy this.
"Forgetting Room" by Nick Bantock.......2002-03-06
This book is like a breath of fresh air!!! It has a magic in a very heart felt story and its intriguing surrealistic symbolism. Aesthetically it is quite outstanding and made even more so in the intimate format of the book. I am now very eager to visit the small Spanish town of Ronda! I am sorry that it has taken me so long to discover the books of Nick Bantock, which I might add I am now collecting. As an artist I particularly identify with the author's work and have purchased additional copies of "The Forgetting Room" to share with others. The perfect word to discribe this book is that it is a treasure in its total sum of aesthetic worth and the revelation of the story!
Confusing.......2001-08-24
A beautifully designed book...not as much so as the Griffin and Sabine trilogy, but beautiful nonetheless. But this book has too many things that, to me, don't really have anything to do with the story. The concertina pages of questions for example. Even after he discovered the answers to them....what do they have to do with anything? I can't see where they fit into the storyline, except to add a bit of mystery to it. There is also the page with the instructions for the Forgetting Room. None of which were used or mentioned in the story. I know the book is meant to be surrealistic and mysterious, and it is most definately that, but it did leave me a bit confused and wondering about things. Like what was the point of the beautiful scar faced woman, Ceres. She adds nothing of worth really to the story. And why is the letter "A" the pass letter? Pass letter for what? Well, maybe this is what Bantock planned to do from the beginning, and that is to confuse the heck out of his readers. Well he succeeded with me. But I will read other books of his as it does give my brain a workout.
Beautiful!!.......2001-08-24
A beautiful book with a magical story....makes me want to paint!
Blood is thicker than water.......2001-04-18
I love the disclaimer about García Lorca's quotes, in which Nick Bantock blames any inaccuracies on his characters' faulty memories!
This story takes place in Ronda, a beautiful city in Malaga, Spain. The descriptions of the city are great, and the famous bridge ("El Tajo del Coño") is central to the story. I wish that the original painting that Armon makes of it had not been so obscured by the other elements of the collage. There were a few more things that bothered me. Paolo and Francesca are Italian names, not Spanish. "Casa", not "cassa", is Spanish for "house". The appearance of Ceres is rather superfluous, and i do not know that she provides much to the story, other than to reiterate that Rafael was a special kind of man, and we already knew that. The ghostly images and hallucinations that Armon experiences in the final chapters are also a bit over the top.
Armon goes into a meditative mode once he arrives in Ronda. Reading between the lines, it is suggested that he was ripe for the epiphany he experiences towards the end. However, the transformation he suffers, the happiness and thirst for life that envelop him so rapidly, are far-fetched. You cannot shed your skin like if you were a snake at molting time. The very essence of you remains always with you, and Armon's melancholy is Armon himself.
The best part of the book, to me, is the analysis that Armon makes of his family relationships. The introspection that he experiences in the solitude of the studio is described in an exquisite way. I wonder how much autobiographical stuff is in Armon.
This novel is to me much more satisfying that the Griffin and Sabine Trilogy, despite discrepancies, artifice and Italian vocabulary. Armon's conversations with himself make this book worth it. One of the editorial reviews calls it a 'fairy tale', and that's right on the money.
Book Description
Volume 1 of the series. Includes 32 pages of illustrations, and 11 maps and tables.
Customer Reviews:
A thorough study of Byzantium from 323 to 802.......2007-09-09
As the title implies, this is not a complete history of the Byzantine Empire, but rather an examination of the Eastern Roman empire through the reign of Empress Irene. For those unfamiliar with the wealth, power and influence, of Byzantium, this is an excellent place to begin, as Norwich is considered by many THE authority on this subject. As good as this history is, I can only give it four stars.
My biggest complaint with this otherwise excellent book is its focus exclusively on the political history of the early Byzantine Empire. Norwich does a solid job of narrating the governance of various Byzantine emperors, and discusses the policies, palace intrigue and political climate at great length. However there is virtually no mention of the cosmopolitan nature of the Empire, its thriving economy, and the vast commercial networks established by the Romans and expanded by the Byzantines. This does the serious historian a disservice, and I wish greater attention had been given these topics.
With that said, I enthusiastically recommend this to the serious historian or those seeking a detailed political history of an often neglected but critical era in world civilization.
Fascinating stuff.......2007-04-15
Jorge below has said it all - this is indeed a five-star introduction to Byzantium. Most people don't realise that, while the Roman Empire fell in in the 5th Century AD, it was only the Western Empire that fell and that the Eastern Empire lasted another 1000 years, and that what we now know as the predominantly Moslem country Turkey was once completely Christian territory. It's a fascinating and, well, byzantine story of politics, conquests, defeats and strange (and to our eyes, often laughably insignificant) religious disputes. The three books of which this is the first chronicle in thorough (but never boring) detail the rise and fall of the Byzantine Empire. If you like history, take all three with you on your summer holiday; you won't regret it.
A FIVE STAR INTRO TO BYZANTIUM.......2006-08-24
This book is for anyone interested in history, especially ancient one. It is NOT for people who have NO interest in history at all, or (at the other end of the spectrum) people with a deep knowledge of Byzantine History (most of which have at least heard of Norwich and know they won't find anything new here).
However, if you are like this reviewer, an occasional history / biography reader with absolutely no previous knowledge of Byzantium (except, perhaps, that it is present - day Istanbul), then you are a perfect candidate for this book. READ IT! By the end you will have learned about people like Constantine the Great, Julian the Apostate, St. John Chrysostom, Justinian and his wife Theodora, and my personal favorite, Belisarius, one of the greatest Generals of all time. Oh! And did I mention Attila the Hun, and the Goths? A highly commendable read.
An excellent survey-.......2006-07-20
For years I have wanted to understand how the ancient world gave way to the Middle Ages. This three-volume set illuminated many of the details of the Eastern Empire with its oriental influences and often dysfunctional theocracy. It is, however, a survey, and leaves one wanting the details which such an ambitious work cannot possible contain. I highly recommend it though and think it would be one way to discover that atrocities were not committed only by the Christians of history as we often hear nowadays. If Americans were as obsessed with medieval history as Muslims are, we would certainly teach our children about the Muslim hoards (the Ottomans) that took Byzantium in a bloodbath, slaughtered and enslaved its people, and turned its churches into Mosques. The Ottoman era is often referred to as a kind of "golden age" of Islam by some Muslims while others, Wahabis, for example, campaign for a far more severe regime. To understand more about that I suggest Dore Gold's excellent book, Hatred's Kingdom.
Great Book LOUSYPrinting.......2006-03-10
This is a great book by a great author but the printing was horrible! When I got to around page 190 the order was all screwed up. It went from 190 to 196 then I had to read backwards for a few pages. That has happend so much that I lost count of where I was everytime I started reading it. I am glad you sent this because I would like to return them both and get some copies with the proper paging.
Book Description
This book is a concise narrative of Byzantine history from the time of Constantine the Great in AD 306 to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The author presents Byzantium as a vital society, important in its own right, but also one that served as a bridge between East and West, and ancient and modern society. A History of Byzantium uses the chronological political history of the empire as a narrative frame, but balances politics with a consideration of social and economic life and the rich culture of Byzantium. Visual documents, such as photographs of art, architecture, and implements from daily life, are used alongside the text to raise questions about life in the Byzantine Empire. The book is based on the latest scholarship and discusses the major historiographical questions for each period. At the same time, it is written in clear, narrative prose, making this fascinating period accessible to a wide readership.
Customer Reviews:
An examplary history of Byzantium.......2007-06-22
This book will serve to show to the wider public what a high level Byzantine Studies have finally reached. They have gone a long way from Gibbon's polemics (informed more by prejudice than facts and sound analysis) to become the highly sophisticated and interesting subject Timothy Gregory showcases in this book.
The book covers the period from 306 to 1453. It is interesting to note that Gregory sets the formal beginning of the Byzantine period at 306 rather than any of the more usual later dates. This allows for a better examination of the context within which Byzantium developed. On the other hand, Early Byzantine Period is here defined to be the period between 306-717, which is longer than that considered by other historians who often divide it into shorter periods. This is not just a technical point. It has to do with the controversial issue of the way the character of the Empire gradualy evolved (antique, Christian, "Byzantine" etc.). Allowing such a long time span for the Early Period acknowledges the complex nature of this evolution.
The first turning point in the history of Byzantium, namely the migrations of the 7th-8th centuries, is treated in an examplary fashion in the book, once again showing the maturity the subject has reached. Frequently exploited for political reasons in the Modern Era by an amazing variety of agents (including even the Communists during the Cold War!), this matter has been until recently presented in the most sensational and emotional way. Gregory though gives a dispassionate and rational account with more emphasis on cultural rather than less relevant ethnic issues. The conclusions of his approach will no doubt disappoint those who expect evidence of apocalyptic events and discontinuities which simply is not there.
The second turning point (the sack of Constantinople in 1204) is also presented in a rational and impartial manner. Without being unduly apologetic on behalf of the West, the book examines the serious consequences this event has had for the future of the Empire, including the acceleration of the tendencies towards its transformation into something like a Greek "nation-state".
I warmly recommend this book to everyone interested in Byzantium, Rome or simply European History!
Book Description
Third volume in the series. With 32 pages of illustrations and 10 maps and tables.
Customer Reviews:
a superb elegy for a relative too little loved. . ........2007-08-07
it's not that byzantium was perfect; far from it. but norwich reminds us that is was -- by any definition -- 'great.' here was a western civilization encompassing much of what contemporary sophisticates-cum-fools call the east. it was mighty, glorious, corrupt (like any human endeavor in a fallen world) and it was betrayed by covetous and stupid western rivals some of whom even acted in christianity's name. then, it was decimated by rapacious and virile eastern imperialists. net result? a half-millenium tug-of-war with islam, which europe has by no means resolved to its favor.
norwich is the rarest: a scholar and a writer at the same time. magesterial!!
Byzantine indeed.......2007-06-27
Just finished the third volume in Norwich's excellent series, and all I can say is wow. I started with the single volume primer, which helped, but there was just so much going on at all times that it gets harder and harder to keep all the players staright. But it was a very rewarding read, especially as regards the early expansion of Islam and the Crusades, the Turkish migrations into Anatolia, and the effects of those ancient events on today. I would reccomend the single volume for those looking to get a basic overview, but this series is well worth the time and effort to read. Norwichs very readable prose and occaisionally funny asides make the pages zoom by.
A very difficult book to read........2007-01-29
Thsi book is for someone who has an extense knowledge of the Byzantine empire. I do not posses such knowledge and got lost inmediatly while trying to read this book. The author's style adapts for someone who knows all the history of the people involved in this empire already. I couldn't even finish the first chapter because I found myself asking: who is he talking about? every two lines!
Number Three of an Ambitious Work.......2006-08-09
For years I have wanted to understand how the ancient world gave way to the Middle Ages. This three-volume set illuminated many of the details of the Eastern Empire with its oriental influences and often dysfunctional theocracy. It is, however, a survey, and leaves one wanting the details which such an ambitious work cannot possible contain. I highly recommend it though and think it would be one way to discover that atrocities were not committed only by the Christians of history as we often hear nowadays. If Americans were as obsessed with medieval history as Muslims are, we would certainly teach our children about the Muslim hoards (the Ottomans) that took Byzantium in a bloodbath, slaughtered and enslaved its people, and turned its churches into Mosques. The Ottoman era is often referred to as a kind of "golden age" of Islam by some Muslims while others, Wahabis, for example, campaign for a far more severe regime. To understand more about that I suggest Dore Gold's excellent book, Hatred's Kingdom.
Closure to a story of intrigue and fascinating history.......2005-05-27
If you have seen my other reviews on the previous two volumes, you will note that my criticism on the lack of maps is not a new one. However, once I get past that aspect of the book, wow...what a page turner. One of the reviewers here wrote "Gotterdamerung"...absolutely appropriate. The decline of one of the longest lasting empires is tragic in that the major Byzantine players had, at times,opportunities to reverse the decline, but Byzantine intrigue ruled the day.
Particularly today with the movies highlighting the crusades, this volume sheds another light on the Byzantine view of the crusaders, a view which many westerners may be unaware of.
The almost anti-climatic fall of Constantinople is a sad footnote in history, but the manner in which Norwich describes it is such a pleasurable read, I would not hesitate to pick this volume up again and reread it some time in the future. A wonderful story.
Average customer rating:
- hard to read
- A Good History but at Times Frustrating
- Good Information/Poor Presentation
- Heraclius - Hero of Byzantium
- A superb work
|
Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium
Walter E. Kaegi
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0521814596 |
Book Description
This book evaluates the life and empire of the pivotal yet controversial Byzantine emperor Heraclius (ad. 610-641), a contemporary of the Prophet Muhammad. His stormy war-torn reign is critical for understanding the background to fundamental changes in the Balkans and the Middle East, including the emergence of Islam. Heraclius' skills enabled him to capture and recapture important territory, including Jerusalem, Syria and Egypt. Yet, they proved to be of little value when he confronted early Islamic conquests.
Customer Reviews:
hard to read.......2007-07-05
the emperor heraclius deserves better than this, a biography researched well enough but written so badly it's painful. every paragraph seems composed of a collection of topic sentences, the same preliminary facts reiterated again and again with no deeper analysis. better to read harry turtledove's fine translation of theophanes, or even jj norwich's fairly slipshod acct in his history of byzantium.
A Good History but at Times Frustrating.......2007-02-23
This is a good sound academically written book. It addresses a little known personality whose life reads like a Greek tragedy; triumph, defeat, triumph again and finally ignominous failure. Keagi has, I'm sure, mined the available ancient texts but the repetition of his speculations, naturally without recorded foundations, does get a bit tedious. Still, he makes a convincing case that Heraclius was no First Crusader, as another book on this emperor implies. That was simply because the Byzantines did not quite understand the religious implications of the Muslim movement in the beginning. I recommend this book for all history buffs of this era and this empire.
Good Information/Poor Presentation.......2006-02-27
Only those who have a hightened interest in Byzantine history should select this text. The book presents an interesting view of Africa and Egypt under Byzantine rule; a subject not often covered in other histories of the Empire, but the writer seems unsure of his sources and seems to question his own statements. The book reads like a thesis and lacks any punch or drama that can be found in other works on Byzantium.
If the general reader is ever going to learn more about the glories of Byzantium, specialists have got to start writing more intriguing stuff... one would be hard-pressed to know why Byzantine has taken on its modern meaning after reading this book.
Heraclius - Hero of Byzantium.......2004-03-13
Heraclius saved the Byzantine Empire from sure destruction at the hands of the Persians, only to be confronted by the onslaught of Islam in the early seventh century. Piecing together Heraclius' life and remarkable achivement from fragmentary sources is no easy task, but Walter Kaegi has succeeded in creating an account of Heraclius that will long remain the oft cited standard. Critics will find details to quibble about, but what book is beyond criticism? In fact, Kaegi demonstrates the art of the careful and critical historian, sifting through pieces of evidence to arrive at well balanced judgments. His extraordinary handling of the Greek sources is matched by that applied to the Arabic (how many western historians can say that?), and his knowledge of the Armenian and Syraic sources is no less inferior. Moreover, Kaegi is among the few historians who has ever set foot in the area of Syria and Palestine where the critical battles between Byzantines and Persians/Arabs occurred, not to mention Iraq. Kaegi takes the reader through all this and shows just what can be known in a sure handed way, so that even the novice reader can learn of the heroic Heraclius and the great events of his day.
A superb work.......2003-08-09
This work depicts the trials of a man placed at the helm of one of the most tumultuous times in history, and is a must read for anyone interested in the Middle East. Most fascinating is Kaegi's depiction of the rise of Islam, which greatly diminished the massive Byzantine Empire and changed the history of the world. Kaegi not only examines why the Byzantines lost to the invaders, but also tries to understand Heraclius' role as an effective military leader. Kaegi makes the history come alive to the reader, but does not overstep the bounds of reality by creating fiction. All of his claims are cited and well-reasoned.
Besides being the first major comprehensive biography of Heraclius in the English language and being a compelling read, this is a work to be emulated. Walter Kaegi examines myriad Arabic and Greek primary sources, while also providing a thorough examination of secondary sources and arguments from academia. He does not stop there. His research into libraries throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East is then coupled with his on the ground research in both North Africa and the Near East. Walter Kaegi actually visited the sites about which he writes, and knows well the geography.
I strongly recommend this work for both experts and non-experts alike.
Book Description
Volume 2 of the series. With 32 pages of illustrations, and 7 maps.
Customer Reviews:
Like its predecessor and its successor, surprisingly readable........2007-02-18
This book, in combination with its two sister volumes (Byzantium: The Early Years, and Byzantium: The Decline and Fall) is an exhaustive, voluminous history of the Byzantine Empire. As such, one might expect it to be informative but horribly dry reading. If so, one would be extremely pleasantly surprised; it IS informative, to the point that the sheer volume of information can be daunting to the neophyte, but the writing style is actually quite enjoyable; Norwich has a dry but nonetheless droll sense of humor, and he manages to make the narrative about as comprehensible as it is possible for the subject (which, after all, is the very source for the word "byzantine") to be. I am given to understand that he is not a professional historian, which may explain his willingness to speculate in those cases in which sources either are contradictory or nonexistent; nonetheless, he always labels his speculation as such, and always gives the other possible interpretations as well, along with his reasons for discounting them and the arguments against his conclusions. So if he's more willing to speculate than a "professional" would be, he's very even-handed about it, which seems to me to mitigate any complaint one might have. If you are already knowledgable about Byzantine history, I really cannot guess as to whether this book would be useful to you, although it might be worthwhile even so to have a pleasant and readable narration of the history. But for the beginner with no previous background in the subhject, interested but somewhat daunted by the prospect, this is an absolutely marvellous set of volumes.
HAIL TO THE BYZANTINES!.......2006-08-24
This book, as many reviewers have pointed out, is part II of a trilogy and sequel to "Byzantium The Early Centuries". You don't really need to read the first book to follow this one, but you will certainly enjoy it much more if you read "The Early Centuries" first. In this volume you'll encounter many interesting characters: Emperors, Patriarchs of the Eastern Church, able generals, usurpers, debauchees and good-for-nothing bums. (In fact, some of them fall into two or more of the previous categories!). In my opinion, the story of Emperor Basil II alone is worth the price of this second volume. If you haven't read the first volume of this series and want to know about Byzantine History, consider taking advantage of Amazon's offer and get both volumes. You won't be disappointed.
Of great interest..........2006-07-20
For years I have wanted to understand how the ancient world gave way to the Middle Ages. This three-volume set illuminated many of the details of the Eastern Empire with it's oriental influences and often dysfunctional theocracy. It is, however, a survey, and leaves one wanting the details which such an ambitious work cannot possible contain. I highly recommend it though and think it would be one way to discover that atrocities were not committed only by the Christians of history as we often hear nowadays. If Americans were as obsessed with medieval history as Muslims are, we would certainly teach our children about the Muslim hoards (the Ottomans) that took Byzantium in a bloodbath, slaughtered and enslaved it's people, and turned it's churches into Mosques. The Ottoman era is often referred to as a kind of "golden age" of Islam by terrorists and their sympathizers.
Excellent Story and Wll Written.......2005-10-24
I have read all three of the volumes in this set. Norwich maintained the same high level of story telling and descriptive detail throughout. Others may groan at the idea of 1000+ pages on the Byzantine Empire. It is their loss.
Terrific stuff.......2005-09-22
The Byzantines are sadly under-appreciated even by many history buffs, but this empire's history and culture are rich, fascinating, and a unique fusion of Roman, Greek and Eastern influences.
Norwich is a fine writer of narrative history, his job made easier by the mind-boggling, endless succession of wars, revolts and intrigues that is his subject here. I was just a few pages from the end when a ceiling leak (no thanks to my accursed landlord) destroyed my copy, so I promptly bought another and finished it.
Wholeheartedly recommended,
Average customer rating:
- a typical teenager in an atypical position
- A skewed view of Byzantium for children
- Truly excellent historical fiction
- Just Read It
- Good Mixture Of History And Invention
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Anna of Byzantium
Tracy Barrett
Manufacturer: Laurel Leaf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: 0440415365
Release Date: 2000-10-10 |
Book Description
Anna Comnena has every reason to feel entitled. She's a princess, her father's firstborn and his chosen successor. Someday she expects to sit on the throne and rule the vast Byzantine Empire. So the birth of a baby brother doesn't perturb her. Nor do the "barbarians" from foreign lands, who think only a son should ascend to power. Anna is as dismissive of them as are her father and his most trusted adviser--his mother, a manipulative woman with whom Anna studies the art of diplomacy. Anna relishes her lessons, proving adept at checkmating opponents in swift moves of mental chess. But as she matures into a young woman, her arrogance and intelligence threaten her grandmother. Anna will be no one's puppet. Almost overnight, Anna sees her dreams of power wrenched from her and bestowed on her little brother. Bitter at the betrayal, Anna waits to avenge herself, and to seize what is rightfully hers.
Customer Reviews:
a typical teenager in an atypical position.......2007-06-10
Anna is the heir to the Byzantium throne, which is quite the tough job for a teenager. Soon, though, Anna finds herself torn between her kind-hearted mother and her harsh and powerful grandmother. She faces all the difficulties of fighting parents, annoying siblings, boyfriends, and growing up (that is, moving from the selfishness of childhood into the selflessness of adulthood, moving from the weakness of dependence on adults to the independence of adulthood), but all in the sphere of royalty and in the Byzantium Empire. This is a beautiful, complex, dramatic, emotional, and thoroughly clever historical fiction. Grade: A
A skewed view of Byzantium for children.......2007-03-19
This story by Ms. Barrett is a good, but seriously flawed fictional account of the life of Anna Comnenus, a Byzantine princess during the medieval era. For those who like fiction with no connection to reality, (and the plethora of fantasy titles, sci-fi and other `historical fiction' tampering with the past on the market today, is a pretty good indication of such!) this is a noble effort, that comes very close to the real thing, but fails at the very point at which it could have made a good novel, a great one. The author's very good pacing of her storyline, her evocation of some of the elements of a Greco-Roman society, are all well executed- it is clear she is a respected writer (the American Library Association gave it awards, as did Booklist and Bulletin).
But the reality of an [Greek] Orthodox culture and the suffusing of that faith in an overtly Christian realm that endured for over 1000 years, are completely missing in Barrett's novel- as are the realities of how deeply intertwined the Christianity of the Apostles and the Greek culture's dependence on them would have more than deeply influenced not only a royal such as Princess Comnena, but the entire court, far more than Barrett envisioned.
The plot strikes me more as a `junior Lucretia Borgia' than a Byzantine monarch's first-born heir. What I mean is this: the intricacies of plotting, revenge, murder, poisoning and all the rest that were a hallmark of the Borgias- and Italian, Papal culture (including some Popes whose offices were bought and paid for by Borgia money!) are in far shorter supply in the Byzantine records, and are by and large totally foreign to an Orthodox phronema [mindset]. Not that they did not exist, mind you! But Barrett's confusion of Roman Catholic and Orthodox prayers, sacramentals, liturgy, and Weltanschauung are apparent to an informed reader, and all of this is tacitly glossed over, downplayed, or clearly absent [by omission rather than commission in the book?] which confuses an Orthodox reader seeking material for his children to have them learn their own history, and points out how such organizations such as the ALA and Booklist are woefully ignorant of world cultures, even though they preach `multiculturalism.' Such obfuscation is made even more obfuscated because of the cover art on the paperback edition, which alludes to some `inner sanctity' of the Princess, showing her with an iconic nimbus of sainthood, that NEVER appears in her actions, or in the pages of the book, nor can be gleaned from the history of the real ruler!
Not once that I recall, is anyone found praying before an iconostasis, a foundational element of ANY truly Orthodox culture, nor are icons even mentioned! Nor is there any mention, allusion, or talk of one of the most astounding events of this era, namely the actions of the Roman schismatics, when Cardinal Humbert, acting as the Pope's henchman, came to Byzantium (Constantinople) with the `anathema' for the Orthodox, over their non-use of the `filioque' [`and the son'] clause in the Nicene Creed - an addition which the West inserted without canonical authority, and then accused the Byzantines of `omitting'- and it is this ONE event, which started the entire break between East and West Rome, which has yet to be healed, over one thousand years later!!! This is not a minor point in dealing with a fictionalized account of Byzance in the year 1100- it would be as if one were to write a fictional story of Lincoln, and not mention the fact that, under his rule, the Civil War took place! This is an example of pure Western hubris, and wilfull ignorance of another, equally valid culture!
Modern writers are all seemingly afflicted with a skewed, adolescent, egotistical temperocentric view of history, [one that is stuck in only THIS century, and THIS era, as `normative' for all of history] and this is increasingly apparent in children's fiction- see my reviews of other historical fiction. Barrett's book is a good look into ego, pride, lack of Christian charity, and the machinations of power, but as a historical novel of either an Orthodox princess, land, or culture, it is severely lacking. Orthodox parents would especially need to do some `caveat emptor' before giving this novel to their children as a `good look' at their own culture.
Truly excellent historical fiction.......2006-03-19
This is a fascinating and well written book. Set in the closing decades of the 11th century, in the legendary city of Constantinople, this book covers the life of the Byzantine princess, Anna Comnena. Named as heir to the throne from an early age, she grows up conceited, self-centred and ambitious but not without compassion and a strong sense of moral duty. She is loved by both her parents, but her father, the Emperor Alexius, is a distant figure, ideolised by Anna, but away on campaign so often that her true father figure becomes, subconsiously, her tutor, the eunuch, Simon. Simon is one of the best characters of this book, an intellegent, kind man deeply concerned with the other influences acting on Anna.
And other influences there are. From a young age, her ruthless grandmother, Anna Dalassena, takes Anna (Comnena) on as her pupil in the arts of statecraft. Anna Dalassena is an interesting character, one that the reader despises and yet admires, mirroring Anna's emotions. Anna (Comnena) is a willing, and to her grandmother, perhaps a little too able pupil. Some reveiwers have commented that Anna (Comnena)behaves too ambitiously to be a likeable character. I think that this is completely unfair and untrue; we know the real Anna, the compassionate girl that lies behind the princess, and the fact that she makes ruthless decisions makes us familiarise with how she developes as a human being all the more.
Anna has two siblings (in real life she had several but they were "cut" for simplicity's sake; the book looses nothing from it), a beautiful, kind, fairly intellegent but generally childish sister and a much younger brother. The brother, John, appears to be weak, spiteful and capricous, and Anna views him as naught but a minor annoyance, but in fact, John Comnenus is the greatest deciever of all the nobility.
As Anna grows up, both Simon and her mother become worried as to how Anna Dalassena is corrupting her with her cruelty and dishonesty. However, in the rigid, protocal obsessed Byzantine court, it is difficult for Anna Comnena to change arangements. Her grandmother has had the ear of the Emperor for too many years to be easily detatched. Her only confident is another of the book's best character, her maid, a Turkish slave called (by the Greeks) Sophia. One of Anna's rare moments of compassion is called into play when she rescues Sophia's illicit lover from execution, thus aquiring Sophia's eternal gratitude and friendship, something she will need as the years draw on.
As Anna grows older, she begins to hate her younger brother for his spitefullness and her grandmother for her cruelty. Unfortunately, while she expresses these emotions (admitedly rather vehemently) to Simon, she is overheard by her younger brother, John. Her grandmother, realising that Anna will be no ones puppet when she takes the throne, and believing John will be hers, sides with John, and Alexius is persuaded to promise the throne to John, not Anna, leaving Anna bitter. As time goes on, Alexius falls into illness and John and Anna Dalassena come to dominate the palace. Anna's claustrophobic life becomes ever more unbearable; her betrothed is killed in war (she is then betrothed to another man, a historian Anna does neither dislike nor love) and she is shut out from the library by her brother in a particularly malicous mood and the throne room, left with nothing to do but plan her revenge on the child that has ruined her life...
The book is difficult to do justice to in a review. The characterisation is remarkable, with some characters being truly... for a lack of a better word, lovable, while others are utterely hideous. A lesser writer might have made the enemies of Anna so pathetic that they inspire contempt rather than dislike, but Barrett successfuly gives them enough depth, and success, to be threatening and unpleasant. John's character, critised in some reviews, I actually think was very strong, (I won't give anything away, but remember John is a master manipulator, greater than even Anna Comnena, and, as we find out, the master of the Great Game of politics herself, Anna Dalassena.
The culture of Byzantium is reflected well in this novel, particularly the attitudes to women (which I understand the author has some knoledge in). This adds another layer of depth to the storyline.
I have some small qualms about the historical distortions of this book. There are several; there were actually many more than three Comneni children, Anna actually married Nikephorous Byrrenius and had several children by him, and here assasination attempt on John was actually made when she was around 35, not 15. However, these changes are in fact almost irrelevant; Anna's life as a married woman would have really been remarkably similar - claustrophobic and limited. The one more dubious change is that of John's personality; while I think John's behaviour in the book is perfectly consistent, the fact he was actually a benevolent and kind ruler somewhat belies his behaviour in this book. Barrett is a historian herself, rather than a novelist (you wouldn't guess from the book's quality) so I don't dispute that she knows her stuff, and I accept that it will have been almost impossible to streamline John's character with reality, but it still strikes something of a sour chord. This is, however, my only irritation with Anna of Byzantium, an otherwise fascinating story set in a neglected time period.
Just Read It.......2006-03-05
Although having been caught in the attempt of murder of her little brother, having her love killed in war, and have been kicked from being the first heir to the throne, Anna of Byzantium stood strong as her life took these nasty turns. She had been the first born of King Alexander III, and despite her parents bearing a son, her father had kept her as the heir to the empire's throne. But when her grandmother Anna Dalassena gets finds out that she won't be able to rule through Anna like she could rule through Alexander, she went out of her way to remove Anna from the succession list and place Anna's brother as the heir of the throne. Putting you in the 11th century, Anna of Byzantium, a historical fiction, will have you experience what the times were like back then.
What was extravagant about this historical fiction was that it was based on one of the few women historians of that time. Many in those centuries thought women were to dumb to write, although Anna proved them wrong. Anna Comnena wrote about her father's legacy as emperor of Byzantium, which also gave historians detail about her life. Anna faced many rigorous times throughout her life. She had to always watch what she did in her life, lest she be exiled. In the end she was banished though for the attempted murder of her brother. She lived in a place in the hills surrounded by nuns. Her courage to keep on going simply baffles you and shows that we are spoiled in our times.
The additions to this historical fiction, Simon and Sophia, were brilliant characters. Although they never existed, the write hoped that Anna had had somebody like them in her life. Sophia had been a Turk, a prisoner of the war Anna's father was fighting, and been made Anna's personal friend and confident. Sophia never was an obedient maid, and Anna soon discovered that she like this "infidel" and they became great friends. Simon was said to be Anna's tutor. In this novel he was the one to rat her out in the attempted murder. He believed still in the great Greek Gods, and despite Anna's loath for him for betraying her, she realized that he had done it only to save her from herself. Simon and Sophia were marvelous additions to the story, for they helped give it the more "real feel" to your mind.
How Tracy Barrett portrayed Anna Dalassena was exquisite. She perfectly showed that Anna Dalassena was the type of person who only though of herself and her bloodline, and anybody not of it was lower in the food chain. Barrett made Anna Dalassena that person that you just want to scream and yell at, and had her fit perfectly in the plot of the novel. When Anna Dalassena took Anna for lessons, her real personality was shown to Anna. Anna saw that her Grandmother was indeed a ferocious liar and plain evil. Anna Dalassena told Anna about how to make treaties and break them, how war was a "glorious" thing, and that to conquer all should always be a goal. Anna Dalassena can be easily thought of as an old and bald female Hitler.
Anna of Byzantium can show you that it wasn't all gold and silver being in a royal family. Your father would be your ruler, and could sentence you to death. You had to watch everything you said and how you acted. You always had to be on guard to make it in the royal court. A novel that gets you reading about a time before America, before Columbus, and before the reign of the English ruler King Henry VIII, you can enjoy a jaw-dropping story that actually gives you a bit of knowledge about the 11th century.
A.Johnson
Good Mixture Of History And Invention.......2006-02-17
I would have rated this book four stars if Tracy Barrett had put more "historical scenery" into her novel. It would have been fleshed out a little better if she had spent more time discussing, say, the clothing, locations, religion, architecture, foods, and overall "culture" of her Byzantine setting. She did a good job rounding out her characters and in heightening the feeling of limitation that came with Anna having to dwell within "protective" walls, first in the imperial fortresses and ultimately in the restrictive convent in which she spent her life after coming out on the wrong end of political machinations. This is a good "clean" story and a nice way to introduce readers within its intended age-range to true events in the history of the later Byzantine period.
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