With wit, intelligence and his trademark eye for riveting detail, John Julius Norwich has brought together the most important and fascinating events from his trilogy of the rise and fall of the Byzantine empire.
A Short History of Byzantium
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About the Author
Apart from his Byzantium trilogy, John Julius Norwich's books include THE NORMANS IN THE SOUTH, THE KINGDOM IN THE SUN, MOUNT ATHOS (with Reresby Sitwell), SAHARA, THE ARCHITECTURE OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND and GLYNDEBOURNE.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 39 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Covering a thousand years of history in as many pages is a challenge but this 'Short History...' does a pretty good job of condensing the whole thing into a readable format.
A previous reviewer criticised the author for skimping on detail. But for a reader (like me) who's just interested in getting a flavour of the times, it's perfect. It's rather sensational at points, but more than once I found myself slack-jawed at the goings-on: plots, murders, adultery, intrigue...sometimes it's more like an extended soap opera than a history book.
So it's not for the serious academic then, but as an introduction to the subject it makes for a good read.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By nicholas
Format:Paperback
For all students of history, this is a great intro to a period that has been largely ignored in English schools, for hundreds of years.
It does seem a little rushed at times, but this is only to be expected from this edited version, and JJN apologises for this in the preface.
I enjoyed this so much, I am now reading the individual volumes. It's highly entertaining and a real page turner - not something one normally says about a history book.
Quite simply one of the best books I have ever read.
It does seem a little rushed at times, but this is only to be expected from this edited version, and JJN apologises for this in the preface.
I enjoyed this so much, I am now reading the individual volumes. It's highly entertaining and a real page turner - not something one normally says about a history book.
Quite simply one of the best books I have ever read.
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By Neil Clough
Format:Paperback
JJ Norwich manages to condense over 1,000 years of history into a single volume and does it with style. The book is well-written and keeps the reader's interest from beginning to end. For me, this has certainly whetted my appetite for buying and reading the original 3-volume work and also other books on this amazing period in European and Asian history. It is amazing how much of our culture and knowledge is owed to the Byzantines and until you read about them, how little most of us know.
I can heartily recommend this book to anyone who has the slightest interest in understanding more about how religion, ambition, greed, courage, vice, weakness and many other factors intertwined to dictate the course of the Empire and indeed most of Europe and Asia Minor over such a long period of time.
I can heartily recommend this book to anyone who has the slightest interest in understanding more about how religion, ambition, greed, courage, vice, weakness and many other factors intertwined to dictate the course of the Empire and indeed most of Europe and Asia Minor over such a long period of time.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent synopsis of a fascinating historical period
This work summarizes the three more detailed tomes on Byzantium by the same author. It is a new work rather than a collection of passages of the previous (more detailed books). Read more
Published 11 months ago by S. Papanastasiou
4.0 out of 5 stars
Why they call it it Byzantian.
Fiction cannot come close to mimicing the decedant, violent torrent of Constantines and Zoes and Theophiluses and Irines who murdered and prayed their way down these glittering... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Sefton
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining Introduction to Byzantium
Strictly speaking this book probably isn't good history. JJN, where possible in this edited volume, clearly enjoys those extra colourful details and isn't afraid to offer an... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Piers Harper
5.0 out of 5 stars
Byzantium the empire that saved Western Culture
I thoroughly enjoyed Norwich's work. I have gone back to reference this book several times in my subsequent reading. Read more
Published 13 months ago by JH
4.0 out of 5 stars
very good, though too concise
This is a dense and well written tour of nearly 1200 years of history. As such, there is no way that it can provide much more than a skeleton, which it accomplishes very well and... Read more
Published 23 months ago by rob crawford
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too brief
I had toyed with the idea of buying John Julius Norwich's three books on Byzantium and opted for this instead (simply because I figured it would take me too long to read the three... Read more
Published on 9 Dec 2010 by Mr. S. A. Brown
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good introduction to Byzantine history
This was a very exciting, and pacy, introduction to Byzantine history, from its inception in AD330 by Constantine the Great to Constantinople's capture by the Ottomans in 1453. Read more
Published on 15 April 2009 by Matthew Turner
2.0 out of 5 stars
skates over the surface
I am perhaps not well qualified to write a review of this book: I gave it my best shot, but was unable to finish reading it. Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2007 by F. Merritt
3.0 out of 5 stars
An Endless List of Emperors...
"A Short History of Byzantium" is a condensed version of author John Julius Norwich's three volume work. Read more
Published on 14 Oct 2007 by James Gallen
4.0 out of 5 stars
An example of great historical literature
As John Julius Norwich maintains in the introduction of this book the Byzantine Empire has had a poor and limited press; this book elaborates entirely on it and does it greatly in... Read more
Published on 17 May 2007 by M. E. Noone
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