Byzantium The surprising life of a medieval empire

Review by Choice Review

Herrin's goal is to explain to a general or undergraduate audience Byzantium's distinguishing features. Given the empire's lengthy history and diverse populations, the author is also at pains to detail what held this motley polity together. To assist readers in understanding what sets Byzantium apart from the West, Herrin (King's College London) offers several chapters explaining the character of the theological disputes that arose between the churches of Rome and Constantinople and shaped their separate theological outlooks. Byzantium is remarkable for preserving from antiquity a centralized government and economy, and the author deftly describes how the government functioned, collected taxes, and paid its debts. In support of this discussion, she includes a chapter on one of the government's main props, written law. Part of Byzantium's longevity can be attributed to its successes in waging war and solidifying its boundaries through diplomacy. Herrin explores these topics in chapters devoted to Greek fire, the campaigns of Basil II, and the missionary activities of Cyril and Methodios among the Slavs. The book is comprehensive, but the paragraphs are never dense and the prose retains throughout a lively quality. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. J. W. Nesbitt Dumbarton Oaks

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Offering a brilliant study of the history of the Byzantine empire, Herrin-whose groundbreaking The Formation of Christendom challenged traditional views on the development of Christianity-draws a similarly original portrait of a tradition-based yet dynamic empire that protected Christianity by checking the westward expansion of Islam. Herrin progresses in lively fashion, chronicling the 1,000-year history of Byzantium from its rise in A.D. 306 to its demise at the hands of the Ottomans. Along the way, Herrin, a professor at King's College, London, introduces an astonishing cast of characters, such as the empire's first leader, Constantine I; religious leaders such as Patriarch Photios; and Anna Komnene, the great 12th-century historian whose Odyssey-like epic, the Alexiad, celebrated the 37-year reign of her father, Alexios I. Drawing on letters, journals and other primary documents from both political figures and ordinary citizens, Herrin splendidly recreates an empire whose religious art, educational curriculum, tax and legal systems, and coronation rituals preserved the best of the empire's pre-Christian Greek past while at the same time passing along advances to the rest of the world. Herrin's history is hands-down the finest introduction to Byzantium and its continuing significance for world history. 8 color illus.; 16 b&w illus.; maps. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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