Any good books on byzantium?

[Mongoose]

I checked the borders book store and they didn't really have anything...i was able to find afew on amazon though, are they any good?


Thanks :bow:

[Azi Tohak]

Always nice to see a fellow Byzantophile (Is that actually a word...?). But here is my list of authors with their attendant reviews:

John Julius Norwich has a trilogy of books out about the entire history of Byzantium: The Early Years, The Apogee, and The Decline and Fall. I love his writing style (dry British humor) and he does a great job of synthesizing sources from the periods he covers. However, he is very much into the religious aspect, which I thought became rather tedious, and gives short-shrift to anything military (well...except Belisarius). However, they are a great history that is very easy to read.

Anything by John Haldon is good, but my lord is he hard to read. I have The Byzantine Wars (great book, covers what Norwich leaves out) and Warfare State and Society is so painful to read (to me) that I can't make it. But The Byzantine Wars is great.

Warren Treadgold's A History of the Byzantine State and Society is the scholarly version of Norwich. Even though he makes a crack at Norwich's expense, it really is quite good. The size is daunting. Fewer pages than the trilogy, but one volume is @#$@#* huge! Great book though, and very readable.

Walter Kaegi suffers from the problem of repeating himself. Walter Kaegi's problem is he repeats himself. I read Heraclius (thank God for my university library, I will NOT pay $70 for a normal book). It was good, but could have been about 60% as long as it was if Kaegi would not repeat himself. (By the way, the intro to this paragraph was a joke...just making sure.)

The Alexiad is a lot of fun to read. I just have the Penguin classics version, and while it covers only a small period, I like it. (It was written by Anna Comnena, Alexius' daughter.)

These are what I have read (or in one case, tried to). A good starting point, and Amazon carries everyone of them! And your library, depending on where you live, should have maybe one as well.

Good luck to you!

Azi

[Colovion]

i bought and read A Concise History of Byzantium (http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?qwork=1271069&wtit=A%20Concise%20History%20of%20Byzantium&matches=22&qsort=r&cm_re=works*listing*title) a while ago and found it a great read. It is not a book that gives you a full fleshed out depiction of all events, but it mentions the pivitol points and the key moments in the history which impacted the empire. It tells of choices the emperors made which were good, ones which were poor - and ones which were near insanity.

I recommend it if you, like I was, just looking for a better idea of Byzantium's general history but don't feel like sitting down and reading a massive book. However, that said - Oxford has a book which is not even 100 pages longer (http://www.alibris.com/search/detail.cfm?chunk=25&mtype=&wtit=Byzantium&qwork=7476855&S=R&bid=8344997280&pqtynew=1&pbestnew=67%2E24&page=1&matches=20&qsort=r) - so that just depends on who you'd rather read; Treadgold or one compiled by Oxford Books and edited by Cyril A. Mango who has edited many other books about Byzantium. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=Cyril%20Mango/103-6709761-0779003)

[Mongoose]

Thanks :book: I am looking for some thing that has alot of information on the byzantine army...i found afew osprey books on amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0850453062/qid=1119035395/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-8370586-3110452?v=glance&s=books

Has any one read that book?

[King Henry V]

If you ever have the chance to go to the British Museum, then go to the reading room instead of the museum itself, and there are a whole pile of books on the Eastern Roman Empire.

[Krusader]

Thanks :book: I am looking for some thing that has alot of information on the byzantine army...i found afew osprey books on amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0850453062/qid=1119035395/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-8370586-3110452?v=glance&s=books

Has any one read that book?

I got that book, and I like it. It details the organization, pay & equipment of the Byzantine armies, and it has information on the Theme system, Tagmata & Varangian Guard, with one page about mercenaries. It also has many pages on the battle of Manzikert, and a few pages on the military in Alexius Comnenus' reign.

The plates are good, and the descriptions as well. Some good pics inside too, and the text is easy enough to read (Alot easier than John Haldon's for sure)

All in all, I think you will like that book if you're interested in Byzantine armies.

[The Wizard]

John Julius Norwich is good. He has a very nice style of writing; it's involving, enrapturing, carrying you along the long history of Byzantium.

When good things befall the empire, you feel good, you find yourself encouraging them, hoping that they will keep it up. When bad tidings come to the Byzantines, the reading becomes painful as you lament the wrong choices, weak rulers, foul intrigue and the vigor of the empire's enemies.

Especially the last book, Byzantium: The Decline and Fall is painful to read in between Manuel I Comnenus and the Fall, with only a few bright points such as the rule of Manuel II Palaeologus or marshal Boucicault helping the Byzantines fight Beyazid. But when the Byzantines finally realize that there is no way out, that there is nothing left to fight over and that their destiny has come, the reading once again becomes enjoyable. Reading about the Fall as described by Norwich captures you, as you read about the amazing bravery, chivalry and honor displayed by the different characters playing in this story so akin to a tragedy.

I find Norwich's trilogy gives a very good impression of Byzantine politics, culture and ideas, and he is excellent in describing the how and why of the history of Byzantium. Besides that, he is accurate, and his excellent writing makes the books great to read. The only thing missing is a more elaborate explanation of military matters. Even when he tells the tale of Manuel I's great blunder, Myriokephalion, which is unusually elaborate, it is not a very accurate account of the tactical tidings of the battle.



~Wiz

[edyzmedieval]

If you ever have the chance to go to the British Museum, then go to the reading room instead of the museum itself, and there are a whole pile of books on the Eastern Roman Empire.


Thanks for this info.... It's my next destination in my summer vacation ~D

About the Byzantophile, it doesn't matter if it isn't a word... There are many Byzantophiles( me is one ~D ).....

About books, check Osprey Publishing directly(not through Amazon, check through their official site) and they got many books about Byzantium ( Walls of Constantinople, Constantinople, Byzantine Armies....).

In Romania, we have many books about Byzantium because we were very close to them and also because we borrowed many things from them(and also once we were part of the Byzantine Empire! ~D )

Cheers from a Byzantophile!

[Mount Suribachi]

Heres another recomendation of Norwich's Byzantium trilogy. You can also get it in a condensed 1 volume "short" history - which is actually the one I read first. I enjoyed it so much I went out and bought the full trilogy.

Like The Wizard says, the ending is brilliantly written, and the fall of Constantinople has a wonderful epic but tragic feel to it - would make a brilliant film if done properly, I can see it now, the final shot is of a pile of dead defenders, with a pair of feet with purple boots sticking out the bottom of them....

[Azi Tohak]

I must say I am pleased to see that many other people know what is Byzantium is. I told a friend of mine (history major, emphasis on Rome and Greece) about Norwich and he looked at me like a lost cause.

I was offended!

Anyway, thanks guys. Now I have more books to read too! ~:)

Azi

[Colovion]

I'm going to have to take a read of these Norwich books of which everyone is speaking so highly.

[kallitheus]

You can also try Sir Steven Runciman's :

The fall of Constantinople-a classic account of the last years of the empire,
with chapters covering the rise of ottoman power,and the decline of byzantium,which of course focuses on the siege,drawing on a massive collection of sources,both ancient and contemporary,both christian/latin and ottoman/muslim.

An excellent read.

[PyrrhusofEpirus]

I don't know if it possible to find books in english for the most interesting and most dramatic part of byzantine history, the Fall of Constantinople.

The books from synchronous writers of the dramatic events, the four "historians of the Fall" (Alosis). Laonikos Chalkokondyles, "Byzantinon Alosis", the "unbiased", Georgios Sfrantzes an eyewitness with his "Chronicles", who wrote his memoirs off the Fall, (Michael); Doukas, "Historia Turkobyzantina", Athenian aristocrat and "unionist" with the West, and Michael Critobuli, "Histories writings", the "controversial" who wrote his book probably to win Sultans favour and actually named governor of Imbros island by Sultan.

I'll become later with more.
Thank you in advance. :bow:

[edyzmedieval]

Sphrantzes is known very well, especially by Byzantophiles ~D
He was the Chancellor of the Byzantines.

Incredibly, his Chronicles lasted after the Fall of Constantinople!!!