Product Description

"Norwich is always on the lookout for the small but revealing details. . . . All of this he recounts in a style that consistently entertains."
--The New York Times Book Review

In this magisterial adaptation of his epic three-volume history of Byzantium, John Julius Norwich chronicles the world's longest-lived Christian empire. Beginning with Constantine the Great, who in a.d. 330 made Christianity the religion of his realm and then transferred its capital to the city that would bear his name, Norwich follows the course of eleven centuries of Byzantine statecraft and warfare, politics and theology, manners and art.

In the pages of A Short History of Byzantium we encounter mystics and philosophers, eunuchs and barbarians, and rulers of fantastic erudition, piety, and degeneracy. We enter the life of an empire that could create some of the world's most transcendent religious art and then destroy it in the convulsions of fanaticism. Stylishly written and overflowing with drama, pathos, and wit, here is a matchless account of a lost civilization and its magnificent cultural legacy.

"Strange and fascinating . . . filled with drollery and horror." --Boston Globe

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45565 in Books
• Published on: 1998-12-29
• Released on: 1998-12-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780679772699
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Amazon.com Review
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.

From School Library Journal
YA?A condensation of Norwich's three-volume study of the Byzantine Empire. It is the story of a civilization that flourished economically, militarily, and, most importantly, as a center for culture and the arts while the rest of Europe struggled through the Dark and Middle Ages. Despite the empire being the most powerful nation in Europe for over 1000 years, its history reads like a soap opera?with grand intrigue, despotic rulers, madmen, conquests, betrayals, religious schism, crusades, and eventual decline. The book is massive in scope and although every other ruler seems to be named either Constantine, Constantius, or Constans, the book is surprisingly easy to read. Detailed maps; charts showing the lineage of the major personalities; and lists of emperors, sultans, and popes help readers keep track of who was who and where the major events took place. An extensive index makes this book useful as a reference tool.?Robert Burnham, R. E. Lee High School, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Seeking to reach a broader audience, Norwich has abridged his acclaimed three-volume history, Byzantium (LJ 3/1/89 and LJ 1/92), into one volume that has been published to coincide with a major exhibition on Byzantine art and culture at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art this spring. Byzantium was disparaged if not ignored by English-speaking historians until Robert Byron's influential The Byzantine Achievement (1929), which did much to rehabilitate its reputation. For over 1000 years, Byzantium shielded a developing European culture from invasions from the east. The Byzantines not only helped to preserve and disseminate the heritage of Greece and Rome to a Europe seeking its classical roots but also developed a sublime artistic tradition that flourishes to this day. This work provides a marvelous introduction for students and the general reader. Libraries that have not acquired the three-volume work should consider adding this one. Highly recommended.?Robert J. Andrews, Duluth P.L., Minn.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

An Introduction That Leaves You Hungry For More
An excellent introduction to the Byzantium Empire. Unlike most works written by British historians, this is very readable and not stuffy. Although this book races across 1,000 years of history in about 400 pages, it does an excellent job of synopsis. The record is full of succession struggles, with the losers usually castrated or beheaded. It is amazing how much energy the Byzantines wasted on theological disputes that continually undermined the morale of the empire. Norwich clearly explains these important but complicated theological issues which ultimately shaped Byzantium's destiny. On the military side, Norwich minimizes the impact of the defeat at Manzikert in 1071 and instead stresses that the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders, the depredations of the Catalonian mercenaries and the plague all did more real harm. Norwich could have had more detail on the Byzantine military and finances, both of which were crucial to the rise and decline of this great empire. The political drama of the continuous succession struggles is extremely well-told. Once readers complete this excellent introduction, they will be eager to read the original full-length three volume set.

A narrative summary of the Byzantine empire, not an academic work
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.

Read the long one!
I began reading the Short History of Byzantium but soon became both frustrated and tantalized by the skipping-along-in-history that was necessary in order to condense a three-voume work into one. I have just purchased Volume I and am really enjoying it. I compared some passages between the two versions and found that, as I suspected, a lot of the material that made this history interesting and coherent had been left out in the condensation. It shouldn't take too much longer to read the whole thing, and you'll understand and remember a lot more.