(John Julius Norwich)Part 1 of a three-volume set covering the Byzantine empire, starting with Constantine and ending, with, um, I guess the fall of the city in 1453 (I haven't read the third volume yet). I was looking forward to this a lot as I enjoyed "Venice", the author's one volume history of - take a guess - Venice. My one complaint about that book was that it felt a little dense. By covering only the first 500 or so years of the Byzantine empire in this volume, the material is allowed to breathe, and the result is a intensely readable.This is a big hefty book, covering Constantine and ending at the crowning of Charlemange at Christmas, 800 AD (as the author notes, an absurdly convenient date). I couldn't put this book down, even when the various claimiants to the Imperial throne were blindling each other or cutting each other's tounges out. The writing, like "Venice", is excellent, and always clear and easy to follow, even when the author can't help but wade into the obscure ecumenical fights the Byzantines loved getting into. This is Byzantium for beginners, so you don't need to know much to enjoy this book, although a basic knowledge of the founding of Islam and the transformitive effect it had on the region may put some of the events in a more meaningful context for you. All that being said, if you have even a slight interest at all in this area and you're not already an expert on Byzantine history, you really can't go wrong - and even if you do already have knowledge of the material, this book is so well written I'd bet you'll enjoy going over it again with the author anyway.
Grade: A+
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