skates over the surface
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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. I found it the worst kind of history - a blizzard of names, with very little attention paid to the spirit or character of the Byzantine Empire. Those looking for an introduction to this period would, in my view, be far better off with John Romer's marvellous 'Byzantium - The Lost Empire' DVD - unfortunately, it seems, only currently available in Region 1.
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An Endless List of Emperors...
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"A Short History of Byzantium" is a condensed version of author John Julius Norwich's three volume work. It covers the Byzantine Empire from its founding by Constantine the Great in AD 330 through its final destruction by the Turks in 1453.
I began the book with little knowledge about the Byzantine Empire with which to place what I was reading in context. This may have handicapped me as I proceeded through it. Much of this book consists of a seemingly endless list of Emperors, Empresses and challengers. It contains relatively little about other pieces of the Byzantine puzzle, such as the economy, the arts and other social forces which contributed to the whole picture. I did find interesting the sections dealing with the relationship of Charlemagne to the Empire and the occasional attempts, usually the result of foreign pressure, to heal the breach in Christendom.
Overall, I was somewhat disappointed with this book. I finished it with little more understanding of Byzantium than I had when I started. It may be the nature of the subject itself, but I feel that I need to look elsewhere for a good initiation into the Byzantine World.
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An example of great historical literature
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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 the process.
For a person just being introduced to Byzantine history Norwich's style of black and white character painting is ideal, albeit a tiny bit repetitive. However ,this is entirely justified; in an abridged version, one cannot write entire chapters on how Michael Paleologus (yes, the book is so good i can remember the names of the odd Byzantine Emperor; and there are many) tried to fight the Turks in Anatolia single-handedly while dealing with dynastic disputes. Moreover his fluent style helps to distinguish between the likes of Michael IX and Constantine XII etc, while at the same time cycling through major events at a quickened but readable place. All in all it is a great piece of historical literature; it does however have its minor bad points; Norwich in his first part of the book tends to fix around 50% of his attention toward religious issues. Thats all well and good when establishing the basics of Christianity as we know it today, but is unjustified when he focuses in the middle on dynastic issues. But these are just minor qualms. I stongly recommend to buy this book, even if you arent interested in Byzantine history and culture; you'll be riveted by the end.
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A spellbinding introduction to a fascinating subject
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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.
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Mediocre
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This book isnt really what one awaits from a serious history book. Norwich rather writes gossip, not history.
The pace is too fast, and the information is too generalized; you wont be able to learn things about specific periods, just get the general idea of byzantium. Except these, Norwich treats priests and monks(not in all cases but sometimes-and sometimes is enough) too good, and often ignores specific facts, thus becoming subjective(although maybe this is not a matter of subjectivity but a matter of inability-sometimes it seems like he doesnt want to "protect" the one side, and trying to do that, he "protects" the other side).
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