Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire by Judith Herrin

3.74 AVERAGE

arose1117's profile picture

arose1117's review against another edition

3.5
challenging informative reflective slow-paced
 This was a really interesting and in-depth collection of essays detailing the rise, fall, and cultural influence of the Byzantine empire. Though the writing style was a little dry at times, the book had a variety of fascinating topics that helped increase my understanding of the Eastern Roman Empire. I do think this would be most enjoyed by readers with a deeper understanding of Byzantium, but I still found the book fascinating and informative. 

jdoherty's review against another edition

3.5
challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced
junancollins's profile picture

junancollins's review against another edition

3.5
challenging informative reflective slow-paced
jeffdecker's profile picture

jeffdecker's review against another edition

3.5
challenging informative inspiring slow-paced
spacestationtrustfund's profile picture

spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition

3.0
Dr. Judith Herrin is an expert at all things Byzantine, and this book is very much a labour of love. As pop history books go, Dr. Herrin's is excellent; a bit elementary, given the vastness of the history and culture she's trying to cover, but a wonderful entry-level source.

thjfrank's review against another edition

3.0
informative slow-paced

phasmtis's review against another edition

3.0
It was very informative and it helped me achieve insight into some authors use of Byzantine politics in their books.
jkflower's profile picture

jkflower's review against another edition

Am I speed-running these historical books? Absolutely, since I need to have them read by tomorrow. But I did learn a lot from this one too, and I'm positively excited about it.
aceface's profile picture

aceface's review against another edition

4.0
adventurous challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced
mrsdallogay's profile picture

mrsdallogay's review against another edition

5.0
Judith Herrin's history of Byzantium is actually amazing. It is primarily a cultural history, so if you're looking for an in depth examination of military battles or whatever this probably isn't for you. Herrin's authorship aside, I think what primarily made this book enjoyable for me was just the sheer amount of interesting facts. If you're familiar with the Empire at all you probably won't find anything exceedingly new here but overall the book is a really comprehensive introduction to Byzantine history and I'd recommend it to anyone even vaguely interested in expanding their knowledge of non-Western history.

Herrin's main historiographical aim with this book is to rescue Byzantium from its Orientalised image, and she does quite a wonderful job of it. 5/5