History of the Byzantine State

Rating:
Summary: Well worth reading
Review: George Ostrogorsky's book covers all Byzantine history from Diocletian and Constantine to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. It is, moreover, intelligible and useful to the nonspecialist with only a broad historical background. Its particular value is that it imparts an understanding of the *process* of Byzantine history, especially in three key periods. First, the transformation of the decrepit East Roman Empire to a viable state able to withstand great adversities and heavy defeats. Second, the reinvigoration of that state after the iconoclast crisis and its rise to great power. Finally, the unintentionally suicidal policies adopted after the death of Basil II, which led to the breaking of Byzantium's back only fifty years later. Ostrogorsky's copious footnotes - happily, not endnotes - are especially useful because they cite many arguments and authors with which Ostrogorsky himself disagrees. Thus he provides easy access to views other than his own. There are a few minor irritants in the softcover edition, the absence of most of Ostrogorsky's excellent maps being the main one. There is also some little use of untranslated and untransliterated Greek. But neither deficiency adversely affects the book's overall value.

Rating:
Summary: Good survey
Review: Ostrogorsky has put together a good single-volume survey of the thousand years of Byzantium. The tale begins, standardly, with Diocletian and Constantine, and ends with the fall of Constantinople in 1453. He takes an omniscient view of Byzantium, focusing neither on the lives and deeds of the Emperors nor the cultural and religious developments, but telling a well-balanced narrative. In that it serves as a useful introduction. However, Ostrogorsky writes without any passion, and fails to humanize the major figures. There are, though, several excellent maps that put others to shame. In all, the book is worth owning for the factual narrative and great maps. If you are looking for an impassioned and entertaining story you should pick up John Julius Norwich instead.

Rating:
Summary: Good survey
Review: Ostrogorsky has put together a good single-volume survey of the thousand years of Byzantium. The tale begins, standardly, with Diocletian and Constantine, and ends with the fall of Constantinople in 1453. He takes an omniscient view of Byzantium, focusing neither on the lives and deeds of the Emperors nor the cultural and religious developments, but telling a well-balanced narrative. In that it serves as a useful introduction. However, Ostrogorsky writes without any passion, and fails to humanize the major figures. There are, though, several excellent maps that put others to shame. In all, the book is worth owning for the factual narrative and great maps. If you are looking for an impassioned and entertaining story you should pick up John Julius Norwich instead.

Rating:
Summary: Overview of Byzantine History
Review: This book covers the whole history of the Byzantine state from aound 400 to its collapse in about 1400.

The good part of the book is that in a compact way it covers the major political events over that 1000 year period. The not so good part is that it assumes knowledge about many peoples that contribute to the story.

When I read "The Histories" by Herodus I had a terrible time getting through the part on the Scythians. That is because I had know idea who they were. I went to the Net and found a reference to them that was just a few paragraphs, that they were Indo-European, that they may have invented horseback riding, that their decendents still lived in the Cacus mountians. After that I was interested in them and had not trouble reading the material.

I say this to point out the biggest drawback of this book. There is no mention of the ethnographic or linguistic relationships between the various groups. Today it is important that Serbs and Russians are enthnically close. This books doesn't give a hint of these kinds of relationships. That makes it more difficult to remember the information.

However, it is still a valuable book to help understand the events that made the world the way that it is. It is scrupulous about its sources and there is no question that the information is as accurate as possible.