The Byzantine Revival, 780-842

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Summary: Successful Revitalization of an Ancient Empire
Review: In another great text on Byzantine History, Treadgold shows how the Byzantine Empire, wrought by devastation on all sides from Avars, Slavs, Bulgars, Arabs and Saracens, as well as entangled in internal strife over the question of iconography was able to revitalize itself under a series of successful rulers beginning in 780. He provides accurate and useful information on the economy, the growth of the Orthodox Chruch, the debates of Iconoclasm, and the successful re-Hellenization of of the Balkans while keeping the reader interested and focused on the topic. What I like best about this book is that at the end of each chapter, he provides an overall assessment of the Empire, its growth since its last emperor, the strengths as well as the weaknesses of the times. The main argument Treadgold is trying to portray is that in this period of regrowth, the Empire was reduced to its skeletal framework, but was able to monopolize on a being a smaller regional state, and expand back into the Balkans and Asia Minor with a series of strategic and unified military and diplomatic endeavors and hold onto any new territorial claims. Here is where we see the beginnings of Byzantine culture, the revitalization of learning, and the guidance of educated patriarchs and monks that set the stage for the next 300 years of Byzantium's Golden Age. This book is a must for anyone who wishes to learn about how Byzantium recovered from its earlier defeats at the hands of Persia and Islam, and was able to come back stronger than ever before.