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Rating: 
Summary: Truly Uncommon Valor
Review: Aside from the fact that The Byzantine Empire, while largely ignored in the Western Historical tradition, is among the most important phenomena in the development of the Western Enlightenment, reading about a figure such as Constantine XI Palaiologus is an excellent way of showing that leaders need not be anemic bankers with no sense of honor or dignity. Nicol shows the end result of Western Christendom's abandonment of the East, and the East's continuing glory in the face of the inevitable. He treats his subjects fairly and attempts to understand and convey their motivations/actions while not indulging in an apologia. Overall an excellent and thoroughly readable text about an extraordinary figure. I also enjoyed his study of the posthumous mythology which has arisen around the Emperor, even among the Turkish people. Can anyone imagine Bill Clinton or Tony Blair behaving so valiantly? So selflessly? Neither can I. Constantine was a hero in the classical sense-except that, unlike Achilles or Aeneas, he really lived. An excellent role model for the young and an inspiring figure for the mature, treated respectfully yet objectively (insofar as anyone can be objective) by Nicol. I would certainly read anything he writes. My only complaint is that I wish the book were longer.
Rating:
Summary: Up to Nicol's usual high standards . . .
Review: Constantine XI was the last Byzantine emperor, the last Christian ruler of what had been the Eastern Roman Empire, killed trying to defend his city against the final, successful Ottoman attack in May 1453. (Sultan Mehmed II subsequently had his head cut off, peeled off the skin, and stuffed it with straw as a trophy.) He had succeeded his childless brother to the throne less than five years before, after a career as a provincial governor -- the eighth member of his family to hold the title of emperor since Michael Palaiologos in 1253. Like Arthur in Britain and other rulers in trying times, his hero's death led inevitably to legends that he wasn't really dead, that he had escaped the fall of Constantinople, that he would be resurrected to restore the empire. It seems strange that no book has been published about Constantine XI since 1892, but Nicol, who is director of the Gennadius Library in Athens, goes far in rectifying that lack. Because the last emperor was very much a product of his family's inheritance as well as of his Graeco-Roman culture, the first half of this slender volume provides considerable information on the operation of the empire as a family business, as well as on the administrative differences between East and West in the medieval period. The later chapters relate the spread of the Palaiologi as far as Cornwall and Barbados, though these may or may not be descendants of the imperial branch of the family.
Rating: 
Summary: Nicol does it again!
Review: Donald Nicol is a blessing to Byzantine History in the 20th century. One of his greatest pieces of work is THE IMMORTAL EMPEROR. This is only the second biography on the life of the last Roman Emperor of Byzantium, Constantine Palaiologos, and the first to appear in one hundred years. This book is not the history of the fall of Constantinople. For that, you should see Runciman, "The Fall of Constantinople." It is, however, an extraordinary treatment on the life of Constantine XI as well as the incredible legends that surround his death to this present day. Some people have critisized Nicol for providing almost too much information on the legends and myths that surround Constantine. But I think it all goes to show just what this one man means to even modern Greeks, as well as people everywhere. Nicol's research is unmatched. You may feel that there is too much packed in such a small book, but because it is all very exciting and well organized, you will want to read it over and over.Matt
Rating:
Summary: Nicol does it again!
Review: Donald Nicol is a blessing to Byzantine History in the 20th century. One of his greatest pieces of work is THE IMMORTAL EMPEROR. This is only the second biography on the life of the last Roman Emperor of Byzantium, Constantine Palaiologos, and the first to appear in one hundred years. This book is not the history of the fall of Constantinople. For that, you should see Runciman, "The Fall of Constantinople." It is, however, an extraordinary treatment on the life of Constantine XI as well as the incredible legends that surround his death to this present day. Some people have critisized Nicol for providing almost too much information on the legends and myths that surround Constantine. But I think it all goes to show just what this one man means to even modern Greeks, as well as people everywhere. Nicol's research is unmatched. You may feel that there is too much packed in such a small book, but because it is all very exciting and well organized, you will want to read it over and over. Matt
Rating:
Summary: Excellent story
Review: I highly recommend this book to those interested in Byzantine History. Constantine XI's death marks the end of the great Roman/Greek empire. The book reads like a thriller of sorts, and even though the reader knows how the book ends the suspense is still there. Nicol makes the reader feel the tragedy of both Constantine's death and the once great empire's fall to the Turks. Highly readable, well worth your time.
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