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Na ruinakh Vizantii

Byzantium : the decline and fall

The Byzantine Empire lasted for 1123 years, a period longer than that which separates us from William the Conqueror. The third and final volume of the author's history of Byzantium, this book tells of the dire consequences of the defeat of the Seljuk Turks at the battle of Manzikert in 1071; of the Fourth Crusade, whose Crusaders, led by the octogenarian Doge of Venice, turned their attention away from the holy places to hurl themselves against Constantinople, sacking the city and setting up a succession of Frankish thugs on the imperial throne; and of the 200-year struggle by the restored Empire against the inexorable advance of the Ottoman Turks. This account of the city's fall, the last great epic in the history of the Middle Ages, is the climax of the story. The Byzantines, under their last Emperor, Constantine XI, heroically held out against the immense army of the Sultan Mehmet II for 55 days until, in 1453, the massive walls of Constantinople crumbled at last.

The making of Orthodox Byzantium, 600-1025

The book is a clear, up-to-date, reassessment of the Byzantine empire during a crucial phase in the history of the Near East. Against a geopolitical background (well-illustrated with 14 maps), it covers the last decade of the Roman empire as a superpower of the ancient world, the catastrophic crisis of the seventh century and the means whereby its embattled Byzantine successor hung on in Constantinople and Asia Minor until the Abbasid Caliphate's decline opened up new perspectives for Christian power in the Near East. Not confined to any narrow definition of Byzantine history, the empire's neighbours, allies and enemies in Europe and Asia also receive extensive treatment.