A clear, concise and authoritative history of the Byzantine Empire.

Byzantium was a Greek city-state on the Bosporus that gained importance in AD 324 when it was re-founded by Constantine the Great and named Constantinople.  One of the pre-eminent cities of the Middle ages, Constantinople played a vital role  in the emergence of the medieval order in which Byzantium, western Christendom and Islam became 3 distinct civilisations.

Angold charts the development and characteristics of Byzantine art and society.  he begins in Constantinople and examine the city in relation to the world of the Middle Ages.  He shows how the foundation and subsequent growth of the city altered the equilibrium of the Roman Empire and shifted the centre of gravity eastwards.  He concludes by stressing the continuing attraction and influence of imperial Byzantium, best seen in Norman Sicily.

Rrp £6.99.