xxiii, 391 pages, [24] pages of plates : 24 cm

Byzantium. the name evokes grandeur and exoticism - gold, cunning, and complexity. In this unique book, Judith Herrin unveils the riches of a quite different civilization. Avoiding a standard chronological account of the Byzantine Empire's millennium-long history, she identifies the fundamental questions about Byzantium- what it was, and what special significance it holds for us today.-inside jacket

Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-353) and index

Introduction: A different history of Byzantium -- The city of Constantine -- Constantinople, the largest city in Christendom -- The East Roman Empire -- Greek orthodoxy -- The church of Hagia Sophia -- The Ravenna Mosaics -- Roman law -- The bulwark against Islam -- Icons, a new Christian art form -- Iconoclasm and icon veneration -- A literate and articulate society -- Saints Cyril and methodios, 'apostles to the slavs' -- Greek fire -- The Byzantine economy -- Eunuchs -- The imperial court -- Imperial children, 'born in the purple' -- Mount Athos -- Venice and the fork -- Basil II, 'the bulgar-slayer' -- Eleventh-century crisis -- Anna Komnene -- A cosmopolitan society -- The fulcrum of the crusades -- The towers of Trebizond, Arta, Nicaea and Thessanlonike -- Rebels and patrons -- 'Better the Turkish turban than the Papal tiara' -- The siege of 1453 -- Conclusion: The greatness and legacy of Byzantium

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