Costantinopoli

Gran bel libro. E gran bel viaggio nella Costantinopoli bizantina che fu il centro del mondo cristiano per secoli. Diciamo pure che Harris non porta nulla di nuovo, ma redigendo questo saggio agile e ben strutturato fa un operazione di rilievo e per nulla banale: mettere insieme l'enorme mole documen Leggi tutto

The Eastern Roman Empire, otherwise known as the Byzantine Empire, is one of my long-standing interests. For many years I have been reading multiple primary sources, political and military histories, art histories, biographies, historical fiction, and viewing Byzantine icons and works of art in situ Leggi tutto

An exceptional well-written and captivating book. It reviews in a very well documented way, the whole history of Constantinople, from its founding to the present. It is written in a style that makes you see with your mind's eye everything that the author communicates. A real pleasure to read.

The focus of this book was a bit different from that of the typical book on the history of the Eastern Roman (i.e., Byzantine) Empire. The emphasis on the history of Constantinople itself was interesting, and the book provides a wealth of information on this topic. The one thing that irritated me abo Leggi tutto

Harris is a professor of history and I feel like it would be great to be able to sit in on his classes because, like all the best history profs I have had, he knows how to mix big historical events and ideas with enough details of the culture and experiences of the ordinary person to keep one's inte Leggi tutto

Jonathan Harris has managed to tell in a short way the large history of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire in general. With "Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium" he examines, as he tells us, the intriguing interaction between the spiritual and the political, the mythical and the actual with he Leggi tutto

Other reviewers have said it well; Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium is an eminently readable book about one of the world's most fantastic cities during its prime as the capital of the Roman Empire of the East. For those of us who are captivated by Byzantine history, Constantinople is not just th Leggi tutto

I really enjoyed this one. It is a history book, so can be dense in places, but the writer is really good at keeping it interesting.

This book did what I wanted it to do - provide me a sense of Byzantine society and culture throughout the wide sweep of Byzantine history. Neither the writing nor analysis were brilliant, but some episodes of intrigue were well narrated. Worth a read if you want to learn more about this subject. I re Leggi tutto