An excellent continuation of the work which Norwich had started in Byzantium: The Early Centuries.

Manzikert breaks my fuckin heart like it was yesterday. This series of books on Byzantium is so good.

Second volume in a great history of The Byzantine Empire. Fascinating reader.

Narrative history that's very well written. There's little insight beyond the personalities of the prominent figures and the character of the main events but there's little source material on the Byzantine economy anyway and there's enough here to come to your own conclusions on the politics. Choice quotes of the chronicles throughout. If I find a cheap copy of the final volume, Id definitely buy it for a light read.

Just marvellous. Unsure whether only Byzantine history is so fascinating or it's Norwich's writing style.

I cannot avoid reading murders in the palaces. The emperors were from the generals of the army. The power came from the ability than the kinship. I hope I can read more on the lives of the common people rather than nobles. I hope I can learn on the culture I had.

Second volume: more of the same, equally entertaining and well-written, with the same caveats. Most monstrous character: Basil the Macedonian, who maneuvered himself from stable boy to imperial confidant to Michael III, murdered the emperor’s uncle (who had effectively been running the state), persuaded Michael to proclaim him co-emperor, then disabled the locks on his co-emperor’s sleeping quarters and had him murdered in his sleep. Most hideous atrocity: Basil II, after capturing in battle a Bulgarian army of 15,000, divided them into hundreds, and for each hundred had both eyes gouged out of 99 men but only one eye out of the hundredth, so that he could still lead his blind century back to the Bulgarian king. You could barely make this stuff up. Funniest insult (a high Byzantine official on the inhabitants of Rome): “vile slaves, fishermen, confectioners, poulterers, bastards, plebeians and underlings.” And so it goes on. All of the might and splendor described here took place in the interval, in English history, between Egbert of Wessex and the Norman conquest. That’s quite a perspective.

Norwich continues his history of the Byzantine Empire. An enjoyable read by a master.

All my homies hate Andronicus Ducas

In the second volume of his history of Byzantium, John Julius Norwich covers the 281-year sweep of Byzantine history from 800 to 1081. As the title implies, these centuries saw Byzantium reach its apogee in the Middle Ages, with each successive emperor building on the progress of his predecessor, until a new apex was achieved in 1025. By that time, the Byzantine Empire stretched from Italy to Armenia, had over twelve million subjects under its sway, and stood as the most powerful state in Europe or the Middle East.

Yet the title belies this volume's depressing end, for that grand achievement - the work of dozens of emperors and hundreds of years - was destined to unravel in barely half a century. The final five chapters cover that near-total imperial disintegration, ending in the disastrous battle of Manzikert in 1071 and finishing with the usurpation of Alexios Komnenos in 1081.

It ends on a note of grim determination; ultimately, the damage the Empire ultimately suffered would never be undone, yet the Byzantines would not stop trying - although the resolution awaits the third and final volume in Norwich's history.

Well, mr Norwich has done it again.

I have to admit something; i had no idea the Roman Empire had another rise. I thought that after Justinian the Romans were simply on the backtrack, and once they couldn't hold on the tide of Islamic caliphates that they implored the west for help. I knew about Manzikert, i knew about Basil II the Bulgar Slayer, but it was all somehow mixed in my mind, never really bothering to look up details.

I write this because i often really love history books whose narrative surprises me and makes me feel like i'm reading a novel. Mr Norwich does again a great job turning history in a page turner, and i was really glad i finally read this book as well.

There are some issues with the 2 books so far; the author really doesn't go into too much detail in what might be interesting things to someone like my; the structure of the army, the hierarchy and administration, the lives of everyday people etc... are often just glanced over. The details of campaigns and battles are often quite few, and it does make me feel wanting for more there.

There's also the issue of the authors insistance of using words which i am forced to look up; there's a lot of French words throw in as well, and while i know what a coup d'etat or coup de'grace are, i had too google once too often and it broke my immersion; not just the French words, he also uses some archaic and rarely used english words that i've never come across; and while it's possible to deduct their meaning from the context, i am forced by my brain to look it up, again loosing immersion.

Overall however, this is a fantastic book. While the details are lacking, it is clearly stated in the introduction by the author that he is simply writing an introductory book on the subject, and a concise one at that. He also says the book shouldn't be treated as anything more than it is, so it shouldn't be considered as some new research, or some scholarly work in the first place.

So i can't really fault him for not going into the details if he tells me he isn't going to do so in advance.

Already started the next one, let's see what else i didn't know about.

Norwich second installment about the Byzantines is an absolute atom bomb of a book that cannot be missed. The book covers the years 800-1081, and it is on par with the greatest page-turning fiction story out there.

I recently rated Norwich's first Byzantine book and wrote my top five memories from it. If I may continue the tradition, here are my top five from "The Apogee" (SPOILER alert):

5) The death of Leo V. Like something out of a Jason Statham movie, the Emperor is attacked on Christmas Day, 820, on a church altar, by men in black cowls with weapons hidden underneath. After defending himself with a huge Cross, a guy cuts his arm off (with his arm still grasping the Cross, spinning across the floor), Leo V drops in pain, and another guy decapitates him. Brutal!

4) The East/West Schism, which was the first serious break in Christianity in 1054, was a debacle of diplomacy. The Emperor Constantine IX, the Patriarch Cerularius, and Humbert, the messenger of the Pope, were all to blame. Also I found it fascinating to note how Zoe almost married Otto III to possibly re-unite the Western and Eastern Christian empires but Otto III died of a fever.

3) Zoe and Theodora were an interesting pair. Zoe had some crazily unsuccessful marriages, including marrying a boy toy adolescent who dropped her like a bad habit in a few months. The boy toy, Michael IV, in his own right had an amazingly brave death by personally leading the army against the Bulgars despite having horrible swelling and feeling pain all over his body.

2) The Seljuk Turks, seemingly like another barbarian horde at first, won the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 which shockingly signaled the beginning of the end of the Empire. Emperor Romanus IV fought "like a lion until the end," but was tragically captured, humiliated, lost his power in a coup, and finally blinded like countless other characters in this book.

1) Speaking of blinding, after defeating the Bulgars, Basil II, a plain-dressed, boorish, yet supremely successful Emperor and military leader, blinded 99 out of 100 Bulgar POWs (leaving one eye in 1/100), and sent them home packing. Coincidentally or not, the Bulgar leader literally died when he saw them come home in this state.

Overall, Norwich writes a masterpiece. If you are a fan of ancient history or just a good story in general, by all means read this series!