I began this book and quickly got lost in the vague references and poorly constructed historical time line. I'm not impressed. This book seems more like an extremely long college essay. I would prefer the author to put the story of Byzantium in context. To say the least, this book is lacking in finer details. I would like to also note I could not complete this book, I am not a fan of the writing itself.

Wells' study is both directly simple and rather complex: it's not a history per se of Byzantium, but rather (as the subtitle hints) a survey of how the Byzantine Empire shaped three major currents of world history--Western Europe, Islam, and the Slavic nations.
Trying to cover so much means he has to step lightly and quickly. Where I'm already strong (Western Europe and Islam), this meant it was more of a review rather than a revelation. But for the Slavic matter, it was a relentless offering of new information. Thanks to Wells' coverage, I've been on multiple research forays since to learn more about Byzantine mysticism (hesychasm) and the whole history of the Paleologos dynasty.

"Sailing for Byzantium" is an explicit account of the history of the eastern Roman empire as well as its leaders and the culture that developed there. A very dense book with some tough sledding in parts, yet I highlighted more lines within it's pages than I have in a long time. I will use this book for future reference.

Simply written, not too complex, excellent history for the person who has no previous knowledge of the subject.

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A vital book that sheds much needed light on a pivotal element in world history. The Byzantine Empire (more accurately, the Eastern Roman Empire) sheltered classical civilisation as the West crumbled into barbarian anarchy, and Islam took hold in the East. The much revered Islamic renaissance was built on the achievements and scholars of the conquered lands, which then trickled west over the coming centuries to seed advances in Europe. There would be no modern world if Constantinople fell in the 7th century, when everything suggested that it would. Instead its survival and slow strangulation over the next millennium allowed most of its intellectual treasures to endure and slowly seep into what became Europe. This book is a long, slow read, but it tells a crucial story.

This is a great book for lovers of history. The capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, was located in what is now Istambul, Turkey. Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman Empire (330–395), the Byzantine Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the brief Crusader state known as Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1923). The Byzantine Empire was the seat of the Eastern Orthodox Church, (and later the foundation upon which the Russian Orthodox Church was founded), and which vied with the Latin (Catholic) church for prominence and membership. One of the main contributions of the empire, was the spread of scholarly learning from ancient Greek texts.
This book also tells of the religious, political and social struggles between the numerous early Eastern European groups, the Christians in the West, pagans, Muslims and others. The book outlines the achievements of the Byzantine Empire and how it impacted the rest of the Asian and European world.

Learned a great deal of the Byzantines, and the Orthodox Church, both Greek, Russian and then Catholic churches. Many new notables, philosophers, scientists, military leaders and rulers of a wide part of the world from 500-1550 and how they all tie in to Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire.

Rating: 6/10. The author's intended purpose was to write a book which was accessible to the general reader. The problem is that the history of the Byzantine Empire is full of obscure religious and philosophical issues which, did, in fact, have an important role to play in its history. You wonder how an Empire, which seemed so incapable if defending itself and constantly refused to make important security decisions actually lasted for a thousand years. The three main issues in the book are Byzantium's relationships with the West, the Islamic world, and the Slavic speaking countries. I did learn a lot from reading Wells' book and it does make we want to read and learn more about Byzantium. I don't really think I would recommend this book for the 'general' reader though. P.S: for those of you who are map readers there are some excellent maps in this book.

This book traced the influence of the Byzantium’s influence on the cultures of western Europe, the Islamic World, and the Slavs in eastern Europe. Fortunately for my sanity, the book was divided into three different sections, but all the events happened during the same timeframe. I found it very intriguing and gained a new perspective on western European history in particular. The book did describe the Byzantine influence on art and architecture, particularly in Italy, and was crying out for pictures, but unfortunately none were included. I'd advise reading this with Google images on hand. I would also recommend reading this in conjunction with Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin, which gives an overview of the linguistic divide between Byzantium and Rome and also describes the attitude the Roman Catholic church had toward classical pagan knowledge, which contrasts sharply with that of the Byzantine Eastern Orthodox monks.

I learned a lot of things that I didn't know about Byzantium before I listened to this audiobook. However, I can't really place anything I learned in a cohesive pattern in my mind. Perhaps it would've been different if I'd read the book instead of listening to it--but all I've got are vignettes about Venetians, Ottomans, Romans, and Greeks all mixed up in my head. I'd recommend this if you're interested in the history of the Mediterranean, and tidbits about Byzantium's influence on that world--but I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for an organized, cohesive history of the region over time. It jumps around a lot, from Constantinople to Venice, up to the 14th century, back to Greece, over to Croatia, etc.

Maybe I should not have tried reading something completely different from what I typically do... not a very beginner-friendly book to the subject, people are basically mentioned and then never talked about again and the book goes into a lot of detail to explain what scholars were doing where, when and how instead of the effects of their actions. I am sorry, but I'll have to leave this one incomplete.