Much of the strength of this book is that there are so few accessible books on the Byzantine Empire and its sequelae, and this one is at least attempts to impose some order on the subject. I did learn several interesting facts, but a string of facts does not a history make. The chronology is hopelessly confusing, and there does not seem to be any guiding principal for determining which incidents receive mere mentions and which receive several pages.

Sailing from Byzantium is a history of scholarship from the ancient to modern worlds. When I discovered this book, I was so excited to jump in after reading the publicist / Goodreads description. I have to admit I was a little disappointed, put off by the first 50 or so pages. This is not the Geo-political / Military history I was expecting. But the more I read, the more engrossed and invested in the scholarly / philosophical history I became. I find the history of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) to be fascinating and Colin Wells added some interesting context to this story.

Great discussion of Byzantium although John Julius Norwich is probably a better starting point.