Author Description

"The Byzantine World presents the latest insights of the leading scholars in the fields of Byzantine studies, history, art and architectural history, literature, and theology. Those who know little of Byzantine history, culture and civilization between AD 700 and 1453 will find overviews and distillations, while those who know much already will be afforded countless new vistas. Each chapter offers an innovative approach to a well-known topic or a diversion from a well-trodden path. Readers will be introduced to Byzantine women and children, men and eunuchs, emperors, patriarchs, aristocrats and slaves. They will explore churches and fortifications, monasteries and palaces, from Constantinople to Cyprus and Syria in the east, to Apulia and Venice in the west. Secular and sacred art, profane and spiritual literature will be revealed to the reader, and the worlds of Byzantine ceremonial and sanctity, liturgy and letters, Orthodoxy and heresy will be reconnoitred. Ultimately, readers will find insights into the emergence of modern Byzantine studies and popular Byzantine history that are informative, novel and unexpected, and that provide a thorough understanding of both." --Book Jacket.