REVIEWS

The Lost World of Byzantium:

'Given [it] features eunuchs, barbarians, coups, plots, blindings, betrayals, a ruler captured by his enemies who had his arms and legs cut off, Greek fire, mechanical birds, religious fanatics, shifting alliances, and a very lecherous Empress, it leads to but one conclusion. Now that they have run out of material by George RR Martin, the Game of Thrones producers should read this book'.

Stuart Kelly in The Scotsman

'Harris has succeeded triumphantly in producing a fresh and highly readable account of this extraordinary institution…An acute eye for detail is sustained throughout the book: Harris never fails to find the best story to focus readers’ attention on each chapter’s central subject. More fundamentally the book is beautifully constructed on the back of highly intelligent narrative choices… he triumphantly overcomes the limits of his brief to take the reader to the heart of what it meant to be Byzantine'.

Peter Heather in BBC History Magazine

'Harris presents his case not only with lightness of hand but also surety of foot… The writing is elegant, the facts are carefully controlled and the narrative enlightened by revealing anecdotes and suggestive extracts from the primary sources'.

Peter Sarris in The Literary Review

'Harris canters through the 11 centuries that followed the refoundation of the city of Byzantium by Constantine in the fourth century until its fall in 1453. He keeps up a swift pace as the fortunes of the empire ebb and flow… a welcome addition to an increasingly crowded field'

Peter Frankopan in The Daily Telegraph

‘For long consigned to the shadows of history, ignored, derided or caricatured, the preserve of academic specialists or Greek nationalists, the thousand-year Byzantine empire is only now belatedly emerging into the light of recognition as a major force in the development of Europe, the Mediterranean and the Near East. In this lively, learned, enlightening and accessible new study, Jonathan Harris explores and explodes past misconceptions by focusing on ten pivotal figures across ten centuries to demonstrate the protean quality of a civilisation that masked vibrant, often desperate change behind a show of immemorial continuity. Harris’s deft, engaging use of primary evidence allows Byzantium to reveal itself while always directing the reader to what is significant and illuminating, from vivid stories of individual drama to searching analysis of the social and cultural structures of the most lasting political institution of the Christian world.’

Christopher Tyerman, author of God's War: A New History of the Crusades

'Jonathan Harris has done it again. His timely new history of Byzantium avoids "the usual suspects" and instead offers a fresh take on this fabled but hidden civilisation. Each chapter goes straight to the heart of history, opening a carefully chosen window onto one era in Byzantium’s thousand-year lifespan. Frame by revealing frame, a story unfolds that is as lively and gripping as it is original and insightful. A hugely rewarding read from this generation's most exciting Byzantine historian.'

Colin Wells. author of Sailing from Btzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World

'What about the remarkable society in which this distinctive imaginative world, based on the tension between matter and spirit, had been built up over so many centuries? Those who want to know can turn with confidence to Jonathan Harris’s The Lost World of Byzantium'.

Peter Brown in The New York Review of Books

Byzantium and the Crusades:

'Dr Harris writes well. His theory is clever and original.'

Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Tablet

'Illuminating and innovative. A must-read for those who wish to understand the relationship between the east and west during the Crusades.'

Lars Brownworth, author of Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization

'Jonathan Harris leads us into the minds of the ruling elites of Byzantine society and demonstrates how they were unable to adapt to the challenge of the crusade ... This book is an original, perceptive, and convincing analysis of the cultural attitudes which shaped the Byzantine reaction to the crusades and ultimately led to the disaster of the crusader sack of Constantinople in 1204'.

John France, Professor of History, Swansea University, UK

'A measured, detailed, clear, nuanced and subtle analysis of Greek responses to the appearance of the unprecedented ideas and armies of crusaders from western Europe and how these reactions were ultimately self-defeating. This is political and diplomatic history in modern form, as much a close study of cultural forces as a narrative of events ... Compelling.'

Christopher Tyerman, Fellow and Tutor in History, Hertford College, University of Oxford, UK

The End of Byzantium:

'Harris interrogates the evidence sensitively … showing how the realities of power in the Eastern Mediterranean rendered simple notions of patriotism and heroism irrelevant. … What Harris's lucid narrative demonstrates is that there was no clear East-West, Muslim-Christian split.'

Michael Whitby, Times Literary Supplement

'Harris offers plenty of serious scholarship, and a useful amount of background.'

John Hinton, Catholic Herald

'Lucid; extremely well written with an excellent array of quotes and spread of information.'

Michael Angold, Reviews In History

'Harris is fully in command of this Islamic conquest and records a saga seething with treachery and avarice with rich political overtones and giant cannonades. Christendom is at flashpoint in this scholarly journey into a barbaric age.'

Colin Gardner, Oxford Times

'A remarkable book, which offers numerous fresh insights and weaves a gripping and deeply moving story that constantly startles us with its newness, its originality, and its balance. Byzantines, Turks, Latins - Harris breathes new life into these long-dead characters and makes us understand both their choices and the circumstances that led them to make those choices. This is history as it should be written - an epic tale that rouses our imaginations and captures our sympathies as effectively as it explains and informs.'

Colin Wells, author of Sailing from Byzantium

'Harris argues persuasively against the idea the "Medieval Christians and Muslims were in a constant state of antagonism and war".'

Christopher Hart in The Sunday Times.

'Jonathan Harris's new account of the fall of Constantinople in 1453 is a welcome and highly readable treatment of one of the most important events in world history. The author knows his sources inside out and his book is a fine work of scholarship. But he also handles his subject with narrative momentum and descriptive flair, and he never loses sight of the humanity involved in these twilight years of a once-great empire.'

Norman Housley, author of Fighting for the Cross

Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium (first edition):

'The author ably succeeds in revealing the potent mystique of ceremony, wealth, and legend that enveloped the ruling class and the role of the diverse classes who supported it. But, despite his disclaimer, he deftly portrays key moments of Byzantine history and the physical space of the capital in a beautifully written study that is accessible yet rich in substance and source analysis...An excellent, pithy introduction to Byzantine history and culture, and a convincing analysis of the role of myth and pageantry in Byzantine ruling power. Summing up: Highly recommended.'

Nancy Bisaha, Choice, December 2008

'It is a tribute to Harris's skill as a writer that his book produces in the reader a sense of loss ... A readable, informative, and vivid book, offering an evocative picture of the city in the context of the culture that produced it. Highly recommended.'

JONATHAN HARRIS

Reviews