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العالم البيزنطي
هذا الكتاب له أهمية خاصة لدى دارسى تاريخ العصور الوسطى بوجه عام ، والتاريخ البيزنطى بوجه خاص ، استهله المترجم بمقدمة كبيرة أوضح فيها المؤثرات المختلفة التى دفعت بعجلة التاريخ إلى عصر جديد هو العصر البيزنطى . ثم عرض فصول الكتاب التى تناولت تكوين الإمبراطورية البيزنطية ، والتغييرات الجوهرية التى طرأت عليها ، فالصدام بين الشرق والغرب ، والعلاقات بين الكنيسة والدولة ، والحياة المسيحية وعالم الرهبنة ، ثم الحياة اليومية ، فالتعليم والأدب ، والفن البيزنطى ، وأخيرًا بيزنطة وجيرانها
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- GenresHistoryNonfiction
Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
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About the author
J.M. Hussey
13 books3 followersJoan Mervyn Hussey, MA PhD FSA FRHistS was a British Byzantine scholar and historian.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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February 6, 2018Surprisingly good survey of the more or less one thousand years of Byzantine history packed into fewer than two hundred pages of text.
No illustrations. Two maps as end papers - the classic choices for a book of a certain age- Justinian's conquests and the territorial reorganisation of the later empire.
Good for a very brief overview. Thematic chapters.
No illustrations. Two maps as end papers - the classic choices for a book of a certain age- Justinian's conquests and the territorial reorganisation of the later empire.
Good for a very brief overview. Thematic chapters.
October 29, 2007
J.M. Hussey's THE BYZANTINE WORLD first appeared in the Hutchinson University Library in 1957, with new material added to editions in 1961, 1967, and 1970. It is a brief survey of the whole of Byzantium history from Constantine the Great to its end with the invasion of the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
The history itself is woefully meagre. Important figures like Justinian and Heraclius get just one or two pages, and many interesting events are missing. The layman wanting to know Byzantium political history in any real depth would do better to get John Julian Norwich's three-volume history of Byzantium beginning with BYZANTIUM: The Early Centuries.
However, one of the most frequent complaints against Norwich's books are that they focus almost entirely on the changing aristocracy and on foreign policy, and neglect the state of the commoners and Byzantium's cultural output. Here Hussey's book helps to fill the void. There are chapters on everyday life, learning and literature, Byzantine art, and the religious practices of the laity.
I was rather unhappy that this book was not written to the teaching of the Orthodox Church. It is precisely Orthodox who would like to know more about Byzantium. The author, however, writes as if the findings of the Ecumenical Councils were arbitrary developments instead of the defence of right and traditional Christian doctrines, and she questions the actions of some whom the Church has glorified as saints. She even seems to accept some of the accusations made in Procopius' SECRET HISTORY, which few historians would do.
In spite of its biases and its meagre size, however, Hussey's history is worth reading for anyone eager to learn more about Byzantium, and copies are still available economically.
The history itself is woefully meagre. Important figures like Justinian and Heraclius get just one or two pages, and many interesting events are missing. The layman wanting to know Byzantium political history in any real depth would do better to get John Julian Norwich's three-volume history of Byzantium beginning with BYZANTIUM: The Early Centuries.
However, one of the most frequent complaints against Norwich's books are that they focus almost entirely on the changing aristocracy and on foreign policy, and neglect the state of the commoners and Byzantium's cultural output. Here Hussey's book helps to fill the void. There are chapters on everyday life, learning and literature, Byzantine art, and the religious practices of the laity.
I was rather unhappy that this book was not written to the teaching of the Orthodox Church. It is precisely Orthodox who would like to know more about Byzantium. The author, however, writes as if the findings of the Ecumenical Councils were arbitrary developments instead of the defence of right and traditional Christian doctrines, and she questions the actions of some whom the Church has glorified as saints. She even seems to accept some of the accusations made in Procopius' SECRET HISTORY, which few historians would do.
In spite of its biases and its meagre size, however, Hussey's history is worth reading for anyone eager to learn more about Byzantium, and copies are still available economically.
September 15, 2012
I came to this book as a lover of Byzantine art, hoping to learn more about the culture which made those brilliant mosaics, incredible churches, exquisite enamels, and unbelievable metalwork. Probably this would not now be the recommended starting place, but it is what was in my collection, an artifact of my history-loving grandmother's.
The brevity of this book--a thousand years in 80 pages--makes its history extremely fast-paced. A hundred years can pass in a sentence or two. Some of the interest is in how Hussey (or her editors) can condense so much time into such a small space. For one thing, she writes about heretical movements (hesychasm, Bogomils) and their political impact without explaining, even in a phrase, what their heresy consisted of. I can understand it--parsing the difference between subtle heresies and orthodoxy can require detailed explanation--but it's sometimes frustrating to read sentences where all the "content words" mean nothing to you. On the other hand, combined with the unfamiliarity of the subject matter, it sometimes makes the book read like science fiction: "In the north Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul, was daily growing in power."
The second half, with chapters on various aspects of Byzantine life beyond the shifting of borders and succession of emperors, while also suffering from brevity and sometimes the lack of historical data, was very appreciated. All I can really say is that I wanted more, much more.
The brevity of this book--a thousand years in 80 pages--makes its history extremely fast-paced. A hundred years can pass in a sentence or two. Some of the interest is in how Hussey (or her editors) can condense so much time into such a small space. For one thing, she writes about heretical movements (hesychasm, Bogomils) and their political impact without explaining, even in a phrase, what their heresy consisted of. I can understand it--parsing the difference between subtle heresies and orthodoxy can require detailed explanation--but it's sometimes frustrating to read sentences where all the "content words" mean nothing to you. On the other hand, combined with the unfamiliarity of the subject matter, it sometimes makes the book read like science fiction: "In the north Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul, was daily growing in power."
The second half, with chapters on various aspects of Byzantine life beyond the shifting of borders and succession of emperors, while also suffering from brevity and sometimes the lack of historical data, was very appreciated. All I can really say is that I wanted more, much more.
April 13, 2016
This is a fairly short book with only 165 pages of actual content. It has been valuable in that I learned things about the Byzantine Empire that I did not know previously. For example, the "empire" wasn't beaten at the end by the encroaching Ottoman Turks, but multiple, independent states were picked off one by one. At the end, Constantinople was, basically, a country consisting of only the city itself. Of course, covering a thousand years of history in 165 pages also means that the the book only skimmed over the surface of the material. Still, it was worth reading.
March 23, 2007
Or maybe '66...
August 15, 2019
Very informative background and history on the Eastern Roman Empire.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews