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EMPRESS: The Secret History of Anna K
The lost autobiography of an heir to the Byzantine Empire, and her impossible path to power.
In 2016, construction workers in Istanbul made a remarkable discovery. Sealed in a lead pot twelve feet underground was a lost manuscript by the Byzantine princess and historian Anna Komnene—an intimate account of the royals who held sway in Constantinople in the High Middle Ages. This is the first English translation of the Anekdota, or Secret History, of Anna Komnene (1083-1153). Not since the Dead Sea Scrolls were unearthed at Quran has an archeological find threatened to upend everything we know about a heretofore-fuzzy historical period.
“A magnificent work of imagination and scholarship, Greg Olear’s The Secret History of Anna K. reveals the intrigues of 11th and 12th century Byzantium. Princess Anna Komnene, a precocious child and shrewd adult, exposes the power grabs, turns of fortunes, betrayals, and alliances that gave rise and fall to one of the world’s great empires. Times, they do change, but human nature does not.”
—Ronlyn Domingue, internationally published author of The Mercy of Thin Air and the Keeper of Tales Trilogy
“With the imagination of a novelist and the exacting attention of a journalist, Greg Olear has written a transportative tale of sex, violence and politics. These timeless themes, and the characters they swirl around, make the richly embroidered tapestry of medieval details and Byzantine machinations he’s woven feel as urgent and compelling as current news.”
—Aja Raden, author of Stoned and The Truth About Lies
In 2016, construction workers in Istanbul made a remarkable discovery. Sealed in a lead pot twelve feet underground was a lost manuscript by the Byzantine princess and historian Anna Komnene—an intimate account of the royals who held sway in Constantinople in the High Middle Ages. This is the first English translation of the Anekdota, or Secret History, of Anna Komnene (1083-1153). Not since the Dead Sea Scrolls were unearthed at Quran has an archeological find threatened to upend everything we know about a heretofore-fuzzy historical period.
“A magnificent work of imagination and scholarship, Greg Olear’s The Secret History of Anna K. reveals the intrigues of 11th and 12th century Byzantium. Princess Anna Komnene, a precocious child and shrewd adult, exposes the power grabs, turns of fortunes, betrayals, and alliances that gave rise and fall to one of the world’s great empires. Times, they do change, but human nature does not.”
—Ronlyn Domingue, internationally published author of The Mercy of Thin Air and the Keeper of Tales Trilogy
“With the imagination of a novelist and the exacting attention of a journalist, Greg Olear has written a transportative tale of sex, violence and politics. These timeless themes, and the characters they swirl around, make the richly embroidered tapestry of medieval details and Byzantine machinations he’s woven feel as urgent and compelling as current news.”
—Aja Raden, author of Stoned and The Truth About Lies
538 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 18, 2022
7 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Greg Olear
19 books96 followersNew book Dirty Rubles: An Introduction to Trump/Russia is a primer on the greatest political scandal in US history.
"If ignorance is your bliss, Dirty Rubles isn't for you. Greg Olear deliciously tears down that barrier Trump has erected between the truth and the American people.
—Cheri Jacobus, USA Today columnist, political pundit and Trump target
“While Donald Trump represented the greatest threat to the United States since the Civil War, the US Media abdicated its duty to tell the American people the truth. Luckily, skilled writers and patriots like Greg Olear stepped into the fray, keeping readers rapt as he helped condense complex conspiracy into lucid narrative. Dirty Rubles is a long-form version of that lucidity, a cogent book that will catch people up to speed as they realize the story of the century was kept from them. To help America get back on track, read this book and share its insights with family and friends.”
—Eric Garland, strategic analyst, author of Future Inc: How Businesses Can Anticipate and Profit from What’s NEXT and How to Predict the Future and Win.
Author of the novels Fathermucker and Totally Killer.
Founding editor, The Weeklings.
"If ignorance is your bliss, Dirty Rubles isn't for you. Greg Olear deliciously tears down that barrier Trump has erected between the truth and the American people.
—Cheri Jacobus, USA Today columnist, political pundit and Trump target
“While Donald Trump represented the greatest threat to the United States since the Civil War, the US Media abdicated its duty to tell the American people the truth. Luckily, skilled writers and patriots like Greg Olear stepped into the fray, keeping readers rapt as he helped condense complex conspiracy into lucid narrative. Dirty Rubles is a long-form version of that lucidity, a cogent book that will catch people up to speed as they realize the story of the century was kept from them. To help America get back on track, read this book and share its insights with family and friends.”
—Eric Garland, strategic analyst, author of Future Inc: How Businesses Can Anticipate and Profit from What’s NEXT and How to Predict the Future and Win.
Author of the novels Fathermucker and Totally Killer.
Founding editor, The Weeklings.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 12, 2022
For the past three years, I’ve read every one of Greg Olear’s “Prevail” columns and am a loyal Twitter follower. Given the barrage of information from a relentless news cycle, Olear's extremely high-quality writing is refreshing. He is also a novelist and historian, whose riveting obloquy of Trump’s ties to Russia in “Dirty Rubles” is a must read.
Olear’s latest book, “EMPRESS: The Secret History of Anna K,” is a pivot from novels and political analysis to historical fiction. "EMPRESS" plunges deep into the dark ages of the First Crusade from the point of view of a Byzantine princess. If you find modern politics ruthless, the barbarianism of ancient Constantinople will make you grateful for our relatively civilized world.
The prologue’s revelation of Olear’s fascinating side-profession sets the tone of the adventure to follow. I was captivated, savoring every detail of the Byzantine Empire of 11th Century Constantinople, all the while wondering, how the heck did I not know any of this stuff?
Suffice it to say, on a par with Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code,” and its far superior precursor “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail,” by Lincoln, Baigent, and Leigh, “EMPRESS” will challenge your perception of the Roman Papacy and all of Christendom, forever.
Olear’s latest book, “EMPRESS: The Secret History of Anna K,” is a pivot from novels and political analysis to historical fiction. "EMPRESS" plunges deep into the dark ages of the First Crusade from the point of view of a Byzantine princess. If you find modern politics ruthless, the barbarianism of ancient Constantinople will make you grateful for our relatively civilized world.
The prologue’s revelation of Olear’s fascinating side-profession sets the tone of the adventure to follow. I was captivated, savoring every detail of the Byzantine Empire of 11th Century Constantinople, all the while wondering, how the heck did I not know any of this stuff?
Suffice it to say, on a par with Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code,” and its far superior precursor “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail,” by Lincoln, Baigent, and Leigh, “EMPRESS” will challenge your perception of the Roman Papacy and all of Christendom, forever.
August 21, 2025
When I started reading this, up until like half way I was overjoyed. Finally someone has written the Great Byzantine Novel! I thought. I was in love with the way the author filled in the details and it made for gripping political and personal intrigue that reminded me of HBO's Rome. This was exciting for me because I am a dork for Roman and Byzantine history. But then things progressively got more and more... sensational? Grim-derp? I don't even know what the word is to use. The sexual detail and violence was so unnecessary. I get it, this is supposed to be a dirty tell-all revenge book with a healthy bit of artistic license. For some of its inspiration, it takes from Procopius's infamous Anecdota, with its wild Hunter S Thompson hatred and vitriol for the ruling class and scandalous over-the-top tales of depravity and incompetence. Ironic then that this pretend secret history is written by a man who's wasted so many words trying to convince people the current US president is a Russian stooge. I don't bring this into my review because I care about the author's political beliefs (I don't), I bring it up because he couldn't even write an afterword to the novel without letting the reader know which presidential administration he considers the Bad Guys, as if that matters at all in a novel about MEDIEVAL GREECE.
The only reason I give the book 2 stars is because for the first half it is a fantastic way to learn about the personal politics of the era. Anna is in a perfect position to relate the political situation and the relationships the people have to one another. Much of the plot is fairly plausible as well. That Michael VII may have been gay works so well to set up so much story and drama and is a fantastic story angle and works so well with the actual history that followed. But then Alexios goes from being a mommy's boy, to an incestuous mommy's boy, to a child rapist, to then abusing his own daughter (our narrator) to a full-blown murder of his own mother because WHY? NONE of that evil nonsense was needed AT ALL to set up any sort of rivalry or drama between an imperious father and his willful daughter. It's so over the top and disgusting and ultimately a cop-out in place of good story telling. We have to feel bad for poor Anna because her father was Satan incarnate I guess. After this point it was a challenging and depressing read as Anna really starts to lay into the "poor me I'm just a helpless woman stuck in a barbaric age of evil men blah blah blah patriarchy" nonsense. Suddenly I found her to be the least likeable person in her own story... how crazy is that?
Insult to long, painful injury though was the afterword, where the author comes off as a completely arrogant ass by proclaiming "everything in this book is true, even the stuff I made up." That is an actual quote. This book went from being my wildest hopes and dreams to the most hateful and nihilistic reading experience of my life. Like what was the point of this novel, to shit all over a historical figure and torture his daughter to have her tell us that life sucks in the middle ages? That maybe things could have been different if all these savage idiot men could just let her do something?
The only reason I give the book 2 stars is because for the first half it is a fantastic way to learn about the personal politics of the era. Anna is in a perfect position to relate the political situation and the relationships the people have to one another. Much of the plot is fairly plausible as well. That Michael VII may have been gay works so well to set up so much story and drama and is a fantastic story angle and works so well with the actual history that followed. But then Alexios goes from being a mommy's boy, to an incestuous mommy's boy, to a child rapist, to then abusing his own daughter (our narrator) to a full-blown murder of his own mother because WHY? NONE of that evil nonsense was needed AT ALL to set up any sort of rivalry or drama between an imperious father and his willful daughter. It's so over the top and disgusting and ultimately a cop-out in place of good story telling. We have to feel bad for poor Anna because her father was Satan incarnate I guess. After this point it was a challenging and depressing read as Anna really starts to lay into the "poor me I'm just a helpless woman stuck in a barbaric age of evil men blah blah blah patriarchy" nonsense. Suddenly I found her to be the least likeable person in her own story... how crazy is that?
Insult to long, painful injury though was the afterword, where the author comes off as a completely arrogant ass by proclaiming "everything in this book is true, even the stuff I made up." That is an actual quote. This book went from being my wildest hopes and dreams to the most hateful and nihilistic reading experience of my life. Like what was the point of this novel, to shit all over a historical figure and torture his daughter to have her tell us that life sucks in the middle ages? That maybe things could have been different if all these savage idiot men could just let her do something?
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews