Book description
"Norwich is always on the lookout for the small but revealing details. . . . All of this he recounts in a style that consistently entertains."
--The New York Times Book Review
In this magisterial adaptation of his epic three-volume history of Byzantium, John Julius Norwich chronicles the world's longest-lived…
Why read it?
2 authors picked A Short History of Byzantium as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I love reading history and am fascinated by the Byzantines.
Norwich has an absolute gift not just for overviewing the major trends and events in history but also for choosing telling details that solidify the picture, reaching across centuries to empathize with people who were not so very different than us.
Plus, he’s scorchingly funny when the occasion calls for it. Both the abridged and the three-volume work walk that fine line between major events and small, crystalline, and often poignant or hysterically amusing details.
From Lilith's list on European history books for writing Western epic fantasy.
Based upon his classic three-volume earlier work, this book courageously boils down the thousand-year empire into a readable and understandable version. I found this work essential when I first decided to enter into a subject that I had become fascinated with but understood I needed a good, basic entry point to familiarize myself with before contemplating writing even fictional subject matter on the vast topic. It is not for nothing that we use the term “byzantine” as an adjective to denote complex or intricate issues, or so one discovers from Norwich’s easily readable synthesis. Still, this masterwork sorts out a…
From T.C.'s list on the longest empire in western history.
If you love A Short History of Byzantium...
The Rosewood Penny
2023 Queer Indie Award Nominee!
The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.
On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…
Want books like A Short History of Byzantium?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like A Short History of Byzantium.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,343
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like A Short History of Byzantium, you might also like...
Let Evening Come
After her mother is killed in a rare Northern Michigan tornado, Sadie Wixom is left with only her father and grandfather to guide her through young adulthood. Miles away in western Saskatchewan, Stefan Montegrand and his Indigenous family are displaced from their land by multinational energy companies. They are taken…
The Sarcophagus Scroll
A dark academia mystery thriller set in contemporary St Andrews, with snappy dialogue and a strong sense of place.
When Ellie Meikle moves to the picturesque seaside town of St Andrews to study for her PhD in Ancient History, she soon feels as if she has made a mistake. She…
