The End of Byzantium

The Greek-speaking culture of Byzantium, the eastern region of the Roman Empire, continued long after the Fall of Rome and well into the 15th century. Harris picks up Byzantium's storied history in the last 50 years of the empire, when it had been reduced to a mere kingdom attempting to fight off the sieges of the Ottoman Turks. Attempts to gain help from the West in the form of crusades were largely ineffective. Even the unification of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman churches approved by the Council of Florence wasn't enough to secure the military aid so desperately needed to save the empire, and in 1453, the Turks conquered Constantinople. Western education has given us so little background on the Byzantines that Harris's thorough study will whet readers appetite for more about this intriguing kingdom. (Jan.)