THE REMARKABLE 1000-YEAR HISTORY OF ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST MISUNDERSTOOD EMPIRES
The Byzantine Empire was one of the largest and longest-surviving empires in world history, spanning nine centuries and three continents. Its origins lay in the transformation of the Roman Empire in the sixth century when its centre at Constantinople - a glittering capital straddling the frontier of Europe and Asia - became the new Rome.

From the outset, Byzantium was surrounded by potential enemies. Persians, Arabs and Ottoman Turks in the east, Slavs and Bulgars in the north, Saracens and Normans in the west; all vied to control the rich empire of the Bosphorus.

John Haldon's beautifully illustrated book tracks the chequered history of an historical enigma, a 'lost empire' which stood for a thousand years against the might of Islam and which preserved and transmitted the literary and linguistic heritage of ancient Greece. He tells the story of the cycle of conquest and reconquest of its lands and finally its complete destruction by the Ottoman Turks in 1453.