The Making of Byzantium, 600-1025

The book gives a very clear picture of the internal political and military situation beginning with the arrival of the Arabs, explains the success of their conquest and the impact it had on the following centuries and the consequent change in Byzantium from an Eastern Roman Empire to a local power. It gives a clear explanation of the local power struggle among the elites of eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus An important book and a pleasure to read

An excellent book for someone who wants to gain an understanding of the Empire and what drove it. The author makes a genuine attempt to help the reader to set aside the biases and prejudices of our age and to see things from a Byzantine perspective. He also calls into question certain myths that are repeated all too frequently in histories of the Empire -- such as the legend that Emperor Basil II blinded 14,000 Bulgarian prisoners. There is no contemporary evidence for this, yet the tale continues to be told. Also, as noted in the other review, Whittow calls into question standard views on the size and organization of the Empire's military resources. I'm not fully convinced by his arguments, but they cannot be ignored. Above all, though, this book is valuable for the attention it gives to parts of the Medieval world that are all too often ignored or forgotten, like Armenia and the Georgia in the Transcaucasus or the Khazars in the steppes of what is now southern Russia. The attentive reader will go away with a much fuller and clearer knowledge of the Early Middle Ages.

Whittow makes the reader re-examine widely held beliefs on the structure and history of the Byzantine Empire. His views on the lack of success of the military structure of the Empire as well as the basic size and financing of the government caused me to completely rethink my impressions of the Empire. I haven't heard of much discussion concerning his views, however, I believe this book will dramatically alter the perceptions of the Byzantine Empire and will cause scholars to rethink their beliefs. Excellent!