Description: Byzantium, that dark sphere on the periphery of medieval Europe, is commonly regarded as the immutable residue of Rome's decline. In this highly original and provocative work, Alexander Kazhdan and Ann Wharton Epstein revise this traditional image by documenting the dynamic social changes that occurred during the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
Review Quotes: "The authors explore the culture of the period in greater detail than has been done--at least to my knowledge--for any other period of Byzantine history. Nor do they treat Byzantine culture in isolation, but as a part of the social, economic, and intellectual fabric of Byzantium."--M. Angold, "Byzantinische Zeitschrift