Reddit Reddit reviews Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization

We found 16 Reddit comments about Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

History
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Ancient Civilizations
Ancient Roman History
Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization
Three Rivers Press CA
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16 Reddit comments about Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization:

u/miss_j_bean · 38 pointsr/history

A lot of people here are giving shitty answers and not helping because they disprove of your use of "dark ages."
On behalf on the internet I apologize. They are giving you crap for not knowing something you have expressed interest in learning about.
I am fascinated by the "Dark ages" and I have a history degree and I'm still using the term. I understand it to usually mean "the medieval times" or "the huge time-span that is not usually taught to the average student." Most history in public schools (at least that I've seen) tends to gloss over the time from the Romans to the early renaissance so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming that's the era you want. It's my favorite era to study for that reason - most people know so little about this 1000 year span in history.
A good starter book for you would be A world lit only by Fire I loved this book. It's not overly scholarly and is a good read.
Another great one is Mysteries of the Middle Ages... Thomas Cahill is a great writer and if this version of the paperback is anything like my copy it is a visually stunning read. I discovered him through "How the Irish Saved Civilization" which was also great.
Mark Kurlansky's books (Salt and Cod specifically come to mind) are well written, specific histories that cover parts of this time period.
I wish my books weren't still packed (recently moved) because I want to dig through the stack and share them all. :) I suck at remembering names of stuff. I recommend browsing the amazon pages section of "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" for other good recommendations.
Happy Reading!! :)
edit - just remembered this one on the byzantine empire of all the books I've read on the Byzantines, that one is my favorite.

edit I'm getting a lashing for "A World Lit Only By Fire" due to the fact that it contains historical inaccuracies.
Please read this one instead In the year 1000.
I'm not trying to recommend dry scholarly tomes, I am trying to think of books that are fun, interesting, and entertaining to read while still being informative.

u/davidreiss666 · 25 pointsr/history

Confirmed that this is Lars Brownworth of the 12 Byzantine Rulers and Norman Centuries podcasts. Two very excellent podcasts.

12 Byzantine Rulers even pre-dates the History of Rome podcast from Mike Duncan.

Lars homepage and a link to his Amazon page, and his book: Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization.

Thank you for agreeing to do this, sir.

u/timoleon · 22 pointsr/history

All those things?

That would be a the sizeable part of the entire late antiquity and middle ages.

If there's public library in your neighborhood, I would suggest browsing through their offerings on these periods. There's probably no one book that covers all subjects, especially not one that is accessible enough to non-historians, and doesn't cost a fortune.

On the Eastern Roman Empire, these could be a good introduction:

u/Juz16 · 18 pointsr/history

The Byzantines had plenty of big beefy guys standing around, so the Varangians weren't too big a problem. They were hired specifically because they were from incredibly far away (Scandinavia, the Byzantines were based mostly in Greece and Asia Minor) and didn't have any ties to the various political factions within the empire.

Source: Lost to the West by Lars Brownsworth

u/SynapticStatic · 6 pointsr/history

Also, check out Lost to the West, it's an audiobook by Lars narrated by Lars which covers the East, and it's pretty amazing.

u/TheByzantineEmperor · 5 pointsr/history

Lost to the West: The Forgotten Empire That Saved Western Civilization. A great great book that really helped me learn a lot about the Byzantines. Like how we think of the Roman Empire ending in 476AD, but that was only the western half. The Eastern, more Greek half, lived on for 1000 more years! Imagine that! A Roman Empire in the Middle Ages!

u/Ambarenya · 4 pointsr/AskHistorians

Well, in the old Byzantine Empire AKA the Eastern Roman Empire, the typical mode of inheritance was non-familial. Generally, the successor to an Emperor would be adopted early in life, serve time in the military or civic offices, and then was elevated to co-emperor, gradually taking on the Imperial roles as the old Emperor aged. The accession of Emperor Justinian I is a good example of the old mode of "Late Roman" succession.

During the reign of Emperor Heraclius, in the era of the Arab Conquests (when the Empire saw the loss of the vital provinces of Africa, Egypt, and Syria), the Empire begins its drastic "medievalization", a necessary change in order to preserve what was left of the once-great Eastern Roman Empire. Included in this transformation is the disappearance of "adoptive succession", the traditional mode of Imperial succession stretching back all of the way to the time of Augustus. During the transition period, we begin to see a tendency towards hereditary succession, which becomes fully fledged by the era of iconoclasm and which would persist in Imperial succession until 1461.

In the era of the Komnenoi, a successor was generally appointed from the current Imperial family and would be elevated to the title of "co-emperor" or "σεβαστοκράτωρ" for a time. The then-Emperor or "βασιλεύς", would rule for life, or until retirement (which surprisingly, did occur several times) at which time the co-emperor would take his place. But other than usually being from the Imperial family, there was never really an organized method of succession like in modern monarchies, and as observed during the period, there was a lot of political strife, even amongst family members.

For relevant literature, I would certainly recommend reading the Alexiad by contemporaneous historian Anna Komnena. She provides a lot of insight into the events that occurred in the Imperial court during the Komnenian period.

Some recently-published books, such as Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire and Lost to the West, both provide well-written overviews of the history of the period. These will help you get a feeling for the Byzantine political scene in the High Middle Ages.

u/riffleman0 · 3 pointsr/CrusaderKings

I just finished reading Lost to the West, and it was a very fascinating and in-depth look at the broad history of the ERE as well as all the number of colorful and interesting people who sat on the throne. Although it does do some time skips, and glosses over some of the less important or less interesting emperors, I still enjoyed it none the less.

u/BamaHammer · 2 pointsr/TrueChristian

Could it be you disagree with the particular strain of Christianity in which you were raised? There's nothing that says we must forsake science or reason to be Christian. Some of our greatest thinkers were, in fact, believers.

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Take it for what it's worth, but maybe you could start with some reading about Christianity; its history, its teachings, etc. There are a couple of things I'd suggest (full disclaimer: I was raised Baptist but converted to Eastern Orthodoxy):

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Lost to the West, not a Christian history book per se, but more an overview of how Christianity, among other things, helped shape the West.

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Mere Christianity, which maybe you've already read. It helped pull me away from the ledge of my youthful agnosticism.

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Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy, a podcast, admittedly from the Orthodox point of view, providing an overview of all the varied flavors of Christianity.

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I hope this is in some way helpful.

u/Lookmanospaces · 2 pointsr/YouShouldKnow

Coincidentally, I finished reading this book last night. I'd highly recommend it as a brisk, light read that gives a great overview of the Eastern Empire.

Fascinating stuff.

u/benjermanjoel · 2 pointsr/Catacombs

I'm looking forward to reading this book: http://www.amazon.com/Lost-West-Forgotten-Byzantine-Civilization/dp/0307407969/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334803636&sr=8-1

Also check out this article: http://blog.acton.org/archives/11693-review-how-the-byzantines-saved-europe.html

Byzantium, in brief, was the pinnacle of European civilization prior to modern times due to its location and strength. While surviving for a millennium, the empire had intimate contact with other cultures and traditions, as well as a long history of recording and transmitting ancient texts. While the Franco-latins were busy de-Christianizing the west and the Catholic Church subverting Christian doctrine and culture to their theocratic hegemony, Byzantium flourished and sustained itself as Christian Rome. Consider the following: No other region or society has had three successive stages of history. Western Europe has ancient, medieval, and modern. The rest have ancient and modern. The latter being characterized by western hegemony since the so-called "Holy Roman Empires". Food for thought!

u/justhereforacomment4 · 2 pointsr/DesignPorn

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-West-Forgotten-Byzantine-Civilization/dp/0307407969


easy read, pretty pop-history but still a decent introduction.

u/rkmvca · 2 pointsr/AskHistorians

The podcast comprises large chunks of his book Lost to the West. While Popular History, it has gotten good reviews all around, including from academics. I recommend it.

By the way, there is another ongoing podcast, History of Byzantium, which goes over the same territory but in more detail. It is done in the same mold as the famous History of Rome podcast, and is quite good. I also recommend it.

u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/AskHistorians

This book is incredibly readable and is basically just what you're looking for in terms of political intrigue:

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-West-Forgotten-Byzantine-Civilization/dp/0307407969/

u/qwteruw11 · 1 pointr/history

Alexander of Macedon 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography

https://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Macedon-356-323-B-C-Historical/dp/0520071662

Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-West-Forgotten-Byzantine-Civilization/dp/0307407969

Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War (General Military)

https://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Desert-Ancient-General-Military/dp/1846031087