The Byzantine Empire
Charles William Chadwick Oman
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Fifty years ago the word “Byzantine” was used as a synonym for all that was corrupt and decadent, and the tale of the East-Roman Empire was dismissed by modern historians as depressing and monotonous. The great Gibbon had branded the successors of Justinian and Heraclius as a series of vicious weaklings, and for several generations no one dared to contradict him. Two books have served to undeceive the English reader, the monumental work of Finlay, published in 1856, and the more modern volumes of Mr. Bury, which appeared in 1889. Since they have written, the Byzantines no longer need an apologist, and the great work of the East-Roman Empire in holding back the Saracen, and in keeping alive throughout the Dark Ages the lamp of learning, is beginning to be realized. (Wikipedia)
Oman starts with the arrival of Greek traders to establish a colony and ends
"So the cry that God was great and Mohammed his prophet rang through the dome where thirty generations of patriarchs had celebrated the Holy Mysteries, and all Europe and Asia knew the end was come of the longest tale of Empire that Christendom has yet seen. Finis". (9 hr 18 min)
Chapters
Reviews
First Class Tween History.
picfixer
Tween histories (my term) lie in between massive scholarly tomes like Gibbon's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" and popular works written for adults such as Wells' "The Outline of History." A good tween history should be factual and detailed, yet not weighed down by mountains of minutia only of interest to dedicated historians. "The Byzantine Empire" is clearly written, interesting and informative on a fascinating epoch in Eastern European and Middle Eastern history. The reader is competent and precise. I hope similar works will be forthcoming from Librivox.
Peter Card
I have listened for the third time and despite the book being 130 years old, I get a fantastic and logical education. a few months ago, we visited Istanbul for the third time. We walked 15 to 20 km each day, criss crossing the city including outside the Theodocian walls so it all makes much more sense. especially the horrific and devastating fourth crusade This audiobook is so detailed with facts with limited interpretations that it remains relevant today. The readers are voluntary, do vary but except for chapter 14 are clear. essential listening for scholars and tourists
Ric F again
jclord98
I’m enjoying the book but as others have said, Ric F’s voice is a strange mixture of monotone to the point of sounding like a robot, strange voice rises and drops, especially at the end of sentences, and all around sounds more like a robot reading inserted text than a human conversationally telling us the history of the Byzantines. That aside, thanks for y’all’s work!
SIC TRANSIT GLORIA
AVID READER
Another reader said it well, "good tween history.". (Please excuse the extra period. These built-in spelling and grammar checkers do not understand proper punctuation.)
Group recording
librivoxbooks
Just for clarity, this is a group recording with a number of different readers. Perhaps the previous reviewer had not listened to the whole thing.
A LibriVox Listener
reader, ric f, is not easy to listen to as his reading style is choppy and listeners get distracted by his sing song voice.
Peter Card
an excellent journey through Byzantium: without Constantine and his successor empire of 1100 years, Christianity would probably be a minor religion.
bmc
Accessible overview of one of the most underrated civilizations in world history.