Lost to the West

拉尔斯•布朗沃思 Lars Brownworth英语世界公认最会讲历史故事的作家之一，著名播主、作家、教师，创立了最早的历史播客“拜占庭十二帝”。苹果公司认为，“拜占庭十二帝”是使其播客风格得以形成的50个播客之一。目前，布朗沃思一直更新着他的历史播客，拥有大量的忠实听众，并且在美国一所教会大学担任历史系主任。《纽约时报》曾认为布朗沃思是一位杰出的历史普及作家。他著有畅销历史作品《诺曼风云：从蛮族到王族的三个世纪》《维京传奇：来自海上的战狼》和《拜占庭帝国：拯救西方文明的东罗马千年史》。书中的笔法延续了他播客中引人入胜的叙事风格和性格鲜明的人物描写，都曾登上《纽约时报》畅销书榜单。

出版者:Crown

作者:Lars Brownworth

页数:352

出版时间:2009-09-15

价格:USD 26.00

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9780307407955

图书标签:历史

In AD 476 the Roman Empire fell–or rather, its western half did. Its eastern half, which would come to be known as the Byzantine Empire, would endure and often flourish for another eleven centuries. Though its capital would move to Constantinople, its citizens referred to themselves as Roman for the entire duration of the empire’s existence. Indeed, so did its neighbors, allies, and enemies: When the Turkish Sultan Mehmet II conquered Constantinople in 1453, he took the title Caesar of Rome, placing himself in a direct line that led back to Augustus.

For far too many otherwise historically savvy people today, the story of the Byzantine civilization is something of a void. Yet for more than a millennium, Byzantium reigned as the glittering seat of Christian civilization. When Europe fell into the Dark Ages, Byzantium held fast against Muslim expansion, keeping Christianity alive. When literacy all but vanished in the West, Byzantium made primary education available to both sexes. Students debated the merits of Plato and Aristotle and commonly committed the entirety of Homer’s Iliad to memory. Streams of wealth flowed into Constantinople, making possible unprecedented wonders of art and architecture, from fabulous jeweled mosaics and other iconography to the great church known as the Hagia Sophia that was a vision of heaven on earth. The dome of the Great Palace stood nearly two hundred feet high and stretched over four acres, and the city’s population was more than twenty times that of London’s.

From Constantine, who founded his eponymous city in the year 330, to Constantine XI, who valiantly fought the empire’s final battle more than a thousand years later, the emperors who ruled Byzantium enacted a saga of political intrigue and conquest as astonishing as anything in recorded history. Lost to the West is replete with stories of assassination, mass mutilation and execution, sexual scheming, ruthless grasping for power, and clashing armies that soaked battlefields with the blood of slain warriors numbering in the tens of thousands.

Still, it was Byzantium that preserved for us today the great gifts of the classical world. Of the 55,000 ancient Greek texts in existence today, some 40,000 were transmitted to us by Byzantine scribes. And it was the Byzantine Empire that shielded Western Europe from invasion until it was ready to take its own place at the center of the world stage. Filled with unforgettable stories of emperors, generals, and religious patriarchs, as well as fascinating glimpses into the life of the ordinary citizen, Lost to the West reveals how much we owe to this empire that was the equal of any in its achievements, appetites, and enduring legacy.

读后感

作者拉尔斯写的中世纪系列真的是棒极了，我深深地爱上了这几本书。本来预计要花一个星期看完的拜占庭帝国，结果只花了5天就饕餮完毕了。 拜占庭，也就是东罗马帝国，虽然持续了一千多年，但其历史几乎一直都在衰亡的过程当中。从戴克里先提出东西分治，到君士坦丁定都拜占庭并...  

这是一部粗线条的拜占庭帝国史，作者按照时间顺序，以历代著名皇帝和重大历史事件为中心，讲述了从君士坦丁、查士丁尼、希拉克略、巴西尔二世和曼努埃尔一世等人的历史功绩，讲述了拜占庭帝国历经的战争、辉煌、政治纷争、内乱，以及宗教分裂与冲突等，从中，我们可以领略整个...  

19年读书计划之五之《拜占庭帝国》，英文名The forgotten Byzantine empire that rescued western civilization，作者的观点一目了然。整本书从罗马帝国后期东西分治开始，一直到奥斯曼攻陷君士坦丁堡灭亡拜占庭为止，一千多年的历史，笔法不错不枯燥，网上说这本书上过纽约时...  

这是一部粗线条的拜占庭帝国史，作者按照时间顺序，以历代著名皇帝和重大历史事件为中心，讲述了从君士坦丁、查士丁尼、希拉克略、巴西尔二世和曼努埃尔一世等人的历史功绩，讲述了拜占庭帝国历经的战争、辉煌、政治纷争、内乱，以及宗教分裂与冲突等，从中，我们可以领略整个...  

当落日的余晖再一次洒向君士坦丁残破的城墙， 当异教徒的王师潮水般涌向拜占庭古老的宫殿， 当奥斯曼帝国的苏丹斩下昔日贵族们顽固的头颅， 一千一百年的帝国就在史册和尘埃里破碎。 不再有雄鹰的旗帜飘扬在广袤的国土， 不再有高傲的牧首吟唱那些神圣的诗篇， 不再有身披金甲...  

用户评价

一本书写好一千年历史确实很不容易。能写的不枯燥，已经是很不容易了

一本书写好一千年历史确实很不容易。能写的不枯燥，已经是很不容易了

一本书写好一千年历史确实很不容易。能写的不枯燥，已经是很不容易了

一本书写好一千年历史确实很不容易。能写的不枯燥，已经是很不容易了

一本书写好一千年历史确实很不容易。能写的不枯燥，已经是很不容易了