The rise and fall of the Byzantine Empire

"Growing on the heels of the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire was in some ways a continuation of its predecessor, extending its history for another 1,000 years. With a new capital at Constantinople, however, it also had a distinctly Eastern character of its own. Readers are transported to Byzantium in this ... volume, which recounts the history of this brilliant and articulate civilization as well as the many cultural and architectural achievements it spawned before falling to the Ottomans in 1453..."--Amazon.com.