This sweeping volume of The Historians' History of the World charts the long transformation from the Later Roman Empire into the medieval world. It opens with the troubled reign of Arcadius and the shifting balance between East and West, introducing figures such as Eutropius, St. John Chrysostom, Attila, and the early Byzantine emperors as Rome's old order gives way to Constantinople's. From there it moves into the age of Justinian, Theodora, and Belisarius, when Byzantium sought glory through law, conquest, and monumental building while facing barbarian, Persian, and Saracen pressure, religious conflict, iconoclasm, and dynastic upheaval. The story continues through the empire's long decline, including the weakening of Andronicus II, the rise and ravages of the Catalan Grand Company under Roger de Flor, and the growing Turkish threat that culminates in renewed disaster and civil strife. It also follows the fall of Constantinople in 1453, then turns westward to the collapse of Roman authority in Italy, the rise of Goths, Lombards, and Franks, and the emergence of the German kingdom, the Salian emperors, and the Investiture Controversy. Richly documented, it offers a grand panorama of Europe's passage from antiquity to the Middle Ages. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.
