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Georgije Ostrogorski
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History of the Byzantine State by George Ostrogorsky (1986-10-01) Paperback

Middle English Edition by George Ostrogorsky (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 33 ratings
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With clarity and logic, George Ostrogorsky succinctly traces the intricate thousand-year course of the Byzantine Empire. While his emphasis is on political development, he gives extensive consideration to social, esthetic, economic, and ecclesiastical factors as well. He also illuminates the Empire’s links with classical antiquity, as well as its effect on contemporaneous and subsequent European and Near Eastern history. The author captures the full sweep, the grandeur, and the tragic course of Byzantium’s rise and fall, backed by the scholarship and authority of a lifetime devoted to its study.Long recognized as the basic history of the Byzantine Empire, this masterful work incorporates the results of the vast expansion in Byzantine research in recent years. This edition has been completely retranslated by Professor Joan Hussey from the third German edition. The text and annotation have been expanded by over seventy pages, with more than double the number of illustrations, and additional reference tables and lists.
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    Middle English
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    Rutgers University Press
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01JXPS9YG
  • Language ‏ : ‎ Middle English
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 33 ratings

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Georgije Ostrogorski

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
33 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Jason
5.0 out of 5 stars Theory and History Merged Seemlessly
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2016
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George Ostrogorsky first wrote his survey of the Byzantine State in the 1940s. Since then, it has been updated and translated into many languages. As noted by another reviewer, English speakers owe a debt of gratitude to Joan Hussey, who translated the original German text. I have the 1957 version, which includes beautifully drawn maps at the end. This current version seems to lack these and I recommend getting an earlier edition if you like maps as much as I do. They provide an illustration to the events in the text.

Ostrogorsky's history is notable as the standard survey of the Byzantine empire. It was written in a chronological format that seamlessly blended political, administrative, military, economic, social and cultural history. It is also unified by an over arching theory on the mechanism of Byzantine rise and fall. Ostrogorsky saw internal administrative/socio-economic factors as governing Byzantium's destiny, rather than being the victim of mere chance. The keystone of these factors was the Thematic system, which created a national army and ensured relative economic equality. When this system was overthrown, Byzantium was doomed.

These days, many historians have risen to challenge this thesis. The Theme system is probably the most debated subject among Byzantine historians and Ostrogorsky's solution was considered radical at the time and still is today. Whether you agree or disagree with the text, I think that anyone interested in history would benefit reading. This text is a thousand year history of the greatest civilization of the medieval world.
9 people found this helpful
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Lisa C. Philip
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading
Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2013
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I am still reading this book and really enjoying it. It is a comprehensive look at the Byzantine Empire and it does well in telling its history. Recommend to anyone who is interested in this time period and wants to know more.
One person found this helpful
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Glenn D. Robinson
4.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Detailed, but
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2013
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Very detailed from before to the fall of the Empire to the Ottomans. Very helpful, but lacking a great deal that period specific or person specific books will cover. Not the fault of the writer as he accomplished what he set out to do-a very good history of the entire period of the Byzantine Empire. This he did with emphasis on the Emperors and the Patriarchs. While I gained a great deal, I know that I will have to read specific books about specific periods to gain more knowledge.
4 people found this helpful
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Lilia Shut
5.0 out of 5 stars interesting
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2013
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I leaned a lot about where the Russians got their orthodox religion, and also how the Eastern Roman state was using different tactics to survive for more than 1000 years. It is really amazing.
3 people found this helpful
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Ani
5.0 out of 5 stars One Book You Should Have In Your Collection
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2014
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This book is quite Informative, and gives you detailed information as to the multiple causes of rise and demise of the Byzantine State. Furthermore the seller delivered as promised.
One person found this helpful
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The Guy in the Hat
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic work
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2012
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Recommended for anyone serious about understanding the Byzantine Empire in depth. A richly detailed examination of of both the topic and its historiography.
3 people found this helpful
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Peter Ramming
5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic. Still the Gold Standard for Byzantine History.
Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2010
"Roman political concepts, Greek culture, and the Christian faith were the main elements which determined Byzantine development. Without all three the Byzantine way of life would have been inconceivable. It was the integration of Hellenistic culture and the Christian religion within the Roman imperial framework that gave rise to that historical phenomenon which we know as the Byzantine Empire." Thus begins the first paragraph of George Ostrogorsky's masterful narrative of Byzantine history. As this quotation demonstrates, Ostrogorsky's writing is a model of erudition, clarity, and efficiency. It would be hard to improve the quality of his prose, and he maintains this level of scholarship throughout the 500+ pages of main text. But the writing has a natural fluidity which carries the reader along rather effortlessly throughout the full span of East Roman/Byzantine history, from 284 A.D. (rise of Emperor Diocletian) to 1453 A.D. (fall of Constantinople to the Turks). Ostrogorsky gives this inherently rich and fascinating material the virtuoso treatment it deserves, and the reader is rewarded on every page by Ostrogorsky's efforts.
Of course, readers of this English translation from the original German of the 3rd edition (1963) of Ostrogorsky's "History of the Byzantine State" owe an immense debt to Professor Joan M. Hussey, whose rendering of the German into English is a masterpiece in its own right. Moreover, through the collaboration of Professors Ostrogorsky and Hussey, the truly extensive references and footnotes have been brought up to date from the 1940 German 1st ed. to the 1967 time-frame of Hussey's 2nd English edition presented here. Of course, in the intervening 40+ years a veritable explosion in the fields of Late Antique and Byzantine studies has taken place, but Ostrogorky's mastery of the original sources, and the German, French, Italian, English, and Slavic secondary literature will not soon be replicated.
"History of the Byzantine State" is a delight to read, and is divided into 8 main chapters. These chapters are respectively subdivided into numbered sections, and both chapters and sections are clearly titled, so that the breadth of Byzantine History is clear through a glance at the Table of Contents.
Other reviewers have complained that Ostrogorsky's writing is dry and lacks a "human touch." I found the opposite to be the case: "History of the Byzantine State" has a cogency and beauty of style, and is a model of articulate scholarship. And with such rich material as the myriad colorful historical human figures and locales which populate Byzantine history, it would be difficult to render this history in a boring fashion. Ostrogorsky's emphasis is the political narrative, but he does not ignore social and cultural aspects of Byzantium, and upon finishing his book the reader has a sense of a complete picture of Byzantine history and civilization. In the paperback version now standard the maps are incomplete, but this is easily remedied by consulting an historical atlas or the Internet.
15 people found this helpful
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Pirin
1.0 out of 5 stars Story teller
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2019
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Ostrogorski is story teller. He study history for only one year 1924-1925.
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