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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vivid, Readable, and Accurate,
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This review is from: Constantinople;: Birth of an empire (Hardcover)
The British cherish their popular historians. We in the United States forget them. And of all our forgotten popular historians from the early to mid-twentieth century, Harold Lamb may well be the best of the bunch. He was immensely successful and popular as both a fiction and non fiction writer. Lamb was absolutely prolific with major screenplays to his credit, magazine articles in the best journals running into the hundreds along with thirty to forty odd books. To find this title in Amazon run a search in books for "Harold Lamb - Constantinople," and you will find all the available used offerings. Ultimately, however, the question is how does this book stand up to critical scrutiny as accurate, informative history? And the short answer is far better than G. P. Baker's biography of Justinian, and I rated that at four stars. By all means, if Justinian the Great is of interest to you, you will enjoy this book and probably learn a great deal.
As with all of his histories, Lamb's grasp of his subject verges on the encyclopedic. This man had the money and time to research his projects. It is obvious that the author spent substantial time in the near east and at Ravenna and Venice researching this book. This rewards the reader with vivid descriptions and insights into both Byzantine art and architecture. All aspects of Justinian's career are well covered. The important interactions of the principal players are presented with a marvelous wealth of detail and insightful analysis. Justinian and Theodora, Narses, Belisarius, John of Cappadocia, Peter the Patrician and the rest of the cast of characters integral to the Age of Justinian are all fully developed. The major issues of the era are at least handled competently or better. The overwhelming importance of religion in all aspects of sixth century Byzantine existence is amply demonstrated. Authors such as Glanville Downey may show more depth and deeper analytical powers in regard to these matters, but Lamb provides a fascinating read that is factually almost spot on. An interesting first chapter indicates both the strengths and weaknesses of this book. It represents a prelude to the material to be covered in the bulk of the text. It is loaded with conclusory assumptions about the fall of the western Roman empire. It is also replete with translated quotes of contemporary sources and loads of factual material to support these suppositions. Also, expect some invented conversations, this is popular history after all. There may be one or two anachronistic references I can identify. Expect as well a vivid narrative history that conforms to known historical facts 99% of the time along with ample illumination of the larger issues. A summation of Lamb's thoughts on Justinian and his era is supplied in an afterword, and most interestingly a final section on "the illusion of history" closes the book. In this short closing chapter, many of the classical interpretations of the Age of Justinian are glossed. And, I find that I am far closer to agreeing with Lamb's assessment of Justinian the Great than I am with Gibbon, Toynbee, Bury, Voltaire or the other scholars cited. This book is highly recommended both as a fun and informative read and an enlightening encounter with an almost forgotten author.
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