A Byzantine Journey (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Flying east from Paris to Istanbul above dense layers of cloud, it occurred to me that it was almost thirty years since I had first..." (more)
Key Phrases: Hagia Sophia, Great Palace, Kilic Arslan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shuttling between Roman times and 1453, when Ottoman warlord Mehemet the Conqueror captured Constantinople, destroying the Byzantine Empire, this delightful travel memoir links episodes from Byzantine history to British-born poet Ash's impressions of the villages, mosques, palaces, shrines and ruins he visited across Anatolia. Ash, who lives in New York City, follows the path of the First Crusade, tours well-preserved medieval cities and explores exotic sites like the frescoed cave-monasteries of Cappadocia and Binbir Kilise (the Thousand and One Churches) rising from the Black Mountains' slopes. His lyrical mosaic conjures up forceful personalities: the Armenian-born usurper Romanos I (Theophylact the Unbearable), who was kidnapped and deposed by his two power-hungry sons in A.D. 944; Rumi, the 13th-century mystic and poet; and Beyazid I, a fratricidal murderer who committed suicide in 1403 rather than endure further humiliations as the prisoner of Mongol conqueror Timur. Photos.
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From Booklist

Poet Ash has made his "amateur attempt" at walking through Byzantine history a pleasant experience. His scholarly travelogue fills the reader's mind with fascinating details about a civilization that lasted well over 1,000 years. Ash has done his homework well; everything from Byzantine rulers to the history of the area's architecture is covered. For students of history, Ash's finely tuned prose fills in the gaps in their knowledge of the subject. Rau{£}l Nin{¤}o

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 330 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (May 23, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679409343
• ISBN-13: 978-0679409342
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,011,460 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a wonderful book, June 6, 2000

By	[e-mail] (Swarthmore, PA United States) - See all my reviews

this is a wonderful book. Ash is an attentive and descriptive writer who weaves anecdote, history and travel writing into an unusually gifted book. Perfect beach or travel reading. As one who is Greek and originally from Asia Minor, I find his insights to be keen, especially as to cultural matters and the tug of war between Greek and Turk, between Christian and Moslem, which animates the history of Asia Minor and Constantinople, Smyrna, Nicaea and Nicomedia to this day.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful, April 6, 1999

By A Customer

Ash is a great writer. He makes Byzantine history come alive and captures life in modern Turkey. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the region and its history.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very fine reflections/travelogue on Byzantium's remnants, November 6, 2005

By	Paul Purman (Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a very fine book and well worth picking up and reading IF you are interested in the Byzantine physical remnants of Anatolia, in particular. Ash spends some time visiting sites in Constantinople at the beginning and end of his journey, but the lion's share is spent between Iznik/Nicaea, at the west end, and Cappadocia and Cilicia, at the east end of Asia Minor. Ash may not be a Byzantine scholar, but he is a master at noticing detail and telling stories. His sensitive and learned eye provide remarkable insight into the ruins he visits, in terms of the lives of the people connected to them...their builders, if known, the lives of Anatolia's Greek population (of which very substantial remains existed up until the early 1920s), and Anatolian Turks of today (Ash has a kind and observant way of recognizing the young boys and girls who seem to always pop up and help him find this or that ruin, that rings true).

You truly won't get this stuff in guidebooks. I found out all sorts of things about Byzantium reading Ash's book, and I'm a pretty conversant layman in things Byzantine. Comparing Ash's experience with my own to Istanbul/Iznik a few years ago, his accounts are authentic to the what I experienced (the friendliness and helpfulness of Anatolians in particular). His account of his visit to the Golden Gate is hilarious and pathetic and much like my own experience at this (apparently almost unvisited) world class historic location. He has an ability to marvel, unashamedly, at turning a corner and finding something unexpected...but this is no neophyte easily impressed.

Ash also has a lovely poetic way of expressing the tragic demise of Byzantine civilization that somehow manages to remain firmly rooted in the present. That's good writing.

Book has some good photos (more would be welcomed...he visits many places that do not show up in the pics), and the map is okay, as is the index.