The Byzantine empire was finally ended in 1453 some eleven hundred years since Constantine moved the capital from Rome. For most of that time it had looked weak, often catastrophically so.  It had been on its knees many times.  Somehow it always managed to come through against the odds.  Edward Luttwak's book goes a long way to explain how it managed it.  If you are managing a declining superpower, this is a must read book.

Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire by Edward Luttwak

I am a professional scientist, but in my spare time I read history books and I review them.  I am mainly working through Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire at the moment, but will slip in a few other titbits from time to time.  I normally get a show out every Thursday.

History

Society & Culture

In this unscripted episode I speculate about why the Holy Roman Empire tends to be written out of European history, and suggest it is time to take it a bit more seriously.

The Holy Roman Empire by Peter Wilson

In the Victorian world women were subservient to men.  It sounds great in thery, but how did it actually work? 

He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope

A view from inside the Blair government in the years leading up to the war in Iraq.

The View From The Foothills by Chris Mullin

The private life of Belisarius is revealed in the Secret History.  Or is it?

The Secret History - Gibbons Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Chapter 41 Part 5

Mary Beard sums up the Roman Empire for the general reader.

Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire by Edward Luttwak

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