V informative

this was a very clear, easy to listen to and informative series of lectures on a subject that has been generally neglected and few know very much about.

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2 people found this helpful

Byzantine in more ways than one!

As others have said this is not Madden at his very best, but its still good & worth listening to. If you happen to be looking for an introduction to the vexed subject of succession in the Byzantine empire then this is definitely for you. There is much detail about who poisoined who & when. But for the average listener it gets tedious as you hear a litany of names & dates that are instantly forgettable and could have been summarised in just one or two lectures. Madden also gives much attention to the military woes of Constantinope and they are many, with the empire doing its best to fend off the Persians, the Arabs, the Slavs & finally the Turks. Its a very interesting & important story but might have been even better if the Prof. had said a bit more about the Byzantine people, their customs, laws & beliefs. Lecture titles below :

1. The Emerging Empire of New Rome, 284–457
2. Justinian and the Reconquest of the West, 457–565
3. The City of Constantinople: A Guided Tour of the Greatest City in the Western World.
4. The Turn Eastward, 565–717
5. Survival, 717–867
6. A Golden Age: The Macedonian Dynasty, 867–1025
7. Weakness and Wealth, 1025–1081
8. The Turn to the West: The Comnenan Dynasty, 1081–1180
09. Decline, Decay, and Destruction, 1180–1204
10. Struggle for Byzantium’s Corpse, 1204–1261
11. The Empire Reborn, 1261–1328
12. The Final Decline, 1328–1391
13. The Fall of Rome, 1391–1453
14. Aftermath and Legacy

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1 person found this helpful

An Engrossing Story Told By An Expert

I just finished listening to Professor Madden's lectures on the History of the Byzantine Empire and cannot recommend it enough to anyone interested in history.

Not only is the history of the of the Byzantine Empire interesting, per se, but one also learns a lot of background information about things in Western Europe. For example, one learns how and why the Pope came to rule extended lands in Italy, how Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire "by accident", and many others.

The text is excellent with a lot of wit, particularly when discussing all the various schisms that occured on religious grounds over 1000 years between the Popes and the Patriarchs of Constantinople.

The delivery of Professor Madden is a bit hesitant and stilted, at the beginning, but one gets used to it and around the middle of the series of lectures the sound engineers do some tweaking and the voice is less nasal. In any case it is obvious that these lectures are being given by someone who knows the Bizantine Empire inside out and one is left with an heavy heart when it finally collapses in 1453 (sorry for the spoiler ;-).

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3 people found this helpful

A Clear Presentation of a Fascinating Story

I found this lecture course extremely interesting. This is a very complicated story with lots of highs and lows for the Byzantine Empire, and Professor Madden presents it with enormous clarity. The extent of background presented at the start and the level of detail through the course are both perfectly judged, as is the extent to which side-stories such as the crusades are pursued. Professor Madden is a little dry as a lecturer which is why I gave this only four stars for performance -- very little of his personality comes through. So this is (highly) informative without being particularly entertaining. But I would recommend it thoroughly. One final remark -- I came to this course having listened to the Great Courses course "The World of Byzantium" (Professor Harl) which I found very disappointing. Professor Madden's course is much more interesting and contains much more detail on the story, despite being shorter. If you're wondering which course to choose, go with this one.

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Different, and not the best

The key thing I missed when I downloaded this was that is was a series of lectures. That means it is a succession of largely unscripted talks by a professor discussing various aspects of the Byzantine Empire in roughly chronological order. Now that is all very well, and I am sure that the guy knows his stuff, but to me this is not the best way to get a subject across. Essentially it is just like being in a lecture hall, but with the lecturer all to yourself. He knows broadly what he is going to talk about, but he is making it up as he goes along. He pauses as he searches for the right words, he refers to what he is going to talk about later, and he sometimes repeats himself or seems to go off at a tangent for a while. All normal lecture characteristics, but not the most efficient way to get a story across, and I found myself being sometimes frustrated as I waited for him to get out whatever point he was trying to make. Reading from a book, where the author has had all the time they need to lay things out properly and succinctly, is a better method in my view and I will probably avoid lectures like this in the future.

Having said all that I found the subject interesting and the lecturer adequate though hardly charismatic or entertaining to hear. Breaking the lectures into 30 minute chunks made no sense to me, so although I learned something from this book I wouldn't recommend the exercise to anyone else.

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5 people found this helpful

Slight disappointment

I have listened to most of Prof. Madden`s lectures on Medieval Ages and Crusade. This, however has been a slight disappointment. The story should be about the empire, but the the formation of the empire is somehow missed at the beginning. The book is rich on facts, dates, names and events. But still one has a feeling that something is missing. Personally I miss the description and image of the empire formations, its significance and role in history.
This of course is a lecture rather than a history book or even a fiction. But having listened to other books of this author, one can compare.

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Poor speaking - but good information

I am interested in the subject, but to be told I am going to receive a "lecture" just closes my mind down. Maybe having flu while listening to my first audio book was not a good diea, but somebody erring, stuttering, pausing for thought has not help and I am only onto lecture 2.

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1 person found this helpful