Lost to the West
"A hugely entertaining and often moving portrait of a civilization to which the modern West owes and immense but neglected debt." --Tom Holland, Author of Millenium, Persian Fire, and Rubicon In AD 476 the Roman Empire fell--or rather, its western half did. Its eastern half, which would come to be known as the Byzantine Empire, would endure and often flourish for another eleven centuries. As Europe fell into the Darks Ages, Byzantium reigned as the glittering seat of Christian civilization, holding fast against Muslim expansion and keeping both Christianity and classical thought alive. Filled with unfotgettable stories of emperors, generals, and religious patriarchs, as well as fascinating glimpses into the life of the ordinary citizen, Lost to the Westreveals how much we owe to this empire that was the equal of any in its achievements, appetites, and enduring legacy. "Captivating... In Lost to the WestLars Brownworth shows a novelist's eye for character, bringing to life some of the most fascinating--and yet little-known--figures of the Byzantine era." --Steven Pressfield, author of Gates of Fire "The sort of history I wish I'd been offered in school--a fast-paced adventure story." --Mark Pendergrast, author of Uncommon Grounds Lars Brownworth, a former high-school history teacher, is the creator of the popular podcast "12 Byzantine Rulers." He has been profiled in the New York Times, Wired,and USA Today, and featured on NPR.
Stats for nerds
4recommend
8mentions
6people
2014–2024years
50% recommend50% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- > where Patreon & podcasts can keep the best researchers self-funded and working on these niche subjects full time
This is how you turn your society’s intellectual storehouses into propaganda. Lost to the West, about how Byzantine scholars preserved Roman knowledge through to the Enlightenment, is worth picking up.
- The Dawn of Everything has to be one of the worst books on anthropology out there. It's a thing disguised polemic dressed up as archeological history.
I find Yuval's work to be more digestible, in part due to better writing, and in part due to less pretense.
I would also suggest Susan RiceBauer's The History of Ancient Civilizations, Jack Weatherford's Genghis Khan and the making is the modern world, and Lars Brownworths Lost to the West: the forgotten Byzantine Empire.
- I recently fished reading Lost to the West by Lars Brownworth. Excellent detailed history of the Byzantine empire and it's impacts on Europe.
- I really enjoyed the 12 Byzantine Rulers podcast too, along with the accompanying book Lost To The West
- Right now I'm reading: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6415185-lost-to-the-west
There's a strong argument to be made that the Romans existed as a political entity for 2000 years and that the final end wasn't until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The last thousand years are mainly a story of slow decay which is why they get lopped off in all the simple narratives about the fall of Rome. If there's anything to be learned from Rome, it's that an advanced civilization can survive almost anything.
- Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization - Brownworth, Lars
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