George Akropolites: The History (Oxford Studies in Byzantium)

George Akropolites: The History (Oxford Studies in Byzantium)
by: Ruth Macrides (Author)
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Edition: Illustrated
Publication Date: 1 May 2007
Language: English
Print Length: 464 pages
ISBN-10: 0199210675
ISBN-13: 9780199210671
Book Description
This is the first English translation and study of George Akropolites’ History, the main Greek source for the history of Byzantium between 1204 and 1261. Akropolites relates what happened to Byzantium after the Latin conquest of its capital, Constantinople, by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. He narrates the fragmentation of the Byzantine world, describing how the newly established ’empire’ in Anatolia prevailed over its foreign and Byzantine enemies to recapture the capital in 1261. Akropolites was an eyewitness to most of the events he relates and a man close to the emperors he served, and his account has therefore influenced modern perceptions of this period. It has been an essential source for all those studying the eastern Mediterranean in the thirteenth century. However, until now historians have made use of his History without knowing anything about its author. Ruth Macrides remedies this deficiency by providing a detailed guide to Akropolites’ work and an analysis of its composition, which places it in the context of medieval Greek historical writing.

About the Author

Review This books is the ‘definitive Akropolites’ a biographic, work-analytic and historical achievement of which the author is to be thoroughly congratulated ― Günter Prinzing, The Anglo-Hellenic ReviewMacrides…important work, characterizes by noteworthy precision in the translation and by artful use of the English language…Her intimate knowledge of the text is constantly in evidence…impressive work…a very valuable tool… ― John S. Langdonthe most impressive translation of a Byzantine historian yet to appear in English ― Chrstopher Wright, Reviews in HistoryThis is a work of mature scholarship, stitching together insights gained and tested over three decades of engagement with Akropolites’ work ― Crusades (2009)[not just] a translation, but as full a study of the History and its author as we are likely to see in a while … [Macrides] has also moved the bar up quite a few notches for this sort of study. ― Emmanuel C. Bourbouhakis, Bryn Mawr Classical ReviewWhile Macrides translation is not the first translation of Akropolites into a modern language, it certainly is the most punctilious one. And it will undoubtedly be very useful to all those who are interested in the history and the history writing of the Byzantine thirteenth century. ― Liliana Simeonova, Etudes Balkaniques Book Description The first English translation of this unique source for thirteenth-century Byzantine history About the Author Ruth Macrides is Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman, and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham. Read more