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Title: The Alexiad of Anna Comnena (The Penguin Classics) by Anna Comnena, Edgar Robert Ashton Sewter ISBN: 0-14-044215-4 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1979 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Thanks Anna
Comment: Anna Comnena talks about her father's glorious administration of the Byzantine Empire in 1100's in this book. Thanks to her, we know what happened in those years in the Near East.
The book is especially important for those interested in the conquest (or invasion) of Anatolia by the Turks and the subsequent Islamization process of it. She gives first-hand information on the nature of Turkic conquest and its effects on Hellen and Armenio-Syriac Anatolia.
The book is also important for various reasons such as history of Byzantine Empire, Celtic, and Norman wars, the first Crusade.
Rating: 5
Summary: History as told by a participant
Comment: I was fascinated by Byzantine history anyway, but there is nothing quite like the Alexiad. Anna Comnena, daughter of the Emperor Alexius I, recalls in her old age the days of her father. Surely she is biased, but we can factor out the bias. She is also a surprisingly literary woman, more often quoting Homer than the Bible (though she quotes both, and her everyday language must have been much like the Greek of her quotations, by then 1000 to 2000 years old). She's also a great character. (She apparently tried to have her brother, the heir apparent, assassinated---well, where does one think the term "Byzantine" came from?) She also leaves us with a puzzle--she describes her father's fatal disease but she has no way of knowing what it was. It sounds like cancer to me. Read the book and get back to me on that!
Rating: 4
Summary: From a Woman's Point of View
Comment: Written by Anna Comnena, the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I (1083-1153), this is the recollections by the young princess of the Crusades as it occurred in her father's court during his reign.
The perspective not only of a young member of the court but also a woman's view point makes this an interesting and exceptional view of the Crusaders, often describing them more realistically than some of the histories that were commissioned by the lords.
Ms. Comnena is perceptive in her observations. She notes details that are overlooked in other historical accounts. She starts with the history of her father the Emperor, the revolt that placed him on the throne, various families and their relationship with her father.
She then gives accounts of the wars with the Normans, the Scyths, the Turkish wars, and the First Crusade.
Ms. Comnena has a very good grasp of those things we would not expect a young lady of the court at that time to have. She knows politics, diplomacy and has a good grounding in science and mechanics.
Her accounts are dramatic but show a good grasp of the situations she is describing. We do not expect this from a woman of this time, but this book clearly illustrates we are not as aware as we thought we were about woman at that time and place. She has a strong writing style and presents us with a picture of a well educated and aware woman who knows well her position and the positions of those in her court.
We also experience first hand her hatred of her younger brother, whom she seems to resent and whom she actually tries to assassinate.
Court intrigues, physical accounts of the Crusaders as they appear in her fathers court, the feeling of the life and politics of the time are all preserved in this book as a slice of culture in Byzantine Empire at the time of the First Crusade. A good reference book and a wonderful read for those interested in a different perspective of the Crusades.
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Title: Fourteen Byzantine Rulers: The Chronographia of Michael Psellus (Classics S.) by Michael Psellus ISBN: 0140441697 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1979 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Secret History (Classics S.) by G. A. Williamson, Procopius ISBN: 0140441824 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 1982 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Chronicles of the Crusades (Classics S.) by G De Villehardouin ISBN: 0140441247 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1963 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Later Roman Empire: A.D. 354-378 (Penguin Classics) by Ammianus Marcellinus ISBN: 0140444068 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 1995 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Arab Historians of the Crusades by Francesco Gabrieli ISBN: 0520052242 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 1984 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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