Byzantium and Europe Author:Speros Vryonis An excellent book for the general reader. This lucidly written history concisely describes the decline and fall of the Byzantine Empire. Many illustrations, with pretty color plates, though some of the black and white ones are more clearly reproduced than other. Like an interesting history should, it provides interesting comparisons to us post-m... more »odern readers, such as the hazards of income inequality, relgious fanaticism, and extreme political partisanship as major distraction from reality.« less