For a thousand years, an exceptional empire facilitated Europe's transition to the modern world: the Byzantine Empire. A daring and resilient, yet now less known society, dressed Orthodox Christianity with paganism and classical Greek thought with Roman power, producing a great and creative civilization that for centuries held the armies of Islam at bay. Judith Herrin's comprehensive and convincing book replaces the typical chronological approach of most Byzantine histories. Each short chapter focuses on a theme, such as a monument (the great church of Hagia Sophia), a religious conflict (iconoclasm), sex and power (the role of eunuchs), a prominent Byzantine personality (the historian Anna Comnena), a symbol of culture (the fork), and a battle for territory (the Crusades). Thus, it makes the history of Byzantium accessible and understandable, from the founding of its impressive capital, Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) in 330, to its fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.