Catherine Holmes (1)

this is an anthology of Articles relating to the complexity of the Eastern Mediterranean world after the Fourth Crusade. But there is not much narrative strength in the work. The articles are lacking much of a common theme and are best viewed as stages in the production of longer, more connected works. So there is not much here for the general reader, only for those seeking to establish the areas of controversy in the current field, and to attach names to the factions. The most entertaining piece is "Aragon versus Turkey" an attempt to discern the historical background to a Catalan Novel "Tirant Lo Blanc" set in the period of the Anthology. This is the Abulafia contribution… (mere)

This is a relatively detailed critique of John Skylitzes Synopsis of History, especially the portion dealing with Basil II. A biographical sketch of the emperor is added after all reservations dealing with the sources are noted. The elaborate structure of eighty percent of this book is designed to justify the assumptions made by the author when she finally turns to creating the biographical sketch of Basil. It is slow and painstaking, and not inspiring, but the book is very informative about the present state of textual analysis of Byzantine materials.… (mere)