While most of us know of the Romans and Greeks, this richly detailed volume illuminates a history that is not part of our culture's general consciousness. Founded by Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome, Byzantium lay at the crossroads of the Christian and Islamic worlds. From strange religious movements and political machinations to sophisticated art and science, Byzantium was a complex cosmopolitan society. By the time you get to the last chapter and the sacking of Constantinople by the Ottomans, you'll shed a tear for an empire that spanned a millennium.

Nate Grover