Byzantium, paperback/judith herrin

A fascinating and highly original history of the city and culture that was the bulwark of the West for a thousand years.

Once a byword for imperial power, gold and international trade, Byzantium combined paganism and classical Greek and Roman learning with orthodox Christianity.

Taking a new approach, Herrin focuses each short chapter around a theme such as a building, luxury silks, iconoclasm, and the crusades, or an individual.

There will be a huge marketing campaign.