Quote:
Originally Posted by Liviu_5
Not really; it still has this role in the popular imagination insofar that deals with the "decline" of the Western Roman Empire, but most of its theses have been thoroughly rebuffed and discredited. It's still an entertaining read as historical fiction and attack on Christianity, but not if you want to understand the complicated history of those times.
And the dismissal of Byzantium (a vibrant Christian civilization that stood against terrible attacks for a very long while) is nothing short of ignorant and prejudiced. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 under the Islamic Jihad of the Ottomans after being severely weakened by the Catholic Crusades of the "Franks" (after all the Byzantines were infidel dogs or unrepentant heretics) was nothing short of cataclysmic and represented the final fall of Rome in many eyes.
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Really there was no "empire" when Constantinople fell as this link shows but I do understand your point:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Byzantium1430.JPG
Your views that his book is incorrect are strong. Is that the Christian view only?
Is it really a waste of time to read? (after I just bought it...) Anyone like to contribute their thoughts?
How about a poll?