Everyday Life in BYZANTIUM.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/VG+.No owner inscrptn,but price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean colour pictorial illustrated dw/dj (front - 16thC floor mosaic of the Great Palace,Constantinople); with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges - no major nicks or tears present. Miniscule rubbing and edgewear to both head+foot of spine/backstrip and corners too.Top edge lightly aged/toned - as usual/normal,fore- edge plain,bright and clean; contents bright,tight and near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - an unread copy? Unblemished,publisher's original tan cloth boards with bright,crisp, stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip with plain white endpapers with minimal off-set foxing to both pastedowns.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,7- 240pp [paginated] includes contents+illustrations lists/ tables,10 chapters,100+ b/w illus/ photographs etc.,b/w drawings by Helen Nixon Fairfield,chronology for Byzantium Emperors,further reading list and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,and a b/w portrait photographic frntis of a bronze bust of Emperor Constantine the Great. The Christian heirs of pagan Rome,the Byzantines flourished for over a thousand years - from AD330 when Constantine proclaimed Byzantium the capital of the Roman Empire,renaming it Constantinople to the sack of the city by the Turks in 1453.To those who think of Roman civilization as being obliterated by the barbarians during the 'Dark Ages',Tamara Talbot Rice's picture of the Byzantine Empire will come as a revelation. The influence of Byzantium on European history has been profound and its legacy can be seen most clearly in the culture and religion of Eastern Europe.The author describes with knowledge and enthusiasm what it was like to live in Byzantine times.Individual chapters cover the foundation and growth of the capital; the daily ritual of the imperial court; the church and its impact on everyday life; the work of the officials who administered the vast,diffuse empire and of the armed forces who defended its frontiers; merchants,town-dwellers and countryfolk; family life and pastimes; education,scholarship,music and the arts.Carefully related to the text are over 100 illustrations - drawings based on original sources and photographs - which vividly portray the life,work,and religion of the Byzantines. Tamara Talbot Rice has acquired a wide knowledge of Byzantine society through a study of its art,on which she and her husband,Professor David Talbot Rice,are acknnowledged authorities. An early title from Batsford's 'Everyday Life' series.See also the previous alpha-numerical book ID,for another,later title from the same series (rja28418). Since April 2013,again in March 2015,and in this year too,the UK Post Office has altered it's Pricing in Proportion template,altering it's prices, weight allowances,dimensions and lowered it's qualifying compensation rates too! So,please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk,because of the weight/value of this item for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!