Lost to the West

The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization

By: Lars Brownworth

Narrated by: Lars Brownworth

Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Filled with unforgettable stories of emperors, generals, and religious patriarchs, as well as fascinating glimpses into the life of the ordinary citizen, Lost to the West reveals how much we owe to the Byzantine Empire that was the equal of any in its achievements, appetites, and enduring legacy. For more than a millennium, Byzantium reigned as the glittering seat of Christian civilization.

When Europe fell into the Dark Ages, Byzantium held fast against Muslim expansion, keeping Christianity alive. Streams of wealth flowed into Constantinople, making possible unprecedented wonders of art and architecture. And the emperors who ruled Byzantium enacted a saga of political intrigue and conquest as astonishing as anything in recorded history. Lost to the West is replete with stories of assassination, mass mutilation and execution, sexual scheming, ruthless grasping for power, and clashing armies that soaked battlefields with the blood of slain warriors numbering in the tens of thousands.

©2009 Lars Brownworth (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"Captivating…In Lost to the West Lars Brownworth shows a novelist’s eye for character, bringing to life some of the most fascinating — and yet little known -- figures of the Byzantine era. But it is as a researcher into the obscurities of palace intrigue, treachery, and battlefield carnage that Lars really shines. With dry humor and a palette of vivid images, he recounts the dizzying game of musical chairs that placed one usurper after another on the Byzantine throne, only to be pitched off in a gaudily macabre way. In the end, one is left agog by the irony that the upshot of this centuries-long scrum was the preservation of nearly all that the Greeks have bequeathed to us.”—Steven Pressfield, author of Gates of Fire

“Rome never fell -- it simply moved five hundred miles East -- to Byzantium. For over a thousand years the Byzantines commanded one of the most visceral and vivid empires the world has ever known. And yet their achievements are consistently underplayed; written out of history. Lars Brownworth is a rare talent. His contagious passion brings murderous empresses, conniving eunuchs, lost Greek texts and Byzantine treasures of fairy-tale proportions blinking back into the light. Confidently striding through time and across the mountains and plains of the Eastern Mediterranean, Brownworth puts this theocratic superstate slap-bang in the center of mankind's global story; back where it should be. The Byzantines made our world what it is today. Lars Brownworth matches their verve and brio in his seductive and gripping account.”—Bettany Hughes, PBS host and author of Helen of Troy

“This is history as it used to be, history as story-telling. In this fascinating account of the Byzantine empire, Lars Brownworth covers a thousand years of blood-letting, outrageous luxury, bitter religious disputes and vaulting ambition without giving the slightest impression of being rushed or crowded. The page turns unaided.”—Anthony Everitt, bestselling author of Augustus, Cicero and The First Emperor

Great Story

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great introduction to a period in history that I had never learned anything about in school. Lars Brownworth does a great job reading with all of the enthusiasm you would expect from an author reading his own work.

Outstanding presentation and historical review.

Outstanding reminder of the importance of this lost history, and an appreciation of the brilliance of the men and women who created a glorious civilization.

Great history

Fills in the missing gaps between the Roman World and the Ottoman Empire. This book is essential history for anyone who wants to understand what drives some of our ongoing conflicts. Brilliant!

P Mead

So interesting. great learning and really enjoyed this book. I would highly recommend this book two others.

One interesting listen

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes I would recommend this to a friend.
Why? because I liked the audio book.

What did you like best about this story?

It filled a history void for me.
What really happened to the Romans and there empire.

Which character – as performed by Lars Brownworth – was your favorite?

No one character, maybe the different emperors over time.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Saddened at the end of the empire.

Any additional comments?

This audio book will help you understand history, and the fact that very little changes over time. As the politicians brought down the Roman empire aided and abedded by a spoiled citizenry. The way this book ended I was on the Ottomans side ready to stick a fork in the empire myself.

Fantastic Introduction to a lost history

This was a fantastic briefing by the author of the 1000 year spanning history of the emperors and borders of the so called 'Byzantine Empire'.

I really liked this narration by the author. It wasn't dull or uninteresting and was inspiring with accounts of Julian the philosopher, to the general Bellisarius, the emperor Justinian, and the final days under the emperor Constantine XI.

Great read, leaving me with a greater thirst for the history of this forgotten empire.

Excellent Book about Little Known History

In the West we are taught that after the Roman Empire fell in 476 AD that then came a long period of history called the Dark Ages. Well this was true enough from the Western Roman Empire, but the greatness of the Roman Empire lived on for another 1000 years in what is properly called the Eastern Roman Empire. In Lost to the West Lars Brownsworth provides an interesting and detailed account of one of the Great Ages of Man known as the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire. The book shows that without this Empire that European history would have been completely different. That the dominate religion of Europe would have been Islam and not Christianity. An Empire that had to constantly fight for its survival, against a host of enemies. An Empire that for centuries was the only civilized nation in Europe. An Empire that was the richest and most advanced of its day. An Empire whose preservation of Greek Classical writing were the main inspiration for the Renaissance. Truly and eye opening history that I was never taught in high school or college.

A Great Primer to Byzantine History

The author does a fine job of reading his own work. Like any book about distant history, you've gotta pay close attention, or you can quickly lose your place and have no idea what he's talking about. But if you pay attention, the book is an excellent narrative, from the founding of Constantinople to the fall of Constantinople. You could draw a nice graph of the rising and falling fortunes of the Empire from this clearly-written, entertaining account. In a single volume, Mr. Brownworth has done a great summary of 1,100 years of history, and I found myself wanting to seek more detailed, deeper histories of certain events and people, but that's by no means a criticism of this book. If you had x pages to tell the rich story of Byzantium, you can't tell it more evenly and smoothly than this book does. I think I really did end up with a reasonably comprehensive, if basic, passing familiarity with the totality of this now-little-known empire, which basically was the center of the WORLD for 1,000 years. It's made me wish my Greek friends had a better grasp of their own history so we can talk it.

Overwhelming

A 1000 years of history I knew little about other than its importance. When it was finished I did not cry; I wept . No words seem to come. Byzantium’s story too great.

Amazing

All the amazing history they never taught you in school. (And well narrated.) I could stand to listen to this many more times.