Byzantium in the Seventh Century
The Transformation of a Culture

"...a good, well-informed synthesis with strong personal opinions...." N. Oikonomides, Canadian Journal of History

"A detailed survey of the following subjects, fully and impressively documented, serves to provide the reader with the first serious, comprehensive survey of all the major changes of this period: politics, economics, social relations, urban and rural societies, state fiscal and military administration, state and law, the imperial church and politics of authority, religion and belief, infrastructures and hierarchies, language, literature, and the icon....an absolute must for every student of Byzantium because it provides a substantial foundation for understanding how the Later Roman Empire became transformed into a distinctly Byzantine Empire. This is an excellent resource, superbly organized, and very well written, for students of ancient and medieval history at all stages." John E. Rexine, History

"...Haldon has made an important contribution which tackles problems not considered by other studies through well informed theorizing and places them together for the first time with the results of recent scholarship. It presents an ...attractive view of this culture in transition and provides a fine introduction to the history of the seventh century. Haldon is successful in depicting not only the seventh-century Byzantine world, but also its worldview." Paul M. Cobb, Journal of Near Eastern Studies