E-Book- Resources

As you all know there are numerous important historical texts freely available in their entirety on the net. I thought it might be a good idea, to briefly introduce your favourites and post links to the text

My first three choices are pretty obvious, they cover three important periods in the history of the East/Roman, Byzantine Empire and have been the primary sources for many a history of Byzantium, and many a fictional treatment.

Prokopios of Caesarea:
The Secret History

Prokopios' notorious character assassination of Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora.

Prokopios' Secret History


Michael Psellos:
The Chronographia, A.D. 976-1077

Psellus' biography of Basil II �Bulgaroktonos� and his successors until Michael VII Dukas.

Psellos' Chronographia


Anna Komnena:
The Alexiad

Anna Komnena's famous history of the reign of her father Alexios Komnenos.

The Alexiad


Please add to this list!


Edited by Komnenos

And to present a different view of the Crusades, a collection of essays:

The Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim World

edited by Angeliki E. Laiou and Roy Parviz Mottahedeh

Dumbarton Oaks Publications,2001





"The Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim World is the result of scholarly reassessments of the Crusades on the 900th anniversary of the appearance of crusading armies outside Nicaea. The views expressed here complement the considerable number of other examinations that focused on the internal, Western, aspects of the movement on the 900th anniversary of the Council of Clermont.

The volume opens with an introduction to the historiography of the Crusades, followed by wide-ranging discussions covering four topics: holy war in Byzantium and Islam; the approaches and attitudes of the various peoples affected by and involved in the Crusades; the movement's effect on the economies of the eastern Mediterranean; and the influence of the Crusades on the art and architecture of the East.

The essays in this volume demonstrate that there were, on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, rich, variegated, and important phenomena associated with the Crusades, and that a full understanding of the significance of the movement and its impact on both the East and West must take these phenomena into account."


The Crusades from the Perspective..., Index (PDF-Format)

Very nice links Komnenos, thank you

Here's Roman History by Titus Livius:

Books I-III: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10828/10828-8.txt

Books 09-26: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10907/10907-h/10907-h.htm

Books 27-36: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12582/12582-h/12582-h.htm

 

Hi,

Here is the very interesting Discourse on volontary servitude written by
the 18 years old La Bo�tie in 1548. One of the greatest piece of liberty
ever and the sharpest invision of what being a social pet means for
mankind.

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Discourse_on_Voluntary_Servitu de

M.

These are some great links. I can't believe I haven't found this discussion until now.

For me, shaped by my northern European culture, it has always been interesting to learn the ways of other cultures, past and present, especially the cultures that differs the most from my own.

Great links.