DAILY LIFE IN THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE by Marcus Rautman is a good starting place for anyone interested in the Byzantine Empire. Sections on every imaginable aspect of daily living can be found in this book and the author gives references for further reading by way of chapter endnotes and a Bibliography. The book includes nice clear maps, a glossary of terms, index, list of rulers and their years in power, timeline, and illustrations. Chapter titles and headings are bold and informational to make finding a specific bit of information easier for the reader.

As an over-view of life in Byzantium the book is limited in how deeply it can delve into each topic. For topics I have read about more extensively, I found this author to have given a good balanced over-view of what is known.

I highly recommend this book both for home school use (middle school or higher) and for the purposes of developing a persona to play in the Society for Creative Anachronisms.

Dear Lord, thank You for authors who write useful books for the rest of us to enjoy. +Amen.