Interpreting Late Antiquity: Essays on the Postclassical World

The era of late antiquity--from the middle of the third century to the end of the eighth--was marked by the rise of two world religions, unprecedented political upheavals that remade the map of the known world, and the creation of art of enduring glory. In these eleven in-depth essays, drawn from the award-winning reference work Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World, an international cast of experts provides essential information and fresh perspectives on this period's culture and history. Contents: Introduction * Remaking the Past, by Averil Cameron * Sacred Landscapes, by Béatrice Caseau * Philosophical Tradition and the Self, by Henry Chadwick * Religious Communities, by Garth Fowden * Barbarians and Ethnicity, by Patrick J. Geary * War and Violence, by Brent D. Shaw * Empire Building, by Christopher Kelly * Christian Triumph and Controversy, by Richard Lim * Islam, by Hugh Kennedy * The Good Life, by Henry Maguire Praise for Late Antiquity: "The period covered . . . is in fact formative for the modern world, and the various kinds of continuity and discontinuity between it and the present are a fascinating study...[This] set of extended essays [is] the work of eminent scholars in the field . . . The choice is well made." --Jasper Griffin, New York Review of Books "Covers the interlocked worlds of Rome, Byzantium, the Persian Empire, and the newly emerging culture and kingdoms connected to the rise of Islam . . . The essays touch not only on big ideas and big movements but also on what the many discrete researches, ranging from literary criticism to anthropology, tell us." --Lawrence S. Cunningham, Commonweal "To fathom the cross-currents and undertows of the 'postclassical' world while throwing out lifelines to the novice is no mean task, and the three editors have risen to this challenge with flair and discrimination...Cross-cutting between the public domain and private lives and drawing on such sources as Egyptian papyri and archaeology, the essays present varieties of experience in a three-dimensional way and make substantive contributions to scholarly debate." --Jonathan Shepherd, Times Higher Education Supplement