Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe Paperback – 28 Oct. 2021

This is a stunningly beautiful book that does all that a book can to bring to life, through narrative and beautifully produced colour plates, the stunning city of Ravenna. Without having read this book, it is likely that I would have bypassed Ravenna on our recent visit to the Emilia- Romagna, and in so doing would have missed one of the great highlights of our Italian, or any other, trip.The mosaics in the churches of Ravenna, outstanding examples of early Christian Art, are to gasp at, and the ceilings of the building constructed for the tomb of the last Western Roman Empress, Galla Placidia are beyond breathtaking.This book explains how Ravenna was the the capital of the Western Roman Empire, the capital of the Ostrogoth king Theodoric, the centre of Byzantine power in Italy, and the inspiration for Charlemagne's church in Aachen.Some reviewers have commented that they found the book hard going - it can be a little, but only because there is so much information here that you will want to absorb - skimming and cursory reading won't give the understanding that a thorough reading will, and so it does require some effort - but that effort is well rewarded.I am grateful to the author for the inspiration this book gave me to visit, and to be stunned by, Ravenna. If you have the desire to see some of the best preserved images from the late Roman empire, and to experience the magnificent of Justinian and Theodora's Byzantium - then you really should read this book and, if you possibly can, visit Ravenna for yourself.

An excellent and well written history book which traces the history of Ravenna from the capital of late Roman Empire in the West through to its decline as an important city in the 9th Century. The key events, people and changing political situation are are all discussed and evaluated as are it's architecture and cultural prominence.

I have always been fascinated by Ravenna since visiting it 20 or so years ago, so this book looked right up my street. And indeed it was. The detail was excellent, to the point where at times it was tempting to skip paragraphs describing individual papyri that didn't add hugely to the case being made at the time. I also struggled a bit with the colour plates, some of which were incorrectly referred to in the text, and many of which were not located close to the text that mentioned them.So, in short, a bit academic, though well worth buying if like me you have been fascinated by the city.

Brilliantly researched and presented. Despite its academic content it is very easy to read. The photographs are exceptional both in their content and clarity. My warmest congratulations to the author.

If you have ever been to Ravenna and admired the mosaics in the churches but never really understood why they were there, then this is the book for you. It gives a detailed history of the city and its position between Rome and Constantinople and how important it was in the post Roman world keeping civilization going. I learnt a lot from it and need to go back to Ravenna to appreciate the art even more.

This work provides very interesting concrete materials for my studies in the development of European culture (with scientific discoveries, adventures on the global scale, etc.) compared with the Japanese (with sophisticated culture developed in isolation from outside except for its neighbouring giant for centuries)

I've never visited Ravenna myself but have always been fascinated by its haunting appeal to artists and writers of the aesthetic movement of the late 19th century (esp. Oscar Wilde, Vernon Lee). As I also have an interest in the Byzantine empire and its artistic achievements I was eager to read this publication. The book itself as a physical object is beautifully produced - sumptuous photographs, pleasing font choice, gorgeous dustjacket and elegant board covers but, alas, I found reading it less pleasurable. I started full of enthusiasm and anticipation, but having reached the half-way point I'm finding it rather a chore and wonder whether I'll actually have the application to reach the end. (In fact I'm plodding along feeling vaguely resentful as it feels like a compulsory university set text.) The reader has to wade through a lot of tiresome details (especially about civil and ecclesiastical administrative practice ) to get to anything of interest. Also the books lacks narrative sweep (not helped by chapters divided into annoying sub-chapters) and people are presented as stiff and one-dimensional as their mosaic counterparts with no sense of any personality, but perhaps I'm spoiled by the likes of John Julius Norwich and Philp Mansell. I feel a little short-changed as Ravenna, presented as it is as something for the intelligent general reader, is actually in many respects a curiously lifeless academic study. I have no problem with reading (and writing) academic texts but I don't like being mislead into reading something that purports to be something else. The splendour and romance of the city and its history seems to have no place in this publication, no matter the extent of the author's extensive, and doubtless, scrupulous research.

When I read the review for this book in the FT I was intrigued. I had absolutely no idea of the role of Ravenna in the first millenium CE and the cast of characters that made up the story. The development of early Christianity and the political decisions which determined how the religion dveloped were also a revelation to me. All in all a fascinating read and highly recommended.