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История на Първото българско царство
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1930
About the author
Steven Runciman
48 books246 followersA King's Scholar at Eton College, he was an exact contemporary and close friend of George Orwell. While there, they both studied French under Aldous Huxley. In 1921 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge as a history scholar and studied under J.B. Bury, becoming, as Runciman later commented, "his first, and only, student." At first the reclusive Bury tried to brush him off; then, when Runciman mentioned that he could read Russian, Bury gave him a stack of Bulgarian articles to edit, and so their relationship began. His work on the Byzantine Empire earned him a fellowship at Trinity in 1927.
After receiving a large inheritance from his grandfather, Runciman resigned his fellowship in 1938 and began travelling widely. From 1942 to 1945 he was Professor of Byzantine Art and History at Istanbul University, in Turkey, where he began the research on the Crusades which would lead to his best known work, the History of the Crusades (three volumes appearing in 1951, 1952, and 1954).
Most of Runciman's historical works deal with Byzantium and her medieval neighbours between Sicily and Syria; one exception is The White Rajahs, published in 1960, which tells the story of Sarawak, an independent nation founded on the northern coast of Borneo in 1841 by the Englishman James Brooke, and ruled by the Brooke family for more than a century.
After receiving a large inheritance from his grandfather, Runciman resigned his fellowship in 1938 and began travelling widely. From 1942 to 1945 he was Professor of Byzantine Art and History at Istanbul University, in Turkey, where he began the research on the Crusades which would lead to his best known work, the History of the Crusades (three volumes appearing in 1951, 1952, and 1954).
Most of Runciman's historical works deal with Byzantium and her medieval neighbours between Sicily and Syria; one exception is The White Rajahs, published in 1960, which tells the story of Sarawak, an independent nation founded on the northern coast of Borneo in 1841 by the Englishman James Brooke, and ruled by the Brooke family for more than a century.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 29, 2017
Amongst books written for a more-or-less academic audience, there can be few that begin as strikingly: Once upon a time, when Constans was Emperor in Byzantium, there lived a king called Kubrat on the shores of the Sea of Azov. In due course he died, leaving five sons behind him, whom he bade live in concord together. But the brothers in a short time quarrelled, as princes often do, and, dividing the inheritance between them, departed each his own way, bearing his portion of the people with him . In comparison to this, even the beginning of Peter Brown's Making of Late Antiquity ( 'I wish I had been one of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus') seems pretty tame.
The verbal fireworks may be considered a necessary part of the task Runciman set himself. When he wrote this book, the First Bulgarian Empire was not well-known to the general public. It still isn't. Runciman tries his best to make it appealing and accessible, but it's not an easy task. His relative success in this can be attributed to two factors. Firstly, no one denies that Runciman was a prose stylist of rare gifts. Secondly, he has a tendency to 'revel in the evidential void with abandon' 'or, in other words, make things up' (the judgments of Runciman's biographer Minoo Dinshaw and of Rosemary Hill in her TLS review of Dinshaw's book, respectively). Some, hoping to learn the 'real story' of the First Bulgarian Empire may lament this (although the quality of the evidence is such as to render their Rankean desires more than usually quixotic). Others are more likely to find themselves skimming over the more academic portions of the book and wishing that Runciman had allowed his novelistic instincts freer rein.
The verbal fireworks may be considered a necessary part of the task Runciman set himself. When he wrote this book, the First Bulgarian Empire was not well-known to the general public. It still isn't. Runciman tries his best to make it appealing and accessible, but it's not an easy task. His relative success in this can be attributed to two factors. Firstly, no one denies that Runciman was a prose stylist of rare gifts. Secondly, he has a tendency to 'revel in the evidential void with abandon' 'or, in other words, make things up' (the judgments of Runciman's biographer Minoo Dinshaw and of Rosemary Hill in her TLS review of Dinshaw's book, respectively). Some, hoping to learn the 'real story' of the First Bulgarian Empire may lament this (although the quality of the evidence is such as to render their Rankean desires more than usually quixotic). Others are more likely to find themselves skimming over the more academic portions of the book and wishing that Runciman had allowed his novelistic instincts freer rein.
December 24, 2018
No doubt this book is now out of date, but it is still a pleasure to read. Runciman brought a common sense analysis to very iffy sources, and I get the impression that his conclusions are reasonable.
Of course, nearly 90 have passed since then, and I am sure that lots more material - archaeological, in particular - can provide additional insight into the period.
Of course, nearly 90 have passed since then, and I am sure that lots more material - archaeological, in particular - can provide additional insight into the period.
January 18, 2022
Good for what the books tries to cover. After 1,000 years, there is not much primary source material to work with. As a result, the book is long on wars, battles, and kings, but does not really contain much else.
April 27, 2023
Una historia de Bulgaria desde sus orígenes hasta la conquista del territorio por parte del emperador Basilio II en 1018. Algunas de sus afirmaciones han quedado un tanto desfasadas por estudios posteriores pero sigue siendo un texto fundamental para conocer la historia del país balcánico y, además, Runciman es un autor ameno que escribe con un estilo muy fluido (Cosa que se agradece en este tipo de textos)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews