8vo. x, 550 pp., 16 plates hors text, publisher’s original wrappers, index, previous owner’s inscription on half-title page, otherwise copy in mint condition,Princeton University Press, New Jersey, second printing, 1989.

Synopsis

A study of Europe during the Dark Ages, centering on the late ancient and early medieval Mediterranean world. The author binds together the distant past and the immediate present, tracing the roots of Western distinctiveness to Asia Minor during the fourth century.
Contents: Late antiquity: Romans & non-Romans; Christian influence in late antique culture; churches in 6th century – From Christian schism to division: achievement of Gregory the great; Byzantium confronted by Islam; Visigothic alternative; roots of Christian disunity 649-692 – Three heirs of Rome: eastern iconoclasm Islamic & Byzantine; divergent paths; Carolingian innovation; two emperors of Christendom; conclusion.