Edinburgh History of the Greeks, C. 500 to 1050

This volume traces the social, economic and political history of the Greeks between 500 and 1050. The book adopts an interdisciplinary approach and uses archaeological evidence, as well as coins and seals, fiscal documents, medieval chronicles, and hagiographic literature to examine the development of Greek culture in the early medieval period. Several themes provide the foundation for this volume and run through the chapters; these include the Balkan context, the Social Role of the Army and the Onset of Economic Growth. Special attention is paid to the size of the economy in early medieval Greece. Both the social and the economic are privileged and analyzed together as integrally connected spheres of life, thus filling a major gap in existing literature on this period.

Curta applies his considerable archaeological expertise and historical acumen to questions of ethnic identity, migrations and cultural and economic change in the earlier middle ages. While focusing on Greece, he sets developments within the broader Balkan context, challenging assumptions about Byzantium's 'Dark Age' and offering an important and original synthesis. -- Jonathan Shepard, retired Lecturer in History, University of Cambridge Curta applies his considerable archaeological expertise and historical acumen to questions of ethnic identity, migrations and cultural and economic change in the earlier middle ages. While focusing on Greece, he sets developments within the broader Balkan context, challenging assumptions about Byzantium's 'Dark Age' and offering an important and original synthesis.

Florin Curta is Professor of Medieval History and Archaeology at the University of Florida. He is the author of the Making of the Slavs. History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, c. 500-700 (Cambridge University Press, 2001), which won the Herbert Baxter Adams Prize of the American Historical Association in 2003. Curta also wrote Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, ca. 500-1250 (Cambridge University Press, 2006), and edited three collections of studies dedicated to such diverse themes as Eastern and East Central Europe in the early Middle Ages; barriers, borders, and ethnogenesis in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages; nomads in Eastern Europe between the sixth and the twelfth century. He is the editor-in-chief of the Brill series "Eastern and East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450" and member of Medieval Academy of America Publication Advisory Board and the Advisory Board of the Cursor Mundi series of the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.