FREE THE ALEXIAD PDF Anna Komnene,Peter Frankopan,E.R.A. Sewter | 624 pages | 29 Sep 2009 | Penguin Books Ltd | 9780140455274 | English | London, United Kingdom The Alexiad - Wikisource, the free online library This work was published before January 1,and The Alexiad in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least years ago. This work is in The Alexiad public domain in the United States because it was The Alexiad published within the United States or the United Nations Headquarters in New York subject to The Alexiad 7 of the United States Headquarters Agreement between and inclusive without a copyright notice. The Alexiad describes the political and military history of the Byzantine Empire during the reign of her fathermaking it one of the most important sources of information on the Byzantium of the Middle Ages. As well as this, within the Alexiad, the First Crusade's interaction with the Byzantine Empire is documented despite being written nearly fifty years after the crusadewhich highlights the conflicting perceptions of the East and West in the early 12th century. This work is a translation and The Alexiad a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content. Public domain Public domain false false. Hidden category: Pages with override author. The Alexiad Page Discussion. Views Read Edit View history. Wikimedia Commons Wikipedia. Alexiad | work by Anna Comnena | Britannica Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — The Alexiad by Anna Comnena. The Alexiad by Anna Comnena The Alexiad. Sewter Introduction. It is The Alexiad an important source of information on the Byzantine war with the Normans, and the First Crusade, in which Alexius participated. While the Byzantines were allied to the Crusaders, they were none t 'The shining The Alexiad of the world, the great Alexius' Anna Comnena wrote The Alexiad as an account of the reign of her father, the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I. While the Byzantines were allied to the Crusaders, they were none the less critical of their behaviour and Anna's book offers a startlingly different perspective from that of Western historians. Her character sketches are shrewd and forthright - from the Norman invader The Alexiad Guiscard 'nourished by mainfold Evil' and his son Bohemond 'like a streaking thunderbolt' The Alexiad Pope Gregory VII 'unworthy of a high priest'. The Alexiad is a vivid and dramatic narrative, which The Alexiad as much about the character of its intelligent and dynamic author as it does The Alexiad the fascinating period through which she lived. Sewter's translation captures all the strength and immediacy of the original and is complemented by an introduction that examines Anna's life and times. This edition also includes maps, appendices, genealogical tables, a bibliography and indexes of events and names. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published December 20th The Alexiad Penguin Classics first published More Details Original Title. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Alexiadplease sign up. See 1 question about The Alexiad…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of The Alexiad. I've been The Alexiad a lot about reviewing lately. For a time I considered stopping entirely. It sometimes gets very stressful to read a book while searching for quotes to use and things to mention, not being able to actually The Alexiad the book because too much time and focus goes towards planning the eventual review. Which is bloody The Alexiad. It's sad The Alexiad say this, but I've been putting too much energy into reviewing. It should only be done for fun, and that's what I'm going to do from now on. Which is I've been thinking a lot about reviewing lately. Which The Alexiad why I'm going to go a lot more easy when reviewing the books The Alexiad reading nowadays. From now on, I will The Alexiad be The Alexiad reviews for the books I actually feel like reviewing. And instead I'll be spending some time writing the best review I've ever written for a book as remarkably unknown as this one. Because it's special to me. But most of all because I want to. Life's too short for doing too many things we don't enjoy. View all 39 comments. Jan 31, Jan-Maat added it Shelves: autobiography-memoir12th-centurybiographicalread-in-translationbyzantine. For me the most interesting thing about Anna Comena's biography of her father is how much hard work The Alexiad was to be a Byzantine Emperor. There seem to be constant hordes of enemies, external and internal whack a mole rebellions The Alexiad, while every soldier to fight in their support needs to scrapped from the bottom of the barrel. Her narrative is indispensable for those interested in the 1st crusade and is ironically, considering her lack of love for the westerners, the most widely available primary source For me the most interesting thing about Anna Comena's biography of her father is how much hard work it was to be a Byzantine Emperor. Her narrative is indispensable The Alexiad those interested in the 1st crusade and is ironically, considering her lack of love for the westerners, the most widely available primary source. Comena does have the The Alexiad habit of referring to western Europeans as Kelts and her description of them is strongly reminiscent of earlier Roman and Greek descriptions of the celtsEgyptians as Babylonians and Hagarines for Muslims it was good style apparently to be as archaic, if not as obscure as possible in your nomenclature for the educated writer. At that same time this implies that nothing has ever changed the Roman Empire still does battle with the Celts and the Babylonians just as it did a thousand years and more! Everything is eternal and unchanging the narrative implies, thus gracefully covering over the fact that the Commene family had only recently seized the The Alexiad throne through marriage and their right to rule was not universally taken seriously hence the rebellions. There are some insights and stories - like The Alexiad one of her mother in labour - that presumably a man of the household would not have access to, but because of the focus The Alexiad her father and on him as a successful and able politician there is not as much about the role of the women in the political life of the Empire or about the decision making process that one might have liked from such a well placed witness. And that is the great disappointment of her book, here for the only The Alexiad we get the voice and opinion of a woman of the Imperial household, only she is not very interested in talking about being a woman in the Imperial household, her father - unlike her younger brother who got to The Alexiad the next Emperor - is presented as an exemplary figure so she also keeps us at arms length from the doubts and political infighting behind the decision making. Still there is nothing else quite like it. View all 5 comments. Aug 10, Curt Lorde rated it it was amazing. Gibbons, I believe, suffered from an elitism that all good things came from the pagan Romans. The Alexiad Eastern religion was a part of their downfall. A little town called Constantinople broke two massive invasions that most definitely would The Alexiad changed history, and not to the liking of Gibbons, or The Alexiad, for that matter. The men and women who both fought for,and,many a time,each other for the throne of this 'ghost of Rome' were some fascinating folk. Alexius The Alexiad Comnenus is a perfect example. His The Alexiad Anna wrote his biography. It is a The Alexiad of an reeling empire. One beset by aggressive Seljuk Turks The Alexiad defeated a former emperor in at Manzikert The Alexiad what is now Armenia,in the east, and some western adventurer knights, led by the Normans, descendants of the Vikings, who had swept up Sicily,parts of southern Italy, and The Alexiad on the remnants Of the Empire like raw meat to a wolf. Okay got that out. Alexius, to the surprise of many, would hold the Empire together. Though unable to drive the Turks completely away from its former territory, it would be nearly four hundred years before Byzantium died. He would see off the Normans. And the barbarian horseman of the steppes raiding south across the Danube. Anna loved and admired her father, though she wished he had chosen her and her husband as successors, instead of her brother who she tried to usurp. Family affairs, the Empire is full of such stories. Alexius also steered the First Crusade through his realm. Anna The Alexiad an excellent description of their leaders, in particular, the mighty Norman, Bohemund. I can picture the young Anna The Alexiad from the women's nook at the mailed badass from the semi civilized West and going "Damn! He's Fine! The Alexiad, the writing of Ammianus Marcellinus, and Tacitus will give you three different views of the Roman Empire at three different stages in its life. Shelves: greek-and-romaneuropean-history. Anyone wishing to have more than an introductory knowledge of either the Crusades or Byzantium ought to read Anna Comnena's account known as the "Alexiad" of the reign her father from to AD on the Eastern Roman Empire.