Decline and Fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman Turks

This art icle was downloaded by: [ 141.214.17.222] On: 17 Novem ber 2014, At : 06: 39 Publisher: Rout ledge I nform a Lt d Regist ered in England and Wales Regist ered Num ber: 1072954 Regist ered office: Mort im er House, 37- 41 Mort im er St reet , London W1T 3JH, UK History: Reviews of New Books Publicat ion det ails, including inst ruct ions f or aut hors and subscript ion inf ormat ion: ht t p: / / www. t andf online. com/ loi/ vhis20 Decline and Fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman Turks Philip D. Thomas a a USA Published online: 13 Jul 2010. To cite this article: Philip D. Thomas (1976) Decline and Fall of Byzant ium t o t he Ot t oman Turks, Hist ory: Reviews of New Books, 4: 5, 106-106, DOI: 10. 1080/ 03612759. 1976. 9945344 To link to this article: ht t p: / / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1080/ 03612759. 1976. 9945344 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTI CLE Taylor & Francis m akes every effort t o ensure t he accuracy of all t he inform at ion ( t he “ Cont ent ” ) cont ained in t he publicat ions on our plat form . However, Taylor & Francis, our agent s, and our licensors m ake no represent at ions or warrant ies what soever as t o t he accuracy, com plet eness, or suit abilit y for any purpose of t he Cont ent . Any opinions and views expressed in t his publicat ion are t he opinions and views of t he aut hors, and are not t he views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of t he Cont ent should not be relied upon and should be independent ly verified wit h prim ary sources of inform at ion. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, act ions, claim s, proceedings, dem ands, cost s, expenses, dam ages, and ot her liabilit ies what soever or howsoever caused arising direct ly or indirect ly in connect ion wit h, in relat ion t o or arising out of t he use of t he Cont ent . This art icle m ay be used for research, t eaching, and privat e st udy purposes. Any subst ant ial or syst em at ic reproduct ion, redist ribut ion, reselling, loan, sub- licensing, syst em at ic supply, or dist ribut ion in any form t o anyone is expressly forbidden. Term s & Condit ions of access and use can be found at ht t p: / / www.t andfonline.com / page/ t erm s- and- condit ions zyxwvutsrq zyxwvutsr zyxwvutsrq zyxwvutsrqp ern Africa. Although South Africa is one 106 state with numerous iron age sites, that country is archaeologically backward since research is not continually conducted. Africa in the Iron Age is little more than an outline of the subject, and that is what the authors intended it t o be. It is easily read by the nonexpert and should be of great use t o those who are interested in gaining a summary view of Africa from about 500 B.C. t o 1400 A.D. H.G. SOFF Decatur, Ga. Doukas (translated by Harry J. Magoulias) Decline and Fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman Turks Detroit: Wayne State University Press 346 pp., S 18.50, LC 75-9949 Downloaded by [141.214.17.222] at 06:39 17 November 2014 Publication Date: November 20, 1975 Indeed, Doukas spoke t o Turkish troops who had participated in the sack of Constantinople. Although he begins his history with Adam, “the first man created by God,” the principal focus of the work is the interaction between the Greeks and the Muslims in the 14th and 15th centuries. His delineation of Medmed I1 the Conqueror, his court, the fall of Comtantinople, and post-1453 events are important and revealing while his vignettes of lesser events, policies, and personalities augment our still imperfectly developed knowledge of that crucial period. The useful introduction, clear translation, and meticulous annotation of Doukas’s Historia Turco-Byzantina will interest all students of Byzantine history, and in particular those who have n o familiarity with the Greek text. PHlLlP D. THOMAS Wichita State University Students of Byzantine history have long focused their attention upon the last days of the once proud Christian Empire Robinson, David of the East. This English translation of Chiefs and Clerics: Abdul Bokar Kan and Doukas’s Historia Turco-Byzantina proFuta Toro, 1853-1891 vides them with an important contemNew York: Oxford University Press porary account of the final stages in the 239 pp., $19.50 relationship between the Greeks and Publication Date: November 6, 1975 Turks and a graphic portrayal of the fall of Constantinople in May of 1453. Based The chiefs and clerics of the title refer upon Vasile Grecu’s 1958 Bucharest edito African political leaders in what is tion of the Greek text, Magoulias’s transtoday Senegal. ’i’his leadership was lation is a clear rendition of Doukas’s divided among a Muslim reformist tradilively-some scholars say “journalistic”tion, the clerics, and leaders who, though prose. The perceptive annotation of the not hostile t o Islam, were not “reformers” text not only corrects Doukas and later in the Muslim sense. Futa Tora lies along historians but also amplifies the text by the middle course of the Senegal river beproviding much useful ancillary informatween the costal region and the highlands. tion o n individuals and events discussed It is a region of exceptional social and by the author. Students will find the ethnic diversity even for Africa. There annotation most useful. was a long history of conflict and accomAn obscure figure, Doukas is one of modation between two major political the four Byzantine historians of the 15th traditions: Muslim and non-Muslim. There century who chronicles the final decline were a half-dozen major language/ethnic groups. The local economy combined of the Greek Empire. Little is known of his background. His family fell from favor significant elements of agriculture, trade, fishing, and nomadism. The social and fled Constantinople in the mid-14th structure was hierarchical and a complex century when the supporters of John VI reflection of ethnic, economic, and reKantakouzenos lost power during the ligious divisions. Not least, French imcivil war of 1341-1 347. This fall from perialism played an increasing role in the favor, and subsequent flight from Constantinople, left the Doukas family with a late 19th century. This background lays permanent dislike for the Palaiologan em- the context for understanding Abdul Bokar’s rise t o eminence. It is no small perors. Doukas himself flourished under credit to David Robinson that he makes Geneoese patronage from c. 1421-1462 serving as a representative of the Gattilusio clear sense out of the mixture in so short a book. The author lays a careful framefamily. He was probably at Adrianople work of geography, economy, and hisin 1452 when Mehmed I1 and the Ottomans began their preparation for the tory before introducing his principal subject . siege of Constantinople. Biased against the Palaiologian dyChiefs and Clerics is a detailed examination of how one local African leader, nasty and the anti-church Unionists, Abdul Bokar, reacted t o danger and opDoukas’s history is particularly valuable for its description of events between 145 1 portunity as he confronted the two and 1462. With a knowledge of Greek, major factors of 19th-century West Turkish, and Italian, and with access to African history -Muslim revival and Westmany participants in the events of those e m Imperialism. Robinson is especially years, Doukas had the opportunity t o interested in Bokar’s motivations as he discuss with contemporaries the final acts treads a careful path maintaining an autonomous Futa Tora resting between in the drama of the empire’s decline. the French to the West and Umar’s Empire to the East. Robinson’s book represents one of many needed studies on African local politics in the 19th century. Traditional descriptions of imperialism have usually been inadequate because one-half the equation was always left out. With new works forthcoming in the nature of Chiefs and Clerics, the standard explanations of imperialism, t h e African experience under colonialism, and contemporary African societies will all need t o be rewritten in a decade or so. Chiefs and Clerics is a book for the Africanist, even for the West African specialist. The book is well written. The author has sharp vision and a sensitivity to nuance in the human condition that makes one look forward to new books by the same author-perhaps on broader subjects. The sources combine thorough archival work with the absolutely essential oral interviews. JOHN H. FRYE Triton College DeMause, Lloyd, ed. The New Psychohistory New York: The Psychohistory Press (Division of Atcom, Inc.) 313 pp., $12.95, LC 75-14687 Publication Date: December 17, 1975 Just as a collection of essays appeared within a reasonable time after the birth of the Journal of‘Interdisciplinar~~ History, so now we have the History o f Childhood Quarterly showing its wares. All essays have previously been published there, hence the audience is presumably similarthose actively interested in psychohistory. DeMause, founding editor of the journal and chief advocate for t h e history of childhood, is not one t o mince words when it comes t o claims: psychohistory is “the first new discipline t o be born in the social sciences in this century.” (p. 3) It is “a science in a hurry,” its future to provide “a true ‘history of the psyche,’ able t o give causal analyses of patterns of historical motivation which we hope may yet enable us t o understand and eventually t o control our group actions.” DeMause’s mission is to “search for the causes of our shared psychoses,” (p. 5) and presumably to eradicate them. The principle of selection follows what deMause terms “the three main divisions of psychohistory.” First, there are two essays concerned with t h e history of childhood: Stephen Kern’s “Explosive lntimacy: Psychodynamics of the Victorian Family,” a thoughtful essay on the Victorian family as a source of “anxiety and doubt”; and William L. Langer’s quite brief “Infanticide: A Historical Survey,” focused on the 19th century. zyxwvuts History