Dimitri Obolensky Libri

Throughout much of the Middle Ages, the lands of Eastern Europe lay within the orbit of Byzantine political and cultural influence, forming a major preoccupation of the Empire. This is a comprehensive historical account of the relations between the Empire and the peoples of Eastern Europe.

Most of this book is about bygone days of imperial Russia. However, instead of being a typical "Nicholas and Alexandra" book or "How the Royal Family Lived", the passages here are first person accounts, recorded as memories, or as the actual journal entries. Through this, the reader gets a picture of what it was like living in the upper echelon of society in the latter half of the 19th century, and the early 20th. It is striking and gorgeous.