Past Imperfect presents concise critical overviews of the latest research by the world's leading scholars. Subjects cross the full range of fields in the period ca. 400-1500 CE which, in a European context, is known as the Middle Ages. Anyone interested in this period will be enthralled and enlightened by these overviews, written in provocative but accessible language. These affordable paperbacks prove that the era stiil retains a powerful resonance and impact throughout the world today. Byzantine Studies has reached a tipping point: a growing number of historians have realized that the terms "Byzantium" and "the Byzantines" distort the reality and identity of the society that we study, and encode a series of prejudices that were embedded in western perceptions. The aim of these terms was to exclude the eastern empire from important discussions and historical developments. It is time to end this exercise in orientalist fiction, but what are the alternatives? In this book, Anthony Kaldellis surveys the pros and cons of a range of possible options and examines the implications of a field name-change also for art history, philology, and the study of Eastern Orthodoxy.

The new name he proposes will carry the field into the next phase of its history, renegotiate its relationships with its peers and respect the testimony of our sources.