Window into 9th Century
In the 9th Century, the Byzantine patriarch Photius assembled reviews of 279 books. Because almost half of those works no longer survive, his reviews provide a unique window the early to mid-Byzantine period.
There is probably no one better qualified to write on this subject than Warren Treadgold, whose history of Byzantium is now a standard work. Professor Treadgold writes with erudition and wit, and his monograph on the Biblioteca of Photius is well worth reading.
