a single book. He should have split into several books. Still, I do love reading about the Dutch in the 15th and 16th centuries. It connects to my love of pre-English NYC history. Speaking of which, have you read The Island at The Center of the World by Shorto? Excellent scholarship on Dutch New Amsterdam. Interesting thesis on the binary opposition between the religious Massachusetts Bay colony and the secular, commercial New Amsterdam colony and how the latter was able to successfully stave off the former's attempt at universal theocracy.

And that footnote is awesome. But then again, so is Theodora. As is Belisarius. Many great personalities in the 6th century CE. BTW, Another great book of modern scholarship that uses scientific records to explore the era is Rosen's Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe . It expands our understanding of the 6th century in ways that Gibbon could only imagine doing.