Tom Holland's "Shadow of the Sword" covers this and the broader context. "Justinian's Flea" is set a century earlier, but provides some grimly fascinating background: both these empires were still suffering the economic and demographic consequences of a plague. It's an under appreciated period of history, just as interesting as the Roman civil war imho.
Anything off of the beaten track of Pharoahs -> Greece -> Rome -> GoT -> WWII is pretty under-appreciated. I've been reading more about Byzantium, the Ottomans, and the Persians and it's been fascinating. We never really scratched the surface of any of that in school.
As a big history fan, history just writes the best stories. There is so much more. It never ends.
I have been binging on the Swedish Empire recently.
Currently I'm trying to get a bit into pre-Columbus and early Colonial Americas. That's something I don't know much about because its just so separated from what some world historians call the 'Imperial Core'.
If you are interested in late medival times, I highly recommend this series on the Dutch Revolt, its among the best and most detailed series of video on any history topic I have found:
Oh man, I'm down. I have The Labyrinth of Solitude on my reading list, it's not pre-Columbian, but I think it's a cultural touchstone, and it's a Mexican writer, not some American that knows just enough Spanish.
I read Layered Money, and it talked about the VoC, but I think that's a few decades after the Dutch Revolt. I'll check it out!
If you want a wild story, read about Judah P. Benjamin. He was the descendant of Sephardic Jewish refugees from the Spanish Inquisition, he was the first openly Jewish U.S. senator (representing Louisiana), eventually a Confederate Cabinet member, and finally a barrister in England. To top it all off, he was likely gay. To put things into perspective, he was a partner in sugar plantation, a slave owner, and an prominent advocate for slavery. Usually when you hear anything about the man, it's his international resume, not the fact of his slave ownership.
Agreed. Sounds like you're definitely a candidate (or have already read) for the two books I mentioned and I'll add "The Venetian Empire" by Jan Morris, and anything by Peter Brown, John Julius Norwich, and Roger Crowley to the pile. Better than fiction. Oh, and "Ghost on the Throne" by James Romm, which shares an abbreviation and more with Martin's fantasy.
I read a short historical fantasy novella named The Passion, by Jeanette Winterson. It was very good, and it has interested me in Venice ever since. It's from 1987 but it's very gender-bendery and fun.
These sound like great places to continue reading. I really enjoyed The Ottomans by Marc David Baer. I love that history is so much weirder (and relevant) than fiction. It's easier to connect with people, and understand where they might be coming from, when you understand some history. You can't say that for a lot of sci-fi/fantasy outside of the Snow Crash and The Lord of the Rings.
