To the Editor:
It was a rare pleasure to read Hugh Kennedy's excellent review of Lord Norwick's work, "Byzantium: The Decline and Fall" (January 7, 1996).
Mr. Kennedy's observation that it is worthwhile to study the Byzantine Empire (even for the limited purpose of developing a clearer understanding of today's eastern Europe) is absolutely on the mark.
This point has apparently been lost on the new crop of self-styled "experts" in Balkan history and political culture who have recently offered what are no more than pretentious travelogues masquerading as historiography. Unfortunately, there has been a spate of such books offered in response to the political ferment in the region, perhaps best exemplified by Robert Kaplan's superficially convincing but amateurish Balkan Ghosts.
It would be of great benefit to the Book Review section and its readership to continue to publish reviews such as Mr. Kennedy's, whose work is based not on casual observation and facile explanation but on insights gleaned from a lifetime of serious study and dedicated scholarship.
Very truly yours,
Paul J. Kutscera, Esq.cc:
Hugh Kennedy