“History of the Byzantine Empire” by A.A. Vasilyeva is one of the unique phenomena in the history of historical thought. There are very few general histories of Byzantium written by one researcher. “History of the Byzantine Empire” is an excellent example of a general work, which briefly, clearly, with a large number of references to the main sources and research, characterizes all periods of the history of Byzantium. Foreign policy history is presented by A.A. Vasilyev completely. The problems of internal history are treated unevenly, although the main problems of the internal life of each period are touched upon or mentioned. The first volume examines the history of the Byzantine Empire from the time of Constantine the Great to the beginning of the era of the Crusades.