I was hoping this book would be more interesting than it was. It was well researched, and the topic of Ravenna could have been much more interesting. I think the writing was where it struggled because Part One was very confusing when trying to keep people and timelines straight. It did get clearer by Part Two.

History of Ravenna- used for a paper on the Ostrogoths and art 

dense reading for people who don't know the history besides a few key names. Difficult to keep track of all the popes, etc.