1453 : The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West (Paperback)

from pbjwelch

To be honest, I had hoped for more than just the tale of the fall of Constantinople. For example, I had read somewhere that it was because of the fall of the 'Eastern Rome' (Constantinople) that Ptolemy's lost Geographia had been re-found to the West. This geography, written by Ptolemy in the 1-2...

from fist

Thrilling account of the inevitable fall of Constantinople. The battle is described in vivid detail,like a scene from The Lord of the Ring II. Yet the author doesn't get carried away with Greek irredentism or military minutiae, but also covers the emotional states of the various parties involved ...

from jcbrunner

Roger Crowley's pageturner gets good mileage out of presenting the fall of Constantinople as a decisive and open moment. In reality, it was not a "clash of Islam and the West", as the West chose not to involve itself for the leftover city of the Byzantine Empire. All the surrounding areas had alr...

from NielsenGW

Roger Crowley weaves together a brilliant history of Mehmet II's siege of Constantinople in 1453. Much of his prose is worthy of the best novel writers. To some, the book may be slanted toward a particular side of the battle, but the work is for most part balanced in its portrayal of both the bes...

from janerawoof

An eminently readable and detailed account of the May 1453 Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire. I enjoyed this account and learned much. Background to the conflict was presented, then the personalities of the two protagonists, Constantine XI, aged 49, and Mehmet II, a boy of 21. We are t...