1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West
Reseña del editor
A gripping exploration of the fall of Constantinople and its connection to the world we live in today, 1453 tells the story of one of the great forgotten events of world history, the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks.For a thousand years Constantinople was quite simply the city: fabulously wealthy, imperial, intimidating—and Christian. Single-handedly it blunted early Arab enthusiasm for Holy War; when a second wave of Islamic warriors swept out of the Asian steppes in the Middle Ages, Constantinople was the ultimate prize: The Red Apple. It was a city that had always lived under threat. On average it had survived a siege every forty years for a millenium—until the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, twenty-one years old and hungry for glory, rode up to the walls in April 1453 with a huge army, numberless as the stars.1453 is the taut, vivid story of this final struggle for the city told largely through the accounts of eyewitnesses. For fifty-five days a tiny group of defenders defied the huge Ottoman army in a seesawing contest fought on land, at sea, and underground. During the course of events, the largest cannon ever built was directed against the world’s most formidable defensive system, Ottoman ships were hauled overland into the Golden Horn, and the morale of defenders was crucially undermined by unnerving portents. At the center is the contest between two inspirational leaders, Mehmed II and Constantine XI, fighting for empire and religious faith, and an astonishing finale in a few short hours on May 29, 1453—a defining moment for medieval history.1453 is both a gripping work of narrative history and an account of the war between Christendom and Islam that still has echoes in the modern world.
Biografía del autor
Roger Crowley is a UK-based writer and historian and a graduate of Cambridge University. As the child of a naval family, his fascination with the Mediterranean world started early, on the island of Malta. He has lived in Istanbul, walked across much of western Turkey, and traveled widely throughout the region. His particular interests are the Byzantine, Venetian, and Ottoman empires, seafaring, and eyewitness history. He is the author of three books on the empires of the Mediterranean and its surroundings: 1453: The Holy War for Constantinople, Empires of the Sea, and City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Waves.
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- EditorialHACHETTE BOOKS
- Año de publicación2016
- ISBN 10 1478914378
- ISBN 13 9781478914372
- EncuadernaciónCD de audio
- IdiomaInglés
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