The Fall of Constantinople: The Ottoman conquest of Byzantium (General Military)

The illustrations and photos in this book are truly beautiful. That's what first caught my eye. The text, however gave me a new appreciatiation that the fortifications for the city were substantial and that its defeat was not inevitable. The sacking of the city by the Venetians and the failure of the west to help in its time of need were major issues in its fall. I had the opportunity to see the chains that had been stretched across the Golden Horn to stop the invaders and the siege cannon that had been used by the Ottomans when I was in Constantinople. This book really gave me a deep sense of how all the pieces I had seen fit together and how those walls stood so effectively so long as a barrier from invasion.

_The Fall of Constantinople_ covers much more than the 1453 seige and occupation of the city and end of the Byzantine Empire. It really is a detailed military history of Byzantium, culminating with its demise. As the authors point out, for much of its history, the Byzantine Empire was at war. The first half of the book is concerned with the details of the Byzantine military: its organization, war as foreign policy, even discussing what life was like in the Byzantine army. The last half of the book goes in to excrutiating detail about the walls of Constantinople - their construction, the various seiges of Byzantium and finally, the conquest of the empire by Mehmet II. Throughout the book are numerous color illustrations of men-at-arms, Byzantine art, photos of the city now, cut away diagrams of the city and its fortifications and detailed maps showing the final seige and occupation. The relevance of the military to the continued survival of the Byzantine Empire cannot be underscored, as Haldon, Turnbull and Nicolle clearly and convinvingly point out. While I had anticipated a more socio-political treatise, I was not disappointed - this would certainly be an excellent companion piece to any survey of Byzantine history.

D. Nicolle, J. Haldon and S. Turnbull's THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE: THE OTTOMAN CONQUEST OF BYZANTIUM is a pick for any collection strong in early history, particular of the Roman Empire era. It follows the fall of the Roman Empire in general and Byzantium's eight-century struggle for survival. Constantine's powerful central city and its amazing wall system fell to the Turks during a massive siege train against the city, which held out for four months until Turkish artillery succeeded in destroying it. It's a powerful survey not to be missed.