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Constantinople: The Last Great Siege, 1453 | 
 enlarge | Author: Roger Crowley
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Category: Book
List Price: £9.99
Buy New: £4.75
You Save: £5.24 (52%)
New (25) Used (5) from £4.50
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 8786
Media: Paperback
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1
ISBN: 0571221866
EAN: 9780571221868
ASIN: 0571221866
Publication Date: November 2, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
The Fall of Constantinople January 3, 2009
Dr Gautam Sen (London, United Kingdom)
Crowley's history of the fall of Constantinople is gripping and moving, written with great panache and thoroughly recommended.
Best I've read in a long time, superb! February 27, 2008
Mr. M. G. Sykes (UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
An excellent read. Think of the sieges in LOTR's the twin towers and return of the king rolled into one, but this actually happened!. This is one of the most exciting, enthralling and entertaining histories I've ever read.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough, buy it and be amazed.
 Colourful and unbiased December 4, 2007
Graham R. Hill (Ilkley)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is an even-handed account of the fall of the Byzantine empire and, less common in books on this subject, the rise of the Ottoman empire. It doesn't shy away from detailing the many cruelties of the Ottomans and the lesser and smaller number of cruelties committed by the Byzantines, but nor does it pitch the contest as a clash between light and dark.
It is well illustrated with both black and white line drawings and colour plates and contains annotated references, a discussion of the source material and a bibliography. I particularly liked the use of an epilogue to address the fates of both people and things present at the siege.
I concur with those who suggest reading this alongside Runciman for a rounded view.
Reads like fiction, informs like non-fiction should April 24, 2007
Thomas Quinn (Philadelphia)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
The historian brings personages to life by telling the story of their times - illuminating them and their deeds. The novelist brings history to life by telling the stories of the people who made it - real and imagined, by painting a more colorful and sometimes, complete picture.
As Napoleon said, "history is the agreed version of events by the victors." Much of what happened before photography and film made accurate recording possible can be disputed. With that in mind, Roger Crowley has done a commendable job. How would I know? Because this reviewer has encountered the same challenge!
I am a novelist and my first book, "The Lion of St. Mark (St. Martin's Press, 2005), was written before I read Roger Crowley's 1453. I only wish I had his wonderful book by my side when I was toiling over disputing sources as I wrote my fictional (but historically accurate, I trust) account of the great siege of Constantinople and what happened afterwards.
I appreciate his decision to go with his gut when disparate versions of history irreconcilably collide and avoid the use of "perhaps", "possibly", and "might have", which can drag historical storytelling to a standstill.
Crowley's style is highly readable and skillfully blends history with many illustrative anecdotes to bring the siege to life. Who can deny the courage of the Ottoman's and the Christians as they contended in their supreme struggle after reading "The Last Great Siege, 1453"? Their move/counter-move contest reminds me of the Battle of the North Atlantic in WWII that saw the Allies and Germans constantly one-up each other to achieve supremacy.
Traditional histories suffer from the readers' foreknowledge of how things end. Only a first-rate writer is able to make history "read like a novel" to maintain the suspense and show that, despite the strength of the Ottoman army, the siege really was a near run thing."
I understand from his website that Crowley's next work will detail the continuing struggle between the Ottomans and the West that culminated in the epic battle of Lepanto in 1571 and a decisive Christian victory.
I will definitely buy it before beginning my third novel in my Venetians series.
A great tale rendered brilliantly February 23, 2007
Gareth Power
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Loads of high-profile historical books are praised to the rafters these days, and yet when you read them you often find that the writer has not fully got to grips with the subject matter, and you end up absorbing little real knowledge or deriving much entertainment.
This book is an exception. Lucid, exciting and thoroughly entertaining, this is one of the best I've ever read.
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