Customer Reviews
The Fall of Constantinople - By: Dr Gautam Sen, 03 Jan 2009 
Crowley's history of the falll of Constantinople is gripping & moving, written with great panache & thoroughly recommended.
Best I've read in a long time, superb! - By: Mr. M. G. Sykes, 27 Feb 2008 An excellent read. Think of the sieges in LOTR's the twin towers & return of the king rolled into one, but this actuallly happened!. This is one of the most exciting, enthrallling & entertaining histories I've ever read.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough, buy it & be amazed.
Colourful and unbiased - By: Graham R. Hill, 04 Dec 2007 
This is an even-handed account of the falll 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 & the lesser & smalller number of cruelties committed by the Byzantines, but nor does it pitch the contest as a clash between light & dark.
It is well illustrated with both black & white line drawings & colour plates & contains annotated references, a discussion of the source material & a bibliography. I particularly liked the use of an epilogue to address the fates of both people & 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 - By: Thomas Quinn, 24 Apr 2007 The historian brings personages to life by telling the story of their times - illuminating them & their deeds. The novelist brings history to life by telling the stories of the people who made it - real & imagined, by painting a more colorful & sometimes, complete picture.
As Napoleon said, "history is the agreed version of events by the victors." Much of what happened before photography & 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 challlenge!
I am a novelist & 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 historicallly accurate, I trust) account of the great siege of Constantinople & what happened afterwards.
I appreciate his decision to go with his gut when disparate versions of history irreconcilably collide & avoid the use of "perhaps", "possibly", & "might have", which can drag historical storytelling to a standstill.
Crowley's style is highly readable & skillfully blends history with many illustrative anecdotes to bring the siege to life. Who can deny the courage of the Ottoman's & 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 & 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 & show that, despite the strength of the Ottoman army, the siege reallly was a near run thing."
I understand from his website that Crowley's next work will detail the continuing struggle between the Ottomans & the West that culminated in the epic battle of Lepanto in 1571 & a decisive Christian victory.
I will definitely buy it before beginning my third novel in my Venetians series.
A great tale rendered brilliantly - By: Gareth Power, 23 Feb 2007 Loads of high-profile historical books are praised to the rafters these days, & yet when you read them you often find that the writer has not fully got to grips with the subject matter, & you end up absorbing little real knowledge or deriving much entertainment.
This book is an exception. Lucid, exciting & thoroughly entertaining, this is one of the best I've ever read.
