Authors: David Nicolle / Stephen Turnbull / John Haldon

Byzantium was the last bastion of the Roman Empire following the fall of
the Western Roman Empire. It fought for survival for eight centuries until,
in the mid-15th century, the emperor Constantine XI ruled just a handful
of whittled down territories, an empire in name and tradition only. This
lavishly illustrated book chronicles the history of Byzantium, the evolution
of the defenses of Constantinople and the epic siege of the city, which saw
a force of 80,000 men repelled by a small group of determined defenders until
the Turks smashed the city's protective walls with artillery. Regarded by
some as the tragic end of the Roman Empire, and by others as the belated
suppression of an aging relic by an ambitious young state, the impact of the
capitulation of the city resonated through the centuries and heralded the
rapid rise of the Islamic Ottoman Empire.

Download File Size:49.62 MB

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