A review by auspea
1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West by Roger Crowley

4.0

Here is a book that reads like a historical Game of Thrones. The intrigues and action is as exciting as fiction. Roger Crowley's examination of the key figures involved in the fall of Constantinople is enlightening. His depiction of the clash between Mehmed II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and Constantine XI, the 57th emperor of Byzantium is described in astonishing detail. For someone with a western education, I found learning the details of fall of the Eastern Roman Empire and the rise of the Ottoman Empire is thrilling.