The Siege and the Fall of Constantinople in 1453

This study by Philippides (classics, U. of Massachusetts) and Hanak (emeritus, history, Shepherd U.) provides a critical evaluation of the voluminous sources (including those neglected by modern historians) relevant to the two-month siege and subsequent fall of the city of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks led by Sultan Mehmed II in 1453. They assess the authenticity and inauthenticity, reliability, and factual accuracy of these sources and then apply the findings of that analysis to reconstructing the military planning and operational approaches in the course of the siege, examining the approaches of both sides, but paying particular attention to the Ottoman offense, as they believe that the overall nature of Ottoman strategy has been neglected by modern historians in favor of the view of the siege as a series of isolated events. Appendices include a journal of events linked to the siege; a compilation of texts about the execution of the Grand Duke, Loukas Notaras, and about the incident at Kerkoporta, in which an opening allowed the entrance of a small group of Ottoman Turks into the City; and a provisional prosopography of the defenders based on available texts. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Marios Philippides is Chair and Senior Professor of Classics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA; Walter K. Hanak is Professor of History, Emeritus, Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, West Virginia, USA