The Fall of Constantinople in 1453 is considered by some to be the tragic end of the last bastion of the Roman Empire, while others see it as the eradication of an outdated social remnant by an ambitious new superstate.

Nonetheless, it is an event that has marked History. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Byzantium struggled to survive for eight centuries until the mid-15th century, when Emperor Constantine XI ruled over only a small number of regions, thus an empire that existed only in name.

What it still possessed, however, was a strong weapon of defense: its capital, Constantinople, which was protected by impregnable walls that had been breached only twice. By 1453, Constantinople had become a great temptation for the Turks.

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[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]