The siege and fall of the capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople, by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, marked a turning point in the history of the world. It was more than just another Muslim victory in their centuries-old war on Europe; it was confirmation that a deadly threat had arisen, and had to be checked, otherwise all of Europe would be consumed and extinguished. This work covers the events leading up to the siege, the main players on both sides, the preparations, and a blow-by-blow account of the 53-day siege which finally saw the ancient walls of the city-which had withstood barbarian invaders for nearly 1,000 years-finally breached. The reasons for the weakness of the city are highlighted: calls for aid by the last Eastern Roman emperor saw little or no response from the West, due to the division between Eastern and Western Christianity, and many citizens of the city refused to come to their own defense. Of the population of approximately 100,000, the last emperor could only raise an army of just over 6,000 men, and they, together with a few thousand volunteers from Western Europe, made their last stand against hundreds of thousands of Ottoman Turks. The outcome was inevitable. This new edition of this classic and highly readable work has been reformatted, and enhanced with over 30 new illustrations and dramatic eyewitness accounts unavailable at the time of its original publication. Together, these accounts and the story of the fall of Constantinople make sobering reading, and serve as a warning to the future of Europe more than five centuries after the events they describe.