Osprey Trade Editions : Constantinople 1453

This chronicles the epic four month siege of the city of Constantinople, the last vestige of the once mighty Roman and Byzantine Empires. Mehmet 'The Conqueror' led an army of 80,000 men with a massive siege train including 70 heavy cannon and 12 superbombards. Defending the city were a mere 10,000 men under the Emperor Constantine XI. The Turkish artillery battered the ancient city walls and a number of breaches were made by both guns and mining but the defenders built palisades and counterattacked vigorously to dive off each Turkish assault. A final heavy bombardment levelled a large section of the walls and the defenders could not block the breaches completely. In spite of this, a gallant defence held a massive Turkish assault for several hours. Another Turkish force managed to take an unguarded section of the thinly manned wall and attacked the defenders from behind. Refusing appeals to flee, Constantine - last Emperor of the Byzantines returned to the breaches and fought on until overwhelmed and killed. Text by David Nicolle with illustrations by Christa Hook.