State Law as Islamic Law in Modern Egypt: The Incorporation of the Shariainto Egyptian Constitutional Law Book

An eminently readable and detailed account of the May 1453 Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire. I enjoyed this account and learned a lot.

Background to the conflict was presented, then the personalities of the two protagonists, Constantine XI, aged 49, and Mehmet II, a young man of 21. We are taken through the conflict, point by point. There are many quotes from accounts of that period. The Ottomans have swallowed up most of the Byzantine Empire already; and Mehmet thinks of himself as a new Alexander. Instead of heading east, he turns his thoughts to the west, Constantinople being a convenient launching pad to any further conquests. We see preparations for a protracted siege. Mehmet's army is the first professionally paid army since that of the classical Romans. Byzantines, along with Venetian and Genoese enclaves, prepare for defense. Mehmet finds two weak spots in the fortifications and by concentrating on them, after many days, successfully besieges the city. The strong many-layered fortification and water on many sides fail to protect the city. Mehmet uses the classic siege techniques: a fleet, blockade, and most successfully, artillery bombardment with giant cannons. Siege towers, a more sophisticated version of the old Roman viniae fail, as well as tunneling under the walls. The author considers this continued bombardment of the walls "the world's first concerted artillery bombardment." Mehmet's soldiers portaging their fleet overland, since the Golden Horn had been blocked with a boom, was absolutely incredible!! Ancient Greeks had already dragged their ships overland at the diolkos, the Isthmus of Corinth--from Ionian to Aegean Sea or vice versa. As of the present, modern Greece has built a canal.

You have to admire Constantine for refusing to desert his people when he had a chance to escape and for fighting alongside them, although he knew the fight was probably hopeless. Since reading this I have read a fascinating nonfiction biography of Constantine XI: The Immortal Emperor: The Life and Legend of Constantine Palaiologos, Last Emperor of the Romans.

Attention is given to the superstition, 'portents' and 'prophecies' of the Byzantines. They interpret as bad omens a partial eclipse, St. Elmo's fire on one of the churches and a thick fog rushing in; they feel that these are signs that God has abandoned them. The author conjectures that an island in the Pacific had blown itself up earlier in the year; the bad weather is fallout. The author calls this the "Krakatoa of the Middle Ages." After the defeat, we read about Mehmet's legacy and of subsequent events. The maps of the area and of Constantinople 1453 were very useful and helped me visualize.

Highly recommended.