The book includes two works by the outstanding Russian and subsequently American Byzantine scholar, academician Alexander Vasiliev - “Byzantium and the Crusaders” (1923) and “The Fall of Byzantium” (1925). A sharp and unbiased look, a clear analysis of the reasons for the unfolding events, extensive use of sources - these are the distinctive features of his books. We see how the Byzantine Empire is gradually being corroded by internal contradictions, how it is being pushed out from the west by the Latins led by Venice and from the east by the Turks, how, finally, the crusaders, having forgotten about the Holy Sepulcher, turn the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople - a brilliant city that never knew equal to themselves in Europe, take possession of it and establish their state on the plundered ashes. Fifty years later, the Byzantine Empire was revived, but its strength was undermined. By 1453, it had all shrunk to the size of its capital, and then came the final act of the great historical drama - the storming of the city by Sultan Mehmed II and the death of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI in hand-to-hand combat... Thus ended the thousand-year history of Byzantium.