1453. The year when the existence of the “Second Rome” - the great Byzantine Empire ended. How was it? In the spring of 1453, a huge army of Ottoman Turks moved to the capital of Byzantium. The legendary siege of Constantinople began, an operation that had no equal in scale throughout the history of the late Middle Ages. Why do historians consider this siege primarily a confrontation between two outstanding people - Emperor Constantine XI and Sultan Mehmed II? Is it true that both sides acted in an atmosphere of fear of the imminent “end of the world”? And what circumstances decided the outcome of the siege of Constantinople in just a few hours on May 29, 1453? The English scientist Roger Crowley answers these and other questions in his fascinating book.