The Walls Of Constantinople Ad 324-1453 (Fortress)

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Summary: A look at a City and its Walls
Review: The city of Constantinople has been an important location in history since the times when it was called Byzantium. Now called Istanbul, its history is rich and impressive.

This book concentrates mostly on the walls around the city during the period when it was called Constantinople. These fortifications played an important part in giving this city its long standing importance, and Stephen Turnbull gives us some very good insight into just how important the walls are.

The actual history here involves only the city of Constantinople itself, and does not venture much beyond it. In the chapter entitled "The walls of Constantinople under siege" we meet many of the forces that tried at one time or another to conquer the city and bring it under their control. Some succeeded, as in the 4th Crusade, others failed, like the Avars and the Persians. The discussions are short, and leave room for further research by the reader, depending on the time period interest.

But the focus is the City itself, and the walls which gave this city prominence. Besides the location, which is considered the separation point between Europe and Asia, it also is a key port on the route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. It has been sought after and valued by many who sought to control it over the centuries, and has been a center for trade, empires and intrigues.

This book, as all the books in this series, gives very detailed information about the City itself, the wall in particular. Mr. Trumbull covers the construction of the walls and gates, the history, the fortifications, and the various forces that attempted to siege the city and why they succeeded or failed. This information is accompanied by photos by the author and Eileen Brayshaw, which give us some very good visuals of the material discussed.

Also accompanying this material is the expert art work of Peter Dennis, who fills in some of the historical information in graphic form, allowing us to "see" the original fortifications, the glorious gates, and the historical sieges from the vantage point of one looking back in time at the city and it's walls. Again, accurate details and expert renderings make these graphics a valuable addition to this book.

Finally, it is important to note the addition of maps, timelines, and a very good bibliography make this an excellent resource for students and those interested in this piece of important history.

It would be good to note here that while the material in this book would not be something that would be focused on specifically in a classroom situation, the research provided would make an excellent addition to a report on the Middle Ages, or the Crusades. Constantinople is an interesting side note to the Crusades and it also plays an important part in the history.

This is an excellent book to add to a school library or to your own library on Medieval History and should not be overlooked because of it's size or content. This is a very in depth look at the importance of a single city and it's fortifications that held a very important place in medieval history and continues today to be a city of great importance in history. Medievalcrusadesbabe