The Fall of Constantinople

Ghost stories have haunted conversations since ancient times, from the Mesopotamians to the Romans to the Vikings. The medieval period was particularly awash with ghost stories - after all, it was an era of great plague, piety and corporal punishment. Ghost stories served as usef ...  Show more

In June 1940, France was collapsing. Paris was in enemy hands, the government had fled, and Marshal Pétain was preparing to surrender. Into that chaos stepped a lanky, rigid French general with no army, no government and almost no followers - Charles de Gaulle. From penniless exi ...  Show more

May 1453 saw Constantinople under siege - the culmination of an age long struggle between Christianity and Islam for control of the Eastern Mediterranean. The Ottoman leader Mehmed II had dreamed of possessing the city since he was a boy, and now the shining light of Chri ...

The fall of Constantinople, also known as the conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun on 6 April. Help us out by fi ...  Show more

1453 - Was the Fall of Constantinople a foregone conclusion, and is it correct to regard it as the fall of the once great city?  The fascinating story of the city, the characters and the sequence of events that led to the dramatic end of Roman culture.