The Forty Sieges of Constantinople

The Great City's Enemies and Its Survival

John D Grainger

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Hardback

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English

Pen and Sword
01 August 2022

History; European history; Ancient history: to c 500 CE; Military history

The great city of Byzantion/Constantinople/Istanbul stands on a commanding cape overlooking a busy waterway. It has been the target of repeated attempts to capture it for the past two and a half millennia. Most of these attacks failed, but some did so in spectacular fashion, such as the great Arab sieges. The inhabitants fought hard in almost every siege, with the result that when the city was captured it was also destroyed, or at least suffered a hideous sack. Almost every nation between the Atlantic and the Steppes of Asia have made attempts to capture the city, some repeatedly but only a few - a Roman emperor, the Crusaders, the Turks - have succeeded. And there is no sign that some have given up the hope of taking it - the last sieges were just before and then during the Great War, by the Bulgars, and then by the Allies, who got no closer than Gallipoli, but the city had to submit to enemy occupation when the empire it ruled collapsed. It is still surrounded by envious neighbours, who wish to control it. The city has been besieged forty times, and has been captured on three or four occasions; it cannot be said to be safe yet. It is still 'The City of the World's Desire'.

AUTHOR: John D Grainger is a former teacher and historian of great experience with a particular interest in Classical and Hellenistic Greek history. His many previous works include the following for Pen & Sword: Hellenistic and Roman Naval Wars (2011); The Wars of the Maccabees (2012); Roman Conquests: Egypt and Judaea (2013); a three-part history of the Seleukid Empire (2014-16), King's and Kingship in the Hellenistic World 350-30 BC (2017), Antipater's Dynasty (2018), Ancient Dynasties (2019, The Roman Imperial Succession (March 2020) and The Straits from Troy to Constantinople (2021). He lives in Evesham, Worcestershire.

By: John D Grainger
Imprint: Pen and Sword
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781399090278
ISBN 10: 1399090275
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 01 August 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified

JOHN D GRAINGER is a former teacher and historian of great experience with a particular interest in Classical and Hellenistic Greek history. His many previous works include the following for Pen & Sword: Hellenistic and Roman Naval Wars (2011); The Wars of the Maccabees (2012); Roman Conquests: Egypt and Judaea (2013); a three-part history of the Seleukid Empire (2014-16), King's and Kingship in the Hellenistic World 350-30 BC (2017), Antipater's Dynasty (2018), Ancient Dynasties (2019, The Roman Imperial Succession (March 2020) and The Straits from Troy to Constantinople (2021). He lives in Evesham, Worcestershire.

Reviews for The Forty Sieges of Constantinople: The Great City's Enemies and Its Survival

"""...this is as much a short history of the site of Byzantion/Constantinople through attacks on the city as it is a story of those assaults.""-- ""De Re Militari"""