CONSTANTINOPLE The Last Great Siege 1453 ROGER CROWLEY For Jan with love, wounded at the sea wall in pursuit of the siege Constantinople is a city larger than its renown proclaims. May God in his grace and generosity deign to make it the capital of Islam. Hasan Ali Al-Harawi, twelfth-century Arab writer I shall tell the story of the tremendous perils … of Constantinople, which I observed at close quarters with my own eyes. Leonard of Chios Table of Contents Title Page Dedication Epigraph List of Illustrations Maps Note on Sources Prologue: The Red Apple Chapter One: The Burning Sea Chapter Two: Dreaming of Istanbul Chapter Three: Sultan and Emperor Chapter Four: Cutting the Throat Chapter Five: The Dark Church Chapter Six: The Wall and the Gun Chapter Seven: Numerous as the Stars Chapter Eight: The