Homer’s back, and she’s Japanese! Christendom and the Muslim World lock horns over a city

The Fall of Constantinople

By Nanami Shiono

Translated by Kerim Yasar
Narrative Nonfiction
Hardcover, 240 pages, 5.25 x 8.25 inches
978-1-932234-17-6 / 1-932234-17-9
U.S.$19.95 / CAN$25.95

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The Fall of Constantinople has sold over half a million copies in Japan, where the author, Nanami Shiono, is a household name in popular history. Currently residing in Rome, Shiono stands out as a flamboyant citizen of the world, taking on such subjects as the collapse of the Byzantine Empire (The Fall of Constantinople) and a 15-volume history of the Roman Empire (Tale of the Romans) with superior narrative and historical acuity. She has been described as a “masculine writer” and “creative historian” comparable to Stephen Ambrose and Ken Burns in scope, depth and popularity.

The story of an empire begins the way history always does – with the end. Through the eyes of a Venetian doctor, Genoan monks, Greek sailors and love-lorn assistants, we witness the battle of two monarchs—Sultan Mehmed the Second, despotic leader of the Ottoman Empire, and Emperor Constantine, revered as much as he was feared.

“Reading Nanami Shiono’s historical tales is like uncovering brilliant stories in an ancient scroll.”
—Gendai Weekly

“With extreme literary prowess and a major subject, Shiono vividly recalls a historically unique battle of empires”
—East Asian Economy Weekly

“Shiono has a talent for weaving the thoughts of diverse characters into a credible narrative [and] depict[ing], in elegant prose, the decisive moments of the battle… A well-paced and entertaining insight into the fall of a city and the various political and religious forces that contributed to its decline.”
—International Herald Tribune