Description
By Andrew Wheatcroft. In 1683, the seemingly invincible Ottoman army was camped out at the gates of Vienna. The future of Europe was in the balance. Read about this pivotal moment in the bloody rivalry between the Ottoman and Habsburg empires.
It’s Islam vs Christianity. It’s East vs West. It’s yesterday vs. today. A rich portrait covering in fascinating detail a battle that is still going on across the globe.
In 1683, an Ottoman army that stretched from horizon to horizon set out to seize the “Golden Apple,” as Turks referred to Vienna. The ensuing siege pitted battle-hardened Janissaries wielding seventeenth-century grenades against Habsburg armies.
The walls of Vienna bristled with guns as the besieging Ottoman host launched bombs, fired cannons, and showered the populace with arrows during the battle for Christianity’s bulwark.
The Great Siege of Vienna is the centerpiece for historian Andrew Wheatcroft’s richly drawn portrait of the centuries-long rivalry between the Ottoman and Habsburg empires for control of the European continent. A gripping work by a master historian, The Enemy at the Gate offers a timely examination of an epic clash of civilizations.
Hardcover, 400 pages, oversized
