1453 Quotes

1453 by Roger Crowley is a novel about the time before the fall of the Byzantine Empire and how the people in the churches fought over differences in the way they said their prayers. The thesis is that even when you think you are this great nation you can fall into defeat. This means that you should not be so cocky and oblivious to what is going on around you even if you think that you have no one that is as strong as your army. The author is biased to the Ottoman Empire. He says quotes like “The Ottomans always knew that speed was the key to storming fortresses (95). Also he said “No army in the world could match the Ottomans in the organization fo a military campain (97). These show that he thought that the Ottomans were a stronger force

and were so much more advanced than the other empires.
This is told in a linear or chronological way because each chapter is marked by months and years, within that it is told month by month. Chronological is the easiest way to understand information because it is told in order with when it happened.
This is useful as a historical source because he uses his own knowledge of what happened but also uses the knowledge of eyewitnesses. He mentions multiple times that he talked with eyewitnesses. Also he uses historical documents that he has found that he thinks are from around this time.
When he talked about the holy war he said that this time was described as a fight and slaughtering that was justified because of the Islams using the Koran as the fighting outline.