1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West Audible Audiobook – Unabridged Roger Crowley (Author), Simon Prebble (Narrator), Hachette Audio (Publisher) (HAchette Audio)

So often it's hard, especially in the time period in question and when dealing with conflicts involving major world religions, to find a book that is completely unbiased in it's reporting of the subject matter. This book and this author are the exception to that rule. That to begin with was what I enjoyed about this book. Mr. Crowley's position on the subject at hand is that of objective reporter of historical events. There is no personal or religious/Western bias of any kind (Not that I know anything of his personal beliefs) in this book or any sense that Mr. Crowley belongs to a "side" in the subject matter.

As for the subject matter itself, the book starts as a general overview of the emergence of Islam, it's conquest of the Arab world and it's previous conflicts with the Byzantines. It then generally covers the Byzantines history in the area over the previous 400 years and the way thier policies and mutual interactions led up the events to be covered.

The bulk of the book is a straight forward military history of the battle and the seige, covering historical documents as well as personal accounts of the battle from individuals who fought it. It covers the blood and guts details that you would expect to find in a medieval battle, detailing atrocieties committed with no attempt to whitewash or excuse, but also no attempt to judge from a modern perspective. All in all, one of the most enjoying and easy to read books I've read in some time.