The clash of eastern and western cultures is vividly wrought in this romantic and gripping account of the fall of Constantinople.

1453: An army is on the move. The brilliant and ambitious Turkish sultan, Mehmed, has declared war on the great Byzantine Empire city of Constantinople. Queen of Cities sweeps readers back to an age of armored heroes and high-walled cities, of Machiavellian mistresses and scheming politicians, of religious conflict and the clash of empires.

With scrupulous historian's eye and a poet's depth of feeling, Andrew Novo unveils a city caught in a life and death struggle, targeted for conquest by the world's most powerful man. The stone, silk, and steel of the fifteenth century come to life as the battle rages on land and sea with deadly machines of destruction. In this conflict, the fate of two civilizations, two faiths, and Constantinople, the Queen of Cities, will be decided.