The definitive account of the last serious threat to Western civilization by the armies of Islam

The siege of Vienna in 1683 was one of the turning points in European history. It was the last threat to Western Christendom—so disastrous was its potential outcome that countries normally jealous and hostile sank their differences to throw back the Muslim armies and their savage Tartar allies.

The consequences of defeat were momentous: the Ottomans lost half of their European territories and began the long decline, which led to the final collapse of their empire; and the Hasburgs turned their attention from France and the Rhine frontier to the rich pickings of the Balkans. That hot September day in 1683 witnessed the last great trial of strength between Cross and Crescent—and opened an epoch in European history that lasted until the cataclysm of the First World War.