Overview

Major historian Andrew Wheatcroft reveals the full story of four centuries of Ottoman incursions into the heartlands of Europe, culminating in the momentous 1683 Siege of Vienna. In 1683, two empires - the Ottoman, based in Constantinople, and the Habsburg dynasty in Vienna - came face to face in the culmination of a 250-year power struggle- the Great Siege of Vienna. Within the city walls the choice of resistance over surrender to the largest army ever assembled by the Turks created an all-or-nothing scenario- every last survivor would be enslaved or ruthlessly slaughtered. The Turks had set their sights on taking Vienna, the city they had long called 'The Golden Apple' since their first siege of the city in 1529. Both sides remained resolute, sustained by hatred of their age-old enemy, certain that their victory would be won by the grace of God. Eastern invaders had always threatened the West- Huns, Mongols, Goths, Visigoths, Vandals and many others. The Western fears of the East were vivid and powerful and, in their new eyes, the Turks always appeared the sole aggressors. Andrew Wheatcroft's extraordinary book shows that this belief is a grievous oversimplification- during the 400 year struggle for domination, the West took the offensive just as often as the East. As modern Turkey seeks to re-orient its relationship with Europe, a new generation of politicians is exploiting the residual fears and tensions between East and West to hamper this change. The Enemy at the Gate provides a timely and masterful account of this most complex and epic of conflicts.

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9781844137411

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""Impressively researched... he has a forensic grasp of the terrain and the tactics, produces excellent miniatures of the frontline generals and deploys extraordinary eyewitness accounts with great skill... Wheatcroft has done us all a service by bringing another part of the story of Ottoman-European interaction to the attention of English-speaking readers"" Literary Review ""The book gives a fine account of the siege itself... thoughtful and thought-provoking, as well as being a cracking good story"" Sunday Telegraph ""It is tremendous stuff, a masterpiece of historical writing"" Daily Telegraph ""Wheatcroft captures the sweep of great events in this riveting book. He also nails historical myths that still resonate to this day"" -- Simon Shaw Daily Mail ""Well-balanced, readable and timely account of the 1683 siege"" -- Jay Dixon Historical Novels Review

Historian Wheatcroft (Centre for Publishing Studies/Univ. of Stirling; Infidels: A History of the Conflict Between Christendom and Islam<\i>, 2004, etc.) presents a blow-by-blow account of the Siege of Vienna of 1683.Determined to bring all people under Ottoman rule and under the authority of Islam, Sultan Mehmed IV, along with his Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa, gathered their vast army - comprised of ferocious Tartars, janissaries and Balkan riders - and marched on Vienna, the seat of Christianity and Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. The Ottomans might well have succeeded if the Germans and Polish cavalry hadn't come to the Habsburgs' rescue. Wheatcroft demonstrates a scholarly command of this multifaceted area of history, carefully sifting through the evidence on both sides, Western and Eastern. He dutifully chronicles the two-month showdown, which ended in the rout of the Turks by military leaders such as Prince Eugene of Savoy, Charles of Lorraine and Count Ernst Rudiger von Starhemberg. While the Habsburg defenses' were vulnerable, weakened by the Thirty Years' War, the leaders were strong, the tactics effective and the Viennese stronghold substantial. Their outright fear of the enemy - Turkish armies were terrifying to behold - proved instrumental as well. In contrast, the Ottomans, under the vainglorious Vizier, underestimated the Habsburg strengths and could not control their own manpower; their confidence in victory proved delusional. Wheatcroft does a fine job marshaling much of the available new research, emphasizing the role of Hungary as the battleground in the confrontation between two great empires. A highly specialized but informative study. (Kirkus Reviews)

Andrew Wheatcroft is the author of many books on early modern and modern history, and most recently The Ottomans (1995) and The Habsburgs (1996). During the writing of Infidels (2004), on which he was working for more than seventeen years, he researched in Austria, Bahrain, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Spain, Turkey, the UAE, and the USA. His previous books have been translated into over ten languages. He is based in Dumfriesshire, and is currently Director of The Centre for Publishing Studies and also teaches at the Department of English Studies at the University of Stirling.

Impressively researched...he has a forensic grasp of the terrain and the tactics, produces excellent miniatures of the frontline generals and deploys extraordinary eyewitness accounts with great skill...Wheatcroft has done us all a service by bringing another part of the story of Ottoman-European interaction to the attention of English-speaking readers Literary Review It is tremendous stuff, a masterpiece of historical writing Daily Telegraph Wheatcroft captures the sweep of great events in this riveting book. He also nails historical myths that still resonate to this day -- Simon Shaw Daily Mail Well-balanced, readable and timely account of the 1683 siege -- Jay Dixon Historical Novels Review

"""Impressively researched... he has a forensic grasp of the terrain and the tactics, produces excellent miniatures of the frontline generals and deploys extraordinary eyewitness accounts with great skill... Wheatcroft has done us all a service by bringing another part of the story of Ottoman-European interaction to the attention of English-speaking readers"" Literary Review ""The book gives a fine account of the siege itself... thoughtful and thought-provoking, as well as being a cracking good story"" Sunday Telegraph ""It is tremendous stuff, a masterpiece of historical writing"" Daily Telegraph ""Wheatcroft captures the sweep of great events in this riveting book. He also nails historical myths that still resonate to this day"" -- Simon Shaw Daily Mail ""Well-balanced, readable and timely account of the 1683 siege"" -- Jay Dixon Historical Novels Review"

Author Information

Andrew Wheatcroft is the author of many books on early modern and modern history, including The Ottomans (1995) and The Habsburgs (1996). During the writing of Infidels (2004), on which he was working for more than seventeen years, he researched in Austria, Bahrain, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Spain, Turkey, the UAE, and the USA. His previous books have been translated into over ten languages. He is based in Dumfriesshire, and is currently Director of The Centre for Publishing Studies and also teaches at the Department of English Studies at the University of Stirling.

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