On May 29, 1453, the ancient city of Constantinople, once capital of the Roman Empire, fell to the Ottoman Turks. Soon, the centuries–long order of the Middle Ages in Europe began to unravel: the armored knight on horseback ceased to inspire fear on the battlefield, stone castles no longer stopped an enemy’s advance, and the Pope in Rome found that half of Europe no longer accepted his teachings. European ships steered away from their accustomed routes between the ports of their own continent, landing in the Americas and India, and finally circling the world. New ideas about gaining knowledge by experiment and direct observation challenged mediaeval reliance on ancient authorities. Find out why in The Day the World Changed.
Highly Recommended History For Those Who Don't Read Much History
Daniel Carson has written a very interesting book that approaches a vast amount of historical information from the perspective of one historical event, the fall of Constantinople in 1453. He very succinctly but vividly shows why this event was so important and how its repercussions hugely affected all subsequent history. This is a small book, written for the layman, but containing the distillation of much research. It's a quick, enjoyable, and enlightening read that will help you understand how we got here.
— J. Baldwin
Easily Read Well Written Narrative History For The Non-Historian
The importance of the fall of Constantinople to the evolution of our current world is deftly explained by the author in this description of the related historical events. It is written for the non-historian in a narrative style that doesn't just list dates and battles; but gives us a feel for the times and the people that lived them. History can be dry and dusty to many people and hard to relate to; but this author gets us in touch with the people that lived our ancient history, sprinkling his narrative with humor and a personal touch. It was an easy read, has many illustrations, and contains pictures of many of the places mentioned, some of which were taken by the author himself. I don't read many books on history; but this one was entertaining and informative, and by the end convinced me that, yes, indeed, the world did change on May 29, 1453.
—James Blase
An Excellent Book
Daniel Carson's book, The Day the World Changed: May 29, 1453, is an excellent introductory text to the major geopolitical issues that largely determined the shape of the modern western world as we have come to understand it in these contemporary times in which we live. Complex and often seemingly disconnected historical narratives have been expertly brought together in a readily digestible, balanced, and easy-to-understand story that underscores the importance of various tumultous events in medieval history, without which the world as we know it may never have come into being. As a person who grew up in the British Isles, and who was subjected to oftentimes very complex studies of British and European history (often dealing with literally centuries-upon-centuries worth of events), without ever having truly understood the importance of outcomes of particular battles, treaties, or royal marriages, all I can say is I wish there had been books such as this one available to me at that time. It would have aided tremendously my understanding of how the modern world came to be shaped, and greatly accelerated my appreciation for the study of history in general, a subject for which I now harbor a great deal more enthusiasm than I did while still at school. The author takes the reader all the way from the economics and politics of Ancient Rome, up until the near-present day, all in 187 pages, in a very readable and comprehensible format. Daniel Carson clearly shows the importance to the development of the modern west on the fall in 1453 of Constantinople (now modern Istanbul) to the Ottoman Turks. More books such as this one would encourage a greater degree of interest in and appreciation for global history, as well as a realization that the development of our current modern world was in no small way dependent upon a quite large number of very precariously balanced events.
— J. Cameron Millar