THE LAST PALAEOLOGUE

George Leonardos' Web Page

THE LAST PALAEOLOGUE

2007

ISBN 978-960-14-1644-1 Pages 541

LIVANIS PUBLISHING HOUSE

In this last part of his Palaeologos trilogy, the prize-winning novelist George Leonardos writes about the last Emperor of Byzantium, Constantine XI Palaeologos and the fall of Constantinople. Using Venetian, Greek and Turkish sources, Leonardos has created a vivid and exciting account of the last days of the Eastern Roman Empire, the new Rome.

Leonardos’ novel grapples with the traditional views of modern Greek historiography on how the Byzantine Empire fell, and asks questions such as what really happened? What were the intrigues and machinations that played a part in the fall of the thousand-year-old empire? Who betrayed Constantine XI Palaeologos, raising the Ottoman standard at the Palace of Blachernae, as Constantine was fighting at the city walls for the very survival of his kingdom and Christendom in the East?

The answers to these questions are set against the backdrop of the social upheaval and chaos of the late middle ages. With lively portrayals of the major players, Leonardos also relates what later became of the heroes of the day.