Download or read book Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time written by Franz Babinger and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1978 with total page 618 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most important figures in Ottoman history, Mehmed was the architect of victories that inspired fear throughout Europe and contributed to an image of the Turk prevalent in Western art and literature for many years. From the Western viewpoint, Mehmed was seen as the man who gave the death blow to Byzantium, destroying the last vestige of the Eastern Roman Empire. Not surprisingly, the Turks regard him as the greatest of all sultans, a figure unparalleled in the history of the world for military prowess, statecraft and patronage of the arts and sciences.