The Prince of India or Why Constantinople Fell, Volume 1

by Lew Wallace

Book by Wallace, Lew

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1893

About the author

Lewis "Lew" Wallace was a lawyer, governor, Union general in the American Civil War, American statesman, and author, best remembered for his historical novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

From Civil War Biography:

Although he would have much preferred to be remembered as a highly successful military hero, Lew Wallace has been thwarted in this ambition and is best known as an author. Born in Indiana, he had worked as a clerk and early displayed a fascination for Mexico which would affect him in later years. During the Mexican War he served as a second lieutenant in the lst Indiana but saw only minor action. In 1849 he was admitted to the bar in his native state and seven years later entered the state senate.
With the outbreak of the Civil War he offered his services, and his assignments included: adjutant general of Indiana (April 1861); colonel, 11th Indiana (April 25, 1861); colonel, 11th Indiana (reorganized August 31, 1861); brigadier general, USV (September 3, 1861); commanding 3rd Division, District of Cairo, Department of the Missouri (February 14-17, 1862); major general, USV (March 21, 1862); commanding 3rd Division, Army of the Tennessee (February 17-June 1862); commanding 8th Corps, Middle Department (March 22, 1864-February 1,1865 and April 19-August 1, 1865); and also commanding the department (March 22, 1864-February 1,1865 and April 19-June 27, 1865).
His career got off to a promising start when he routed an inferior Confederate force at Romney, Virginia. Promoted to brigadier general, he was given charge of a newly organized division in the midst of the operations against Fort Donelson and was soon rewarded with a second star. However, that spring his reputation plummeted after the battle of Shiloh. On the first day his division was stationed north of the main army at Crump's Landing, and a series of contradictory orders from Grant forced him to countermarch his command and delayed his arrival on the main battlefield until the fighting was nearly over. He redeemed himself on the second day, but a scapegoat was needed for the near disaster the day before and this was Wallace. Sent home to await further orders, he offered his services to Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton and, despite his high rank, took temporary command of a regiment during the emergency posed by Kirby Smith's invasion of Kentucky. With Cincinnati threatened, Wallace was placed in charge of a mostly civilian defense force. Through a show of tremendous energy he was able to save the city without a major fight. He was then head of the commission which examined Buell's handling of the invasion and other boards until placed in charge in Maryland in early 1864. There he bought valuable time for the defenders of Washington during Early's drive into the state when he made a stand at Monocacy with an inferior scratch force.
At the close of the war he sat on the court-martial which tried the Lincoln conspirators and presided over that which sent Andersonville chief Henry Wirz to the gallows. He then joined a movement to aid the Juarez forces against Maximilian in Mexico. He tried to raise money and troops and even accepted the title of major general from the Juarez group. On November 30, 1865, he resigned from the U.S. service, but his Mexican venture collapsed and he realized little of the money which he had hoped to gain from it. In later years he was governor of the New Mexico Territory and a diplomat to Turkey. As a prolific writer, who often drew upon his own experiences, he is best remembered for Ben Hur.- A Tale of the Cbrist, one of the most popular novels of the nineteenth century

Reviews

[Bettie]

 Rise, too, ye Shapes and Shadows of the Past
 Rise from your long forgotten grazes at last
 Let us behold your faces, let us hear
 The words you uttered in those days of fear
 Revisit your familiar haunts again
 The scenes of triumph and the scenes of pain
 And leave the footprints of your bleeding feet
 Once more upon the pavement of the street
 LONGFELLOW

Opening: THE NAMELESS BAY

In the noon of a September day in the year of our dear Lord 1395, a merchant vessel nodded sleepily upon the gentle swells of warm water flowing in upon the Syrian coast. A modern seafarer, looking from the deck of one of the Messagerie steamers now plying the same line of trade, would regard her curiously, thankful to the calm which held her while he slaked his wonder, yet more thankful that he was not of her passage.

She could not have exceeded a hundred tons burthen. At the bow and stern she was decked, and those quarters were fairly raised. Amidship she was low and open, and pierced for twenty oars, ten to a side, all swaying listlessly from the narrow ports in which they were hung. Sometimes they knocked against each other. One sail, square and of a dingy white, drooped from a broad yard-arm, which was itself tilted, and now and then creaked against the yellow mast complainingly, unmindful of the simple tackle designed to keep it in control. A watchman crouched in the meagre shade of a fan-like structure overhanging the bow deck. The roofing and the floor, where exposed, were clean, even bright; in all other parts subject to the weather and the wash there was only the blackness of pitch. The steersman sat on a bench at the stern. Occasionally, from force of habit, he rested a hand upon the rudder-oar to be sure it was yet in reach. With exception of the two, the lookout and the steersman, all on board, officers, oarsmen, and sailors, were asleep—such confidence could a Mediterranean calm inspire in those accustomed to life on the beautiful sea. As if Neptune never became angry there, and blowing his conch, and smiting with his trident, splashed the sky with the yeast of waves! However, in 1395 Neptune had disappeared; like the great god Pan, he was dead.

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6848

[Alexander L. Yoder · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding Classic

A great love story set in the Eastern Christian Empire at Constantinople, during its fall to the Muslims in the 14th century.
The title character is a Jew who 14 centuries prior was cursed by a man, (carrying a crucifixion cross), to "tarriest thou here till I come again".
Now, centuries later he maneuvers himself into the inner circles of both the Christian Emperor Constantine and the Muslim Padashah Muhammad.
The reader comes to understand the true greatness of these two rulers. And being merely human, some of their flaws as well.
You will meet Princess Irene. The woman loved by both these powerful men. And still another named Mirza, who is sent by one of these rulers to protect her, until said ruler could claim her as his own. Find out who, if any, of these men the Princess chooses.
The story also follows several others orbiting these stars and exposes how they all contribute to one of history's greatest battles and the fall of an empire.
This is an extremely well researched historical novel. It gives well thought out causes as to why this empire that lasted a thousand years came to such a sudden end.
Though I found it a bit difficult to get through the first few chapters, it was well worth the effort as the story progressed.

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the 2-volume first edition in a rummage sale years ago, and have read it twice. The wandering Jew has provided the basis for several stories, and this is one of the best. Wallace was the US consul in the middle east after the Civil War, and his oriental novels are all well-researched.