{"product_id":"the-emperors-winding-sheet-9780374421212","title":"The Emperor's Winding Sheet","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe life of a young boy set against the dramatic backdrop of the fall of Constantinople in 1453.  Famished  terrified  exhausted  a boy drops from the tree in which he has hidden just as Constantine  last Emperor of the Romans  is about to receive his crown in a monastery garden. By this accident  Piers Barber  a shipwrecked young seaman from Bristol  England  now renamed Vrethiki ( lucky find )  becomes an unwilling talisman to the Emperor  for it has been prophesied that if even one person who is at his side when he takes the crown stays with him always  the City will not perish. This is the story of the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and of the siege that marked the end of the proud  ancient Byzantine Empire. Corrupt  riven by bigotries  jealousies  and national vanities  the City nevertheless commanded such bravery and loyalty as the world has seldom seen. Through the darkening months  Vrethiki is brought out of his sullen despair as he lives in the midst of heroism and treachery  dogged endurance and blazing faith. And in time he comes to see the City as a vision worth dying for and the Emperor as his own true lord.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45788463661109,"sku":"ByrdShop_0374421218","price":99.1,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780374421212.jpg?v=1784646055","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-emperors-winding-sheet-9780374421212","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}