The Enemy at the Gate offers a timely examination of an epic clash of civilizations. Four centuries ago, the West really was involved in a seminal clash of cultures against an aggressive Islamic power, and that struggle reached its zenith at the siege of Vienna. In 1683, an Ottoman army that stretched from horizon to horizon set out to seize the “Golden Apple,” as Turks referred to Vienna. The ensuing siege pitted battle-hardened Janissaries wielding seventeenth-century grenades against Habsburg armies, widely feared for their savagery. The walls of Vienna bristled with guns as the besieging Ottoman host launched bombs, fired cannons, and showered the populace with arrows during the battle for Christianity’s bulwark. Each side was sustained by the hatred of its age-old enemy, certain that victory would be won by the grace of God. The Ottoman army caught the Holy Roman Empire unaware; Its leaders did not foresee a march on Vienna, and the city was left mostly undefended, with its main forces scattered. Arriving in Vienna in middle of July, the Turks surrounded the city, and the war started in earnest. Historian Andrew Wheatcroft moves beyond tales of the “Terrible Turks” to provide a realistic portrayal of Ottoman leadership, a political context for the Hapsburg-Ottoman conflict, and a description of the shifting balance of power between these great dynasties. The Enemy at the Gate is a worthwhile piece for anyone interested in the mighty clash between two competing empires and two great faiths.