On the Field of Glory: An Historical Novel of the Time of King John Sobieski

Transcriber's Notes: 1. Page scan source: http://www.archive.org/details/onfieldofgloryhi00sieniala
Copyright, 1906 , By Jeremiah Curtin.
All rights reserved .
Published January, 1906
SIR THOMAS G. SHAUGHNESSY,
PRESIDENT OF THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILROAD.
My Dear Sir Thomas:
Railroads are to nations what arteries and veins are to each individual. Every part of a nation enjoys common life with every other through railroads. Books bring remote ages to the present, and assemble the thoughts of mankind and of God in one divine company. I find great pleasure on railroads in the day and the night, at all seasons. You enjoy books with a keen and true judgment. Let me inscribe to you, therefore, this volume.
Jeremiah Curtin.
The book before us gives pictures of Polish character and life on the eve of the second great siege of Vienna.
Twice was that city beleaguered by Turkey. The first siege was commanded by Solyman, that Sultan who was surnamed Magnificent by western nations; to Turks he was known as the Lord of his Age and the Lawgiver.
The first siege was repelled by the bravery of the garrison, by the heroism of Count Salm its commander, by the terrible weather of 1529, and also through turbulence of the Janissary forces. The second siege was crushed in 1683 by Sobieski's wise strategy, the splendid impetus of the Poles, and the firmness of the allies.