The book, dedicated to the 550th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople, was prepared for publication by a group of students from the Department of Modern Greek and Byzantine Philology at St. Petersburg State University under the guidance of Professor Ya.N. Lyubarsky. The purpose of the publication is to provide the reader with the opportunity to independently study the works of four Greek historians of the 15th century and form their own picture of the events of the siege and fall of the capital of the Byzantine Empire. To facilitate this task, the publication includes an article about the events that preceded the capture of Constantinople, and biographical information about the Greek authors whose works are included in the book. The same purpose is served by comments compiled in such a way as to demonstrate all the disagreements that exist between these works and the hypotheses they generate about the death of the Byzantine Empire. BRIEF CONTENTS: From the editor (5). The end of a thousand-year empire. T.I. Sobol (7). Mikhail Kritovul. Historical essay (chap. 6-72). Translation by T.I. Sobol, O.N. Nikolaenkova, N.S. Evseenko, V.V. Fedchenko, V.V. Chistyakova, S.A. Zabelina, N.D. Volkova, A.V. Avinskaya, D.V. Agafonova, N.N. Belova (18).Duka. History (chap. 35-42). Translation by A.S. Stepanova (76). Laonik Khalkokondil. Historical narrative. Translation by V.V. Fedchenko (110). (pseudo-) Sfrandzi. Chronicle (chap. 4-11). Translation by O.N. Nikolaenkova, V.V. Fedchenko (125). Lament for Constantinople. Translation by A.B. Borisova (157). Comment. Compiled by T.I. Sable (161).Indicators. Compiled by V.V. Chistyakova (182).