No More Time to Lose is a detailed account of the historic relief of Vienna from the Ottoman siege in 1683 by an allied army led by John Sobieski, King of Poland, and Charles V, Duke of Lorraine. The Ottoman army advanced from its bases in occupied Hungary and besieged Vienna. The imperial government called upon its allies to assist in relieving the city, and many answered, particularly the Poles but also Bavarians, Saxons, and contingents from various parts of the Empire. Overcoming command rivalries, a joint army crossed the difficult wooded hills around Vienna and, with all elements playing vital roles in the action, defeated the Ottoman army and drove it back to Hungary. No More Time to Lose begins with a summary of the operations outside Vienna as the relief army assembled, with details of all units, followed by a detailed account of the arduous trek through the woods and the battle of 12 September. It features comprehensive orders of battle for both sides (such information regarding the Ottomans is exceedingly rare). It concludes with a summary of the subsequent campaign in Hungary, marking the start of a successful Christian counter-offensive against the Ottomans, along with a discussion on why the saving of Vienna was a pivotal event in history. No More Time to Lose is primarily based on a careful re-examination of published sources in French and German, earlier archive-based studies mainly in German, and the work of Polish historians, particularly Jan Wimmer's renowned study, as well as the recent book by Michal Paradowski. AUTHOR: Alan Exelby has studied the War of the Holy League, and its background to the origins of Ottoman conquest, for over thirty years. He also has a general interest in all aspects of European military history and international relations, 1648-1802, and previously published a cited article on the Battle of Almansa (1707). He has worked for most of his life as a librarian at a university. A side-interest in classical history led to a period of enthusiastic ancient-Roman-style cooking, though its high acid content led to abandoning this (suggesting another possible reason for the decline and fall). 8-10 b/w maps
